Construction Site Theft is at an All-Time High

The ongoing shortage of building materials has pushed construction site theft to an all-time high, forcing a greater need for 24/7 site CCTV security.

The Construction Equipment Association recently reported a 50% surge in construction site crime rates last year due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. But now, these figures have been exacerbated further due to a new problem in the industry: the severe shortage of building materials.

The Construction Leadership Council recently warned that an extraordinary materials shortage in the construction sector will continue well into the second half of 2021, with timber, roof tiles and bagged cement heading the list of materials in short supply.

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.

Clearway’s wireless, CCTV tower hire has always proved it’s worth in protecting sites.

Solar powered and monitored in our own ARC monitoring centre, they are ideal for all types of construction sites, large and small, detecting intruders and immediately relaying the alert and live video to our control centre to deploy the necessary response team or alert the authorities.

Why wait to be targeted, especially in the current climate?