Home Showings & The Corona Virus

Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development 

PHASED RESTART WORK SAFE GUIDANCE

All businesses, whether essential or not, must abide by the following health and safety guidance included in the Phased Restart Work Safe Guidance.

All businesses must follow Vermont Department of Health and CDC guidelines:

· Employees shall not report to, or be allowed to remain at, work or job site if sick or symptomatic (with fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell).

· All employees must observe strict social distancing of 6 feet while on the job, unless noted, and should refrain from touching their faces.

· No congregation of employees is allowed. The employer shall limit the occupancy of the designated common areas, such as break rooms and cafeterias, so that occupants maintain strict social distancing of no less than 6 feet per individual. The employer shall enforce the occupancy limit and require employees to wipe down their area after use or shall ensure cleaning of the common areas at regular intervals throughout the day.

· Employees must wear face coverings over their nose and mouth when in the presence of others. In the case of retail cashiers, a translucent shield or “sneeze guard” is acceptable in lieu of a mask.

· Employees must have easy and frequent access to soap and water or hand sanitizer during duration of work, and handwashing or hand sanitization should be required before entering, and leaving, job sites.

· All common spaces and equipment, including bathrooms, frequently touched surfaces and doors, tools and equipment, and vehicles must be cleaned and disinfected at the beginning, middle and end of each shift and prior to transfer from one person to another.

· To the extent feasible, prior to the commencement of each work shift, pre-screening or survey shall be required to verify each employee has no symptoms of respiratory illness (fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath), including temperature checks.

· Signs must be posted at all entrances clearly indicating that no one may enter if they have symptoms of respiratory illness.

· When working inside, open doors and windows to promote air flow to the greatest extent possible and limit the number of people occupying a single indoor space.

· No more than 2 people shall occupy one vehicle when conducting work.

· No symptomatic or COVID-19 positive workers are allowed on site and any worker(s) who have contact with a worker or any other person who is diagnosed with COVID-19 are required to quarantine for 14 days.

· All business operations must have a designated health and safety officer on-site who monitors and has the authority to stop or modify activities to ensure compliance with these mandatory health and safety requirements.

· All business, non-profit and government operations must use remote work whenever possible.

· All employees, including those already working (except healthcare workers, first responders, and others already trained in infection control, personal protection/universal precautions), must complete, and employers must document, a training on mandatory health and safety requirements as provided by VOSHA, or another training program that meets or exceeds the VOSHA-provided standard by May 4, 2020.

The following sector guidance may be updated as public health and safety or conditions warrant, so please check this site frequently for the most up-to-date information. 

Real Estate

All professional services should be provided in a manner calculated to minimize in-person contact.  Any activity that can be conducted remotely, online, by phone, or email, should be. The sale of real estate shall only occur within the confines of Section 1.3 of the Phased Restart Work Safe Guidance concerning low or no contact professional services:

· Services operating with a single worker (such as appraisers, realtors, municipal clerks, attorneys, property managers, pet care operators, and others) may operate if they can comply with the mandatory health and safety requirements listed above, with no more than 2 persons (service provider and client) present at one time.

Real estate services, whether by real estate firms, brokerages, attorneys or individuals, must conduct as much work as possible remotely and change the way they have traditionally done business. However, the Phased Restart Work Safe Guidance deems real estate and associated services (such as title searches, appraisals, and home inspections), as low- or no-contact professional services and allows them to resume limited operations. 

Professionals must limit interactions to no more than 2 people (the professional and a client). Real estate open houses shall not occur, but scheduled property showings where no more than 2 people are present may occur. Realtors (or landlords) may show homes (or rental units) to one person at a time, with 30 minutes between showings. An exception to this rule is for members of the same household to view at the same time. Masks must be worn by all and avoid touching surfaces unless necessary.

Title searches should be conducted by appointment. Appraisers should use drive by appraisals as an alternative to entering a home if possible.

Special note about out-of-state buyers/renters: Realtors shall not encourage or accommodate out-of-state buyers to visit properties unless they have quarantined for 14 days in the state before visiting.

Special note about showing occupied homes: Realtors and landlords may not require occupants of a home or apartment to allow potential buyers or renters into their homes during this extraordinary time. If a resident is home when a showing occurs, it would violate the restriction on 2 or less people being present.