Identifying the Impacts of COVID-19 on Chilean Construction Projects

ABSTRACT

The construction industry has been highly disrupted by the pandemic as the development of construction projects must be adapted due to policies to minimize the spread of COVID-19, such as social distancing. As the construction industry contributes approximately 7% of Chilean GDP, it is important to identify and understand the impacts the construction industry has suffered due to the pandemic context. This study aims to identify the impacts of COVID-19 on Chilean construction projects. This study is enabled by data from 40 semi-structured interviews collected between May and November 2020 with multiple stakeholders working on projects during the pandemic, namely construction managers, construction engineers, and laborers of construction work. This study's results are obtained by categorizing the impacts of COVID-19 on Chilean construction projects, performing content analysis to the data collected. We found that the impacts of COVID-19 on construction projects can be classified in nine categories, being the categories with the most coded responses the following economic impacts, productivity, and the stop and delay of construction projects. Additionally, the impacts from COVID-19 were identified to reach multiple levels, namely at the company, project, workers, and suppliers and subcontractors' levels. The most coded excerpts regarding the impacts of COVID-19 were found at the project and workers' levels. This study is a first step that identifies the impacts suffered by the construction industry due to pandemic conditions;understanding these impacts may guide the most appropriate plans and policies of decision-makers in the fight against COVID-19 in the construction industry. © 2023, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.