Brad Bush, Senior Vice President, HUB International FL
Between March 2020 and March 2021, the cost of lumber increased by 250 percent. The cost of other building materials are soaring too and these materials are often scarce as well. Many construction projects are at risk of not being completed on time – or at all. Here in Florida, where the construction industry is booming, the pressure is growing. Some contractors will go to any length to get what they need, even stealing materials or equipment to help push their project along.
But the bad players aren’t the only thieves. In fact, equipment theft is a persistent and costly problem for the entire construction industry, which reports between 600 and 1,200 cases of equipment theft every year, costing an average of $400 million across the US.
What’s more, the issue is a lot bigger than simply the cost of replacing the stolen equipment. The indirect costs can be significant, stemming from job delays, penalties and downtime for operators, higher insurance premiums and sometimes even cancellation of an insurance policy. Some estimates suggest that the total cost of theft from residential construction sites can add one-to-two percent to the price of a new house.
With hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment located on construction sites at any given time, the only way to manage the risk is to take proactive measures to increase security on site.
All construction sites are at risk. Consider these five protocols:
■ Keep complete records. Make sure you know where your equipment is at all times. Document exactly what’s on site to facilitate recovery and to efficiently identify missing equipment and tools. Mark or label each piece, whether they are smaller hand tools or heavy equipment, with the company name. Use welders or etching tools to make the identification hard to remove and don’t forget to mark any attachments or removable parts as well. This helps identify and reclaim stolen property.
■ Introduce multiple defenses. If a criminal has to work hard, he’s likely to go somewhere else. Make sure you have fences and keep gates locked. Even a chain-link fence with plywood attached may be adequate. Then place signs on the fence to warn intruders of surveillance and caution them about the penalties for trespassing. Place appropriate lighting in strategic locations around the site and pair it with motion detection sensors and alarms. Access points should be limited and monitored, whether by a technology solution or an on-site guard, an expensive but necessary investment in a high-crime area.
■ Adopt technology solutions. A variety of newer protocols can enhance security for every firm. One newer option is motion-activated camera systems, which may be hardwired or solar powered and rely on a cell phone signal or wifi. Motion sensors send
an SMS push notification to a mobile device in real time and an entire site can be covered with just a few cameras. GPS trackers are another option. From trailers and generators to even a small piece of machinery, a GPS tracker can be smaller than a cell phone and hidden in an unobtrusive spot.
When considering technology solutions, don’t forget Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. IoTenabled tags equipped with sensors can monitor the location of a large number of tools and equipment at a big job site in real time. These solutions can help with a variety of risks, from possible theft to fire and flooding.
■ Put it under lock and chain. The pieces that are most at risk are the small ones: power tools, hand tools, equipment that can fit in a pickup truck, even equipment that can be attached to a trailer. Often, making it more difficult for thieves is enough to send
them elsewhere. Portable equipment like generators and welders should be locked in a trailer, chained up in an encapsulated
building or simply chained up in an out-of-sight area. When it comes to common targets such as skid-steer loaders and tractors, it’s worthwhile considering solutions like hydraulic locks and options for hidden disconnects.
■ Return items. There’s nothing like appropriate, secured storage to deter thieves. In some cases, however, the best option is to remove items from a construction site completely. When you can’t store equipment safely on site, require workers to return
all equipment to the shop as often as possible. Develop and enforce a zero-tolerance policy for bringing tools home or leaving them in a vehicle.
Finally, remember that security doesn’t have to involve expensive devices and top-of-the-line systems. Use a little common sense. Establish a no-key-left-behind policy to ensure keys are not stored on machinery and introduce a purchasing policy to ensure all equipment is individually keyed.
When it comes to security, a little can go a long way. These steps can make the difference between the job finishing on time or not finishing at all. In these troubling times, where basic materials can be hard to source and supply chains are still slow and unreliable, you need every bit of security you can get.
Brad Bush is a Senior Vice President in the Jacksonville region for HUB International Florida. Brad works throughout the Southeast and specializes in construction, working with contractors on both their surety and insurance needs.
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