Governor Polis today released the Safer at Home public health order, which takes effect today. To review the entire Safer at Home order, please click here. Key dates in this new order include:

• April 27 - Curbside retail can begin as well as real estate showings, but no open houses

• May 1 - Retail and some personal services can begin, with best social-distancing practices

• May 4 - Offices can reopen at 50 percent capacity and social-distancing best practices

Specific to real estate, the order states that "Field Services, including real estate, may resume operations, in accordance with the requirements of this Order including Appendix B. Real estate includes in-person real estate showings and marketing services which must adhere to Social Distancing Requirements with cleaning and disinfection between each showing, but may not hold open houses." 

Click here for the state's Field Services and Real Estate guidance.

Under this order, Coloradans are asked to stay at home as much as possible and vulnerable individuals will continue to abide by the stay at home order. Key parts of the safer at home order include wearing masks, no public gatherings over 10, limited reopening of certain businesses and limited post-secondary instruction may resume. Normal in-person P-12 school is still suspended through the end of the school year.

Local jurisdictions will also have flexibility to go above and beyond the state guidelines or apply for a variance to loosen restrictions.  A county may apply for a variance to CDPHE if it meets certain criteria, including support from its local public health agency; demonstration that local hospitals can verify they have the capacity to serve all the people needing care; and county commissioners adopting the alternative plan in place of the statewide order. 

If local governments choose to ignore the options available to them they are breaking the law and jeopardizing their emergency preparedness grant. Businesses who willfully disregard the regulations in the public health order will be issued a Cease and Desist Order.  

Denver and Surrounding Counties:

Despite this order, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock last Thursday extended Denver's Stay at Home order until May 8. Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield and Jefferson counties also extended their orders to May 8 to be in line with Denver. Douglas County, which participates in Tri-County Health with Adams and Arapahoe, did not extend its order and is now under the state's Safer at Home rules.

If you live, work or operate a business in Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield and Jefferson counties, you must follow the local health order. In addition, municipalities are beginning to pass their own health ordinances, with Wheat Ridge, for example, requiring facemasks for all employees and customers at retail locations.

Jobsite Safety Change:

The new Safer at Home order instructs employers to implement symptom-monitoring protocols at jobsites and offices. The state provided a sample form to check employees before and after the work day. According to the Safer at Home order, if an employee reports any symptoms to refer them to the CDPHE's Symptom Tracker and then take all of the following steps at your office or jobsite:

• Send the employee home immediately;
• Increase cleaning in your facility and require social distancing of staff at least 6 feet apart from one another;
• Exclude the employee until they are fever-free, without medication, for 72 hours and 7 days have passed since their first symptom

If multiple employees have these symptoms, please contact your local health department. And then eliminate or regularly clean and disinfect any items in common spaces, such as break rooms, that are shared between individuals, such as condiments, coffee makers and vending machines.

The Safer at Home order still asks employees to where masks, and requires them if there is to be close contact between employees and customers. The state prepared a video to show how to set up your workplace or jobsite for temperature and health screenings.

We are working with our industry partners at AGC of Colorado, Colorado Contractors Association and the Colorado Association of Mechanical and Plumbing Contractors to receive more specific guidance on this issue before it goes into effect on May 4.  We will update you as soon as we have more direction.

NAHB to Host Webinar with HUD Secretary Carson on Tuesday Morning