According to The National Equipment Register (NER), construction site theft costs the industry up to $1 billion each year. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB/CEG) reports, nearly one thousand pieces of commercial equipment are reported stolen each month. According to the NER/NICB report, only 21% of the stolen equipment was recovered in 2016.
Construction managers depend on their tools and equipment to get the job done. If their equipment gets stolen, it can cost them significant time and money.
What's the best way to prevent equipment theft at a construction site? The answer is to have a video monitoring service.
The Types of Construction Equipment That Are Typically Stolen
Before you invest in a construction site video monitoring solution, you should first understand the types of construction equipment targeted for theft.
NER's Equipment theft report notes that backhoes and skid steers are the items that are stolen most often at construction sites. The reason is that they're versatile and easier to transport.
Bulldozers and wheel loaders are the most valuable equipment types, but they are harder to transport due to their size.
The five most commonly stolen brands are John Deere, Kubota, Bobcat, Cat, and Toro when it comes to theft by manufacturer. The reason that these brands are the most stolen is due to their compact, easy-to-steal size.
The machines that are stolen most often are tractors and loaders, and thieves are stealing them from both construction sites and equipment yards.
What Does It Cost a Construction Company When Equipment Is Stolen?
When construction equipment gets stolen from a construction site, it not only costs the contractor a lot of money, but it also costs them time.
The average estimated value of a stolen piece of equipment is over $29,000.
Stolen equipment will result in revenue loss because the job will probably not be completed on time. This may lead the contractor to rent items to replace the ones that were stolen. This takes time and forces the contractor to spend more money than they initially intended to.
Stolen equipment also causes insurance premiums to increase. Construction equipment is generally insured on and off the construction site.
Contractors usually carry general liability insurance to protect themselves against third-party injuries, property damage, and damaging other workers' expensive tools. Unfortunately, general liability insurance doesn't typically cover lost or stolen tools or equipment.
Builders' risk insurance usually covers tools and equipment. Most builder's risk policies are written on an "all perils basis," which means the policy covers the loss unless it's explicitly excluded from the policy. So, that means the type of theft involved matters for policy coverage.
For example, if an employee committed the theft, it will unlikely be covered because employee theft is typically excluded. It may be covered if the theft is committed by someone else.
Why You Should Use Our Construction Site Monitoring Service to Prevent Theft
Having live video monitoring at your construction site is an effective and affordable way to prevent theft. Unlike traditional security cameras, which only record activity, the construction site monitoring provided by Titan Security, features monitors and dispatchers who are able to verify what's actually happening in real-time.
This allows them to take immediate action, either though alarms, lights, and voice-downs to provide on-site deterrent, or by alerting the police, who will prioritize the event as an incident in progress and respond rapidly.
Make sure your construction equipment is protected from theft. Contact Titan Security today to learn more how Titan can help protect your job site, your schedule, and your budget with our construction site remote video monitoring solutions.
