“We are engaged in talks with politicians and all stakeholder associations of the construction industry and the building trade,” so Norbert Schröter, director-general of Deutsche Bauchemie. He continues: “The goal is that especially central infrastructure construction projects can progress without significant impairments.” Evidently, this applies primarily to construction and maintenance activities directly connected with the corona crisis, i.e. hospitals, other emergency facilities, and energy, electricity and water suppliers. Construction chemical products and systems are essential to keep up their functioning. The same holds true for the construction of bridges, traffic routes and housing. Therefore, everything possible must be done to make sure that these construction sites remain open and adequately staffed – while health protection is a top priority and the behaviour rules dictated by the corona virus must be observed. The German construction chemical industry takes the view that it is the responsibility especially of public contract givers to safeguard continuity and to send positive signals to the construction industry.
Norbert Schröter explains: “As the association of the German construction chemical industry, we strongly support the efforts of the main federation of the German construction industry “Hauptverband der Deutschen Bauindustrie” and the central organisation of the German building trade “Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes”. They have urgently requested the competent federal ministers Seehofer and Scheuer not to close construction sites and, in parallel, to create a protection umbrella for the construction industry, namely, a fund to pay the costs of delays due to the virus.”
In a circular letter from the federal construction ministry of 23 March 2020, inter alia, the following is stated on the issue at hand: “Federal construction sites will remain open as far as possible. Construction activities should cease only if this becomes mandatory under official measures (e.g. entry bans) or if official measures render a useful continuation of activities impossible (e.g. because most of the contractor’s staff have been quarantined). This is a question of each individual case.”*
*freely translated by Deutsche Bauchemie for this press release
At present, the manufacturers of construction chemicals are also in close consultation with representatives of large customers from the construction industry and the building trade, in order to prevent disruptions of supply chains and in goods logistics.
Norbert Schröter elaborates: “Since the construction chemical industry works across national borders, the whole matter has a European dimension too. For this reason, we in Frankfurt are also addressing the European Commission and other European institutions and ask them to do whatever they can so that global supply chains for raw materials and goods remain intact and functioning. The sealing-off tactics of some countries would be just as counterproductive as overly long economic restrictions at the national level.”
Obviously, further developments depend on the course of the pandemic and the intensity and duration of corona-related measures. Norbert Schröter: “As the German construction chemical industry we certainly see ourselves as a system-relevant sector of great importance to the national economy. This is the basis for our arguments in discussions with deciders in the German federal states and the federal administration where we speak to preserve the functioning of our industry and for effective support measures.”
Deutsche Bauchemie has been the top association of the manufacturers of construction-chemical products for more than 71 years. It forms a national and European-level interface between its member companies and political bodies, authorities, construction industry stakeholders, standardisation bodies and research and teaching facilities. Deutsche Bauchemie is an association of more than 130 member companies. With an annual turnover of about 8.5 billion euros, these companies constitute half of the European market and about one quarter of the global market volume. The range of member companies of Deutsche Bauchemie reaches from small and medium-sized speciality suppliers to global players operating worldwide.
