Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic Quarantine on Civil Engineers’ Performance and Projects’ Construction Delay

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic quarantine affected several sectors and human activities, among them projects of construction and engineers' performance. This study aimed to investigate how civil engineers dealt with quarantine conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affected their work. The research was conducted in Sulaymaniyah City, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, via an online questionnaire for those who work at the site and offices. Data were collected in December 2020 from 150 engineers using Google Forms. Apart from demographics, questions were asked about the effect of COVID-19 on office engineers, the long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on civil engineering and project construction, and construction delays. Results revealed that engineers working in the field had a greater ability to create social distance in their workplace. Moreover, compared to the government sector and office engineers, more field engineers working in the private sector believed that they might lose their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic totally influenced on project construction delays and civil engineers' performance. One-third of those interviewed think that "teleworking" can be completely replaced by working in an office or field.