Construction Site Theft is at an All-Time High
The Construction Equipment Association recently reported a 50% surge in construction site crime rates last year. But now, these figures have been exacerbated further due to a new problem in the industry: the severe shortage of building materials.
Record demand for building materials and full pipelines of work have led to “unprecedented challenges”, according to Builders Merchants Federation chief executive John Newcomb, and Construction Products Association chief executive Peter Caplehorn, who head up the CLC’s Product Availability working group. “Demand both in the UK and globally continues to dramatically outstrip supply and shows few signs of slowing during the seasonally busy summer months,” the group’s most recent statement reads.
Even prior to the COVID-19 crisis, construction site theft was an ongoing problem that blighted the industry, costing an estimated £800m per year. In a survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Building, 92% of respondents confirmed they had been affected by theft, with 21% reporting weekly site robberies.
So, site security is now an even bigger necessity to prevent both opportunistic crimes and targeted theft, when sites have to be temporarily abandoned at short notice, both through sudden materials shortage or the current ‘pingdemic’ affecting site workers.
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