If your building project has to be put on hold because of a local lockdown, here are some suggestions you might find helpful.

Have a conversation with the contractor about the possibility of doing some DIY

It is possible that, during the lockdown, you might be capable of completing some of the unfinished jobs that your contractor needs to temporarily abandon. However, you must not do this on a whim but must instead have a conversation with him or her about your plans. The reason for this is as follows; your attempt to complete one of their unfinished tasks may actually lead to you creating more work for them when they are finally able to resume the project.

For example, if your building supply collection includes plastering tools and plaster mix that your contractor was planning to use to freshen up the plaster in one of your rooms, you should discuss whether or not you should complete this job with the contractor. They may, for example, advise you to fill in the cracks in the existing plaster, but not to try to do a full re-plaster of any wall, as whilst the former is easy and can be done in minutes by virtually anyone, the latter can go badly wrong if carried out by unskilled hands. As such, if you try a full re-plaster, your contractor may have to fix your poor handiwork before finishing their own work.

Ask them for a list of which building supplies you will need if you do DIY work

If they agree that there are some construction tasks that you can safely do on your own during the lockdown, you should then ask for a list of building supplies that you'll need for those specific tasks. For example, if you plan to cut a new benchtop to size, your contractor may inform you that you'll not only need a circular saw but also a special blade with very fine teeth for this equipment (so that the blade won't create jagged lines in the benchtop when you make your cuts).

Whilst the contractor may have their own circular saw that they were planning to use for this task, they may need to take this away with them if they need to use it for other projects during the lockdown. As such, you might have to rent a saw like this and stock up on a few of these specialist blades. It's important to determine if you need to do this before the lockdown starts, as you may not be able to shop for these items after it begins.

Talk to a supplier if you need any building supplies to complete a project.