Residential builds don’t have to live with trespassers, thieves, and financial losses. The right video surveillance systems can prevent some of the biggest issues that impact construction sites.
Residential construction projects struggle with security, and that’s true no matter how well the economy is doing. These sites are plentiful in a booming economic environment, for example, and that means the expensive items they contain are as well. Cue thieves and vandals who thrive on robbing or defacing these sites turning up in droves.
Harder financial times see similar issues. A shortage of houses due to fewer new or entirely stalled residential construction results in a perfect storm: Vandals and trespassers become even more restless to cause trouble, and desperate thieves get hungry for the few construction sites they can find.
Residential construction projects face every problem commercial ones do – plus some added stresses – making reliable security essential. Read on for the big picture on residential risk profiles and how a mobile video surveillance system can help project managers avoid theft, vandalism, and more.
Commercial construction threats vs. residential risk
Commercial construction sites have expensive tools, equipment (vehicles and electronic devices), and employee possessions onsite. Building materials like steel and copper are frequently present and lumber fetches high black-market prices as legitimate costs soar. This all contributes to the $300 million to $1 billion in construction losses every year.
Residential construction is an even more lucrative target. Here’s what you need to know:
- Such builds have the onsite valuables mentioned above in addition to household appliances.
- Washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, and AC units are all common at these projects, and are extremely vulnerable as they wait to be slotted into newly built homes.
- Thieves can see them clearly and won’t be deterred by heavy work.
- One residential construction breach saw an oven, lighting, and a dishwasher lost at a cost of thousands of dollars.
- A separate residential contractor lost nearly $30,000 in household appliances in less than 24 hours – including a 700-pound fridge – and the police could do nothing.
Replacing lost equipment, vehicles, and appliances causes project delays. Time is money, though, and such delays could lead to your construction company gaining a bad reputation. There’s yet another risk of financial loss for residential construction sites, and it’s on a level far beyond even the most expensive household appliances.
Lax security can lead to lost home sales
We’re referring to a loss of face, something that can happen very easily if vandals and graffiti taggers break into a residential site and start making it look rundown before it even opens. People won’t be attracted to a residential project full of smashed materials and gang signs or slogans. It sends a clear and costly message to the public that the construction company doesn’t have the criminal element under control, and that this residential area isn’t somewhere homebuyers should invest in.
The odds of a company with lax security that led to lost sales being hired again are slim to none. All these risks and financial pitfalls can be mitigated when your site has state-of-the-art video surveillance. Here’s how it makes criminals of all kinds think twice.
The advantages of mobile video surveillance
Construction is a contradictory sector from a security perspective. It’s mobile by nature, yet a sitting duck for crime when work begins. The first factor can make it difficult to enforce security, and the fixed and highly visible site becomes a magnet for unwanted attention until the contract is complete. The classic security steps that can and should be employed onsite include:
- Locked fences and gates (essential in defining a security perimeter)
- Strong site lighting
- Stamping equipment with owner’s marks
- Posting “Under Surveillance” signs
- Creating lockdown areas for tools and equipment
- Hiring physical security guards and/or security animals
These are all important, but they have flaws that security cameras don’t. The right mobile surveillance units can solve residential construction security problems in five ways:
1. Maximum security mobility
This equipment can come to construction sites as it’s needed, making it simple to have maximum visual protection no matter your location. Mobile units can then be positioned near any available power source with ease.
2. Reliable power under any conditions
You want visual security that can successfully operate on sites where no standard power source is possible. Modern surveillance units can work from generators or solar power to ensure results in even the most logistically awkward locations.
3. Clearly visible security during peak crime hours
The cases of residential construction site theft highlighted above took place during the critical 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. crime window. Thieves and other trespassers think night will cover them, but camera units fitted with both night vision and thermal imaging can overcome low visibility. This means you can checkmate vandals who may take out your site’s lighting, plus prevent or limit the effects of onsite fires.
4. License plate detection
Most of the items residential construction thieves make off with are heavy. They need transportation to succeed. This makes them vulnerable to mobile units that can use long-range detection, filter out headlight glare, and capture clear images of the front and/or rear plates of any suspicious vehicles near your site.
5. 360-degree views by experienced off-site surveillance agents
The right security system provider doesn’t just set up cameras and let them record. They have off-site agents monitoring your feeds so they can interact with suspicious individuals through unit-mounted warning lights and microphones before alerting authorities if necessary.
Contact the experts with any questions
If you’re in the market for residential construction site security, give the team at Mobile Video Guard a call. We’ve been protecting the construction sector and many other business models since 2016, and we take pride in delivering security solutions tailored to your site’s unique needs. Best of all, our customers are not locked into restrictive long-term contracts, so you get the systems you need when you need them. Just contact us for more information or to discuss hiring a daily, weekly, or monthly mobile unit.
