Changes to Covid restrictions announced on Friday have been met with mixed reactions from the construction industry, who say significant project delays are expected following the now two-week shutdown.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr outlined a number of changes to business restrictions, including a staged reopening of construction from September 3.

Large-scale construction sites will be among the first to restart, with strict Covid-safe measures to be enforced including a one-person-per-four-square-metre rule, regular cleaning and disinfection and the requirement for a Covid marshal to be on site.

The guidelines, published on Friday afternoon, also state employers and site managers must "actively encourage all workers to get vaccinated as soon as possible".

Adina Cirson, ACT executive director of the Property Council of Australia, said while not all construction sites would be able to recommence from next week, the changes were "a very good step in the right direction".

"We've been engaging with government very heavily over the last two weeks with many of our industry colleagues to assure the government that the property sector has a high culture of compliance," she said.

"It's now up to the larger-scale projects to demonstrate how it can be done safely and follow the new rigorous requirements that are going to be placed on those sites to ensure the safety of workers in our community, that is the number one priority of our members."

While the easing of some restrictions was welcomed, developers were already feeling the impact of the shutdown.

Due for completion by the end of this year, JWLand's $500 million Founders Lane project in Braddon is now facing significant delays.

"This two-week delay will become a two-month delay to us," said JWLand director Aaron Ackland.

Mr Ackland said the delays would be particularly felt by small- to medium-sized subcontractors, many of which have stood down workers during the lockdown period, as well as future homeowners.

"It's an impact on the people that have bought in the precinct and were looking to move in [in early 2022] and now that's going to push to the end of the first quarter or perhaps the middle of the year depending on further delays that we might realise with logistics," he said.

"The other sad thing, especially for our Founders Lane project, is we had a significant portion of units for NDIS, specialist disability apartments, which now can't be delivered in accordance with the expectation of the client."

Master Builders ACT chief executive Michael Hopkins said the ACT government's decision to leave small-scale construction projects out of reopening plan was concerning.

"Trying to pick favourites in the reopening plan for an entire industry will leave a stain on the ACT's COVID-19 response, which small-scale operators and tradies won't forget," he said.

Mr Hopkins estimated by the end of next week, the three-week construction pause would equate to more than $600 million, while a further $105 million would be lost for each week small-scale residential projects remained on hold.

"Unfortunately the continued shutdown of the small-scale residential sector will have detrimental impacts on members of the public who are currently building homes, especially first home buyers who were encouraged to buy land in the ACT because of stamp duty reductions."

Ms Cirson agreed the construction shutdown would have a long-term effect on the housing market, which was already under pressure.

"Some activity is recommencing but there's a lot that won't start up again yet, so there's definitely going to be flow-on effects to this because our members were already behind the eight ball, due to the Covid-safe plans they had already put in place as well," she said.

"These are tough decisions and we're just really grateful that we've been given the opportunity to show that we can get back to work and do it really safely."

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