The construction industry plays significant roles in the country’s economic development and growth. There would be a domino impact on the economy if any construction projects are being delayed. As the pandemic of COVID-19 had arisen into our global that had affected the construction industry, including building projects. Identifying the underlying problems caused by COVID-19 can provide the best solution to reduce the pandemic’s impact. Consequently, emphasizing the impact of COVID-19 and the strategies to address those problems in the building construction industry becomes vital. Thus, this research objective is to identify problems caused by COVID-19 in the building construction industry and mechanisms to reduce COVID-19’s negative impact. The data collection involved individual interviews with 20 contractor companies that are engaged in building construction projects. Then, the data is analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. The findings show that COVID-19 is causing operational and financial issues, while financial aids and complete information is needed to overcome those impacts. These findings will help policymakers improve existing strategic plans and create new policies to cope with the circumstances caused by COVID-19 among building construction organizations.

Purpose Policymakers are developing government-level pandemic response strategies (GPRS) to assist architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) enterprises. However, the effectiveness of the GPRS has not been assessed. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the interrelationships between GPRS and AEC enterprises. To achieve that aim, the study objectives are to compare GPRS effectiveness between small-medium and large AEC enterprises, develop groupings to categorize interrelated GPRS and evaluate the effectiveness of the GPRS and interrelated constructs. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews with 40 AEC industry professionals were carried out, generating 22 GPRS. Then, questionnaire survey data was collected among AEC professionals. In total, 114 valid survey answers were received and analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis H test, normalized mean analysis, factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation. Findings Small-medium enterprises have four distinct critical GPRS: “form a special task force to provide support in maneuvering COVID-19,” “provide infrastructure investment budgets to local governments,” “develop employee assistance programs that fit all types of working groups” and “diversify existing supply chain.” Large enterprises have two distinct critical GPRS: “provide help in digitalizing existing construction projects” and “mandate COVID-19 as force majeure.” Eighteen GPRS can be categorized into the following five constructs: “market stability and financial aid,” “enterprise capability management,” “supply chain improvement,” “law and policy resources” and “information and workforce management.” The former two constructs are more effective than other GPRS constructs. Originality/value This is the first paper that evaluates the effectiveness of GPRS for AEC enterprises, providing new evidence to policymakers for well-informed decision-making in developing pandemic response strategies.

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