Measures to control and manage not just regular working space but high risk areas such as toilets, lifts, escalators and stairwells need to be put in place on day one of re-occupation. 

This will include social distancing limits to lift car occupation, which reduces the handling capacity of the lift system. It is important to understand the limiting effect this has on traffic handling so building users know what to expect and queue and lift control management measures can be put in place.

Management of building services and maintenance processes will have to change in response to risk assessment, as will response to emergency situations.

In the medium term the clumsy and labour intensive initial provisions will make way, to some extent, for systems and equipment designed for long term infection control.

Healthcare, food preparation and military installations have well established building services systems to clean air and disinfect areas. This also extends to materials used in buildings and how they are handled. UV and, more recently, cold plasma sterilisers are very effective disinfectant techniques. However, UV is a radiation considered harmful to health, so it’s application is regulated. The use of UV equipment must therefore be carefully considered and correctly installed.

It seems likely that enhanced building services such as these will play a large part in the restoring of businesses which rely, by their very nature, on the congregation of people: restaurants, cinemas, bars and sporting arenas. New ways of working will also need different environments such as video conferencing suites and medical facilities.