Recent studies show that tool theft is reported every 12 minutes. We look into the reasons behind this, the recovery challenges and how to prevent construction equipment theft.
Over 90% of respondents in a survey completed by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) are affected by construction site theft on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, making it the most common crime to impact the industry.
Even more shockingly, over 20% of those respondents indicated that this crime impacts them weekly, showing that a serious intervention is required to prevent this growing threat to businesses.
However, with such increases in the crime, managing these cases is becoming overwhelming and with no official system in place as of yet to support the recovery of equipment, how do we respond?
Construction site theft costs a staggering £800 million annually in the UK and these losses stem from costs such as replacing stolen plant machinery, loss of business due to equipment unavailability, penalties for project delays and increased insurance premiums.
With construction equipment theft at such high levels, we explore the reasons behind this, the challenges around equipment recovery and how to avoid falling victim to this yourself.
Why Do Thieves Target Construction Sites?
There are various factors involved in construction equipment theft, however, through our experience in providing security solutions and other research, we have found there tends to be three main contributors:
Opportunity
In most circumstances, thieves are looking for easy opportunities. Essentially, a low risk, high reward type of crime.
And unfortunately for construction sites, they tend to be considered as this, making them prime targets for theft.
Sites are packed with high-value goods, all left on display, and often, the security measures fail to meet the required standard to prevent thieves.
Commonly stolen construction equipment includes power tools, excavators, generators and construction vehicles, all of which can have serious operational disruption and cause project delays, even work stoppages.
And with equipment difficult to track in the UK, there is little to no chance of repercussions faced by thieves.
Poor Tracking Leading to Low Recovery Rates
With it being difficult to track items back with their original owner, plant equipment offers even more opportunity for a low-risk – high-reward theft.
They will often remove identification marks professionally and replace them with new ones, even going as far to alter the machine's paint jobs or liveries to make them unrecognisable.
As an official tracking system is yet to exist in the UK, there is no real way of protecting your equipment against theft or provide you any peace of mind of it being recovered back to you.
High Demand and Resale Value
Construction equipment is in high-demand, meaning there is always a customer base for them.
Following recent marches for stronger laws surrounding tool theft, campaigners reported that car boots are a place for criminals to sell stolen goods.
The resale price for stolen excavators can stretch to six-figure sums, with reports showing that they are travelled overseas regularly. This makes recovery even more unlikely.
For example, a week later, an excavator worth £100,000 was stolen from Scotland and located in Northern Ireland.
Why Are Recovery Rates Low For Construction Equipment?
There are various factors involved in why recovery rates are low for construction equipment.
For tools, these are often small, easy-to-conceal and sell on without much risk of being caught in the process. Once in the hands of criminals, they can move quickly and even when the Police are involved, it can be difficult to keep track of such small items.
With larger construction equipment such as plant machinery, there tends to be more risk for thieves due to their size. However, with still no official tracking system in place to manage this, it still is minimal risk in comparison to other theft.
As mentioned earlier, thieves will have the knowledge in how to cover up any signs of previous owners and resell them quickly, making it extremely difficult from that point onwards to track them.
Due to all these factors, this crime type continues to grow and is the most common crime that impacts construction sites.
This overwhelming issue means that the Police are faced with numerous reports of theft, creating an even larger backlog for those impacted and making recovery a tough task for all involved.
The Solution to Mitigating Theft of Plant Machinery
Addressing this issue requires effective security measures, such as GPS tracking on equipment and immobilisation systems. These minimise the risk of theft and aid in the recovery of equipment.
However, preventing an attempted theft before it occurs is always better than dealing with an issue retrospectively.
Fortunately, there are proactive security solutions that allow site managers to deter theft and protect their assets.
One such solution is a Rapid Deployment CCTV Tower.
This system is designed to detect potential theft, deter an individual by using remote live audio warnings and assist in the dispatching of police or security guards to catch any intruders.
This helps prevent potential thieves from targeting the site, as it makes the construction site a trickier target for them and informs them they are being monitored.
In the event of attempted theft, the video stream is sent directly to an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) or monitoring station; if an alarm is triggered, they immediately review the footage to verify the alarm's authenticity. This allows them to take appropriate action to prevent theft or damage to equipment or property.
Additionally with the monitoring stations we use, they are backed by NSI Gold Accredited security. This ensures you have industry recognised, high-quality trained professionals supporting you in the event of any incidents.
See the video below for how the monitoring station responds and deters theft from this construction site with live audio warnings:
By using our site security services, you can have peace of mind knowing that your construction site is under constant surveillance and that any potential security breaches will be detected and addressed promptly.
This can help prevent theft, damage to equipment, and delays in your project's completion, saving you time and money in the long run.
Managed CCTV Solutions for Construction Sites
As a leading provider of fully-managed security services for construction sites in the UK.
We offer a range of security solutions tailored to meet the specific needs of our clients, including temporary construction or demolition projects, Time-Lapse Video production, onsite communications, remote access to project management, health and safety reviews and a complete security package.
Our site security services are renowned for their quality, reliability and competitive pricing, meaning we have more active systems nationwide than any other supplier.
They are designed to provide comprehensive site security, including CCTV surveillance, access control, alarm monitoring and remote monitoring, amongst other features.
Our experienced security professionals are committed to delivering exceptional customer service and ensuring our clients' sites remain secure throughout the project.
Ready to find out how Rapid Deployment CCTV can work for you? Get in touch today at 0800 470 4630 or request a call back
