As England moves to Step 4 of the COVID‐19 Roadmap on Monday 19 July, the majority of restrictions will end, however the SOP will remain available and businesses may want to maintain elements of social distancing for the time-being.

The Scottish Government has confirmed that Scotland will move to Level 0 on 19 July but certain mitigations will remain in place, including the mandatory wearing of face coverings and working from home where possible. Wales will move fully to alert level one from 17 July and to a new alert level zero on 7 August and Northern Ireland is expected to outline its plans for easing restrictions shortly.

The Prime Minister confiemd that from Moday 19 July people will no longer be required to work from home; however, the Government is emphasising that the pandemic is not over and people should exercise caution and take personal responsibility. It is expected and recommended that face coverings are worn in crowded and enclosed spaces when mixing with people you don’t normally meet, and the Mayor of London has confirmed that they will remain mandatory on the London transport network. Guidance will be published for businesses on managing the return to the workplace and the current position will be reviewed in September.

The CLC has issued a statement confirming that the Site Operating Procedures will remain available as a reference document from Monday 19 July. Whilst they will no longer reflect the latest Government guidance, businesses across the supply chain have welcomed the consistency that the Site Operating Procedures have provided and they may wish to maintain elements of social distancing for the time being. The CLC also recommends that the good practices the industry has adopted over the last 18 months are retained.

The CLC has updated its guidance on the Use of facecoverings in construction  in line with the latest Government guidance from 19 July.

On a call earlier this week, almost 90% of Build UK Contractor members indicated that they will be maintaining social distancing measures on some or all of their sites until at least 16 August, when the requirement for close contacts to self‐isolate will be revised for those who have had both doses of the vaccine or are under 18.