According to the legislation, work can still progress if certain conditions are met, including if only two workers are on site, a permit is issued to allow work to go ahead and workers keep two metres apart.
However, anyone who provides false or misleading information to apply for a permit will be liable to a fine and could be sent to prison for up to two years.
The rules are the result of new emergency legislation which was passed by States Members last week.
However, in order for the regulations to come into force, the Health Minister needed to consult with the Economic Development Minister and Medical Officer of Health before implementing an official restriction order. That has now been done and the legal order put into force.
During last week’s States sitting, Deputy Kirsten Morel said that construction permits were previously being issued ‘without any legal basis’.
‘These regulations regularise an irregular situation where the construction sites around the Island had been instructed by the government to close down, yet there was no legal basis for that instruction and there was no legal basis for the permit scheme that they created for those to reopen,’ he said.
‘So as we stand now there are several construction sites operating around the Island with a permit that has no legal basis.’
Deputy Morel added that he had previously asked the Infrastructure Minister and Economic Development Minister for clarity on the issue but failed to receive an answer.
‘I would like to put on record my extreme disappointment with the government and all the ministers concerned that such a simple question could not be answered or was wilfully not answered because they were trying to hide the fact they had created a scheme without a legal basis,’ he said.
During the sitting, Health Minister Richard Renouf said the new law would be enforced by police officers during the normal course of their duties.
He added that notices would be displayed at construction sites in receipt of a permit.
The restriction order lasts as long as the lockdown is in place.
The temporary legislation will expire on 30 September 2020, unless the expiration date is extended.
