Relocatable Jobsite Security Cage: Saunders Construction Case Study

Why material walks off a jobsite

Everyone has a reason to be there. On a busy commercial project, dozens of trades, delivery drivers, inspectors and vendors move through the same space. Access control by observation stops working once nobody recognizes everybody.

The valuable material is the portable material. Cordless tools, copper, wire, fittings, fasteners, specialty hardware, controls and finish materials — all small, all generic, all easy to carry out with a legitimate load.

Deliveries land before the space is ready. Long-lead material shows up because the supply chain says so, not because the project is ready for it, and then sits in a corridor for weeks.

The building has no doors yet. For much of the schedule there is no lockable envelope. The only security that exists is the security the contractor brings.

The real cost is schedule, not replacement. Losing a box of fittings is cheap. Losing a day because a crew cannot start is not, and equipment theft losses across the construction industry are estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually by insurance and law-enforcement data compilations, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Where the cage goes, and when it moves

Placement on a jobsite is a scheduling decision as much as a security decision. The enclosure has to be near the work without being in the way of the next trade.

• On a slab that is not scheduled for finishes soon. A loading bay, a future mechanical room or a corner of a parking level typically stays rough long enough to be useful.
• Where material can actually be delivered. If a pallet cannot reach it, the enclosure will be bypassed within a week.
• Out of the crane and lift path. Anything in the swing or travel path will eventually be struck; freestanding panels are not impact protection.
• Away from egress and fire routes. Temporary construction conditions still require usable exit paths, and the general storage and stacking requirements in 29 CFR 1926.250 apply to how material inside is stacked.
• Planned to move at least once. Assume the enclosure gets relocated when the work front moves. Bolted systems are designed for it; welded-in-place ones are not.
• Sited for light and sightlines. An enclosure a superintendent can see from the trailer window or a walking route is worth more than a stronger one hidden behind stacked material.

Owner-furnished equipment and the handover problem

The highest-consequence storage on many commercial projects is not the contractor’s own material. It is owner-furnished equipment: appliances, AV and IT hardware, medical or lab equipment, furniture, fixtures and specialty finishes delivered under someone else’s purchase order.

• Custody is contractual. Once owner-furnished material is accepted on site, someone is responsible for it. A defined controlled area makes that responsibility physical instead of theoretical.
• It arrives at the worst time. Deliveries land during finishes, when the site has the most trades, the most access and the least free space.
• It is rarely replaceable on schedule. Long-lead equipment cannot be re-ordered without moving the completion date.
• It needs an access list, not just a lock. A small number of named people should be able to open it, and the record of who opened it should be simple enough that people actually keep it.
• Punch-list and attic stock too. Spare tile, paint, filters and keys owed to the owner at closeout have a habit of disappearing in the last two weeks of a project.