The Expert Podcast

Not that we need another reason for construction costs to go up, but here's another real-world reality of the construction industry and the economy that is going to make construction projects and building costs go even higher: theft. While there's always been pilferage and job site security problems, the fact that there are changes in laws about prosecuting criminals, combined with an economic landscape where more people are running short on money, means the theft of materials from construction sites is going up dramatically.

You're finding everything from construction materials like lumber, boards, insulation, and roofing tiles, to tools being stolen. Think about it: four or five years ago, a two-by-four might have cost five bucks or three bucks, sometimes even on sale for two dollars. Now, some lumber is six or seven dollars for a board. So, if you can back up a truck and load 15 or 20 boards, you might have just stolen a hundred dollars, maybe even two hundred. The problem is that there are no VINs, no serial numbers, and no way to trace these materials. They can disappear very quickly.

It's very difficult to secure job sites unless you have a fence all the way around that's locked. Even then, some things can be tossed over the fence. If you have a secure fence, it also makes it harder for contractors to get in and out during working hours. It's a fine line between security and ease of work. Even if your job site is open, and if it's a large, spread-out site, criminals can still steal smaller items. Wire is a common target—a spool of wire could be a four or five hundred dollar item. A thief can sell it as wire or even just sell the copper for scrap.

Job site theft is something that contractors must factor into their costs. Insurance may or may not cover it. Sometimes insurance covers building materials only within a certain distance of the job site—sometimes it's only 100 feet. If you're farther out than that, it may not be covered, and you might have to eat the loss.

As a builder, contractor, or building project manager, what are your experiences with job site theft? Has it gone up? Has it become more common? Not only is it more common, but each theft now costs a higher dollar amount. With inflation, lumber prices and other materials have doubled or even tripled in the past two or three years. A theft of the same items could cost a lot more now. For example, if you lost a bucket of paint a couple of years ago, it might have been a 20 or 30 dollar item. Now, that bucket of paint could be a hundred dollars, which is a very serious loss—not to mention the lost time spent having to reorder and wait for the material to arrive before you can continue building.

Let us know in the comments: What are your experiences or thoughts on the material theft issue on your job sites? How are you protecting your job sites from it? And how are you making sure you're not having shrinkage, either from outside burglars or even from inside jobs by employees or contractors?