Securing your building site: theft, trespassers and what your insurer expects

A building site holds things people want to steal and things that can hurt people who wander in. Insurers know both, and they write conditions about them. Below: what the Gardaí advise, what theft conditions in a site policy can look like, what to do at each stage, and what to do after a loss.

The examples come from one published policy, Optis Insurance’s Self Build Insurance (version V082024), so yours may differ: the policy and its schedule (the sheet listing your cover, limits and excess) decide. The glossary has short explanations of materials on site and theft and plant and tools cover. Claims process detail is in making a self-build insurance claim, and comparing insurers is in who offers self-build insurance.

Why insurers care about site security

The Garda information sheet on building site security says sites are “by nature easy targets with a ready market for all types of materials, tools and machinery”, and that property has been stolen and not missed, or not reported, for days. An insurer pays out on a loss it did not see happen, so it writes down what it expects you to have done.

Conditions you may find:

• Unfixed metal. The Optis wording excludes theft of unfixed non-ferrous metals (metals without iron, such as copper, lead and aluminium) unless an authorised employee or agent of the insured is actually on site, or the metal is in a securely locked hut, container or building (General Exclusions 18, printed page 17).
• Vehicles in transit. Its transit cover (for materials being moved to or from your site) does not apply to a load in an unattended vehicle unless the vehicle is in a locked and secured enclosure, all keys are removed and any alarm or immobiliser is in full operation (Transit, printed page 10).
• A general duty to keep protections running. It requires you to take all practicable steps to prevent loss and to keep protection and security systems, including those you told the insurer about, in force at all times. If you break that duty, the insurer does not have to pay, unless you can show the breach made no difference to how the loss happened (General Conditions 1, printed page 18).
• Reporting. After theft you must notify the Gardaí, and tell the broker as soon as practicable; a late notice can let the insurer refuse or reduce a claim (Claims Conditions 1, printed page 20).

Questions to put to your broker before the first delivery, and to get answered in writing:

1. What must be locked away, and when? Overnight only, or also while the site is occupied by trades?
2. Which items have their own theft limit (a lower maximum payout) or a higher theft excess (more for you to pay)?
3. Are plant, tools and a hired container or hut covered, at what limit, and are trades’ tools excluded?
4. Is fuel covered or excluded?
5. What counts as “unattended”, and what happens over weekends, bank holidays and the Christmas shutdown?
6. If I tell you about a measure such as an alarm or CCTV, am I then required to keep it running?
7. What do I have to do if work stops, and when must I tell you? See the delayed or paused build steps and what a stoppage of work clause says.

What the Gardaí advise

The Garda Building Site Security information sheet is written for the construction industry. It says its advice is not exhaustive and not mandatory, but much of it carries over to a single house. The main points:

• Materials. Check deliveries in. If materials are not being used at once, store them inside a secure compound or building. Where possible, have them delivered as they are needed. Never stack materials next to the perimeter fence, because that makes it easier to climb over or pass property out. Where a steel container is used as a store, lock it with a good quality closed-shackle padlock (one with the U-shaped bar mostly covered, so bolt cutters cannot reach it), and put something heavy across its door.
• Plant and machinery. Park it in a well-lit area inside a secure compound when not in use. Remove ignition keys, and fit and use immobilisers; security locks and ground fixings are also available. Keep a record of the engine number and the chassis or vehicle identification number (VIN) and any distinguishing marks, with a clear photograph. When plant arrives from a hire company, make one person responsible for accepting it and completing the documents.
• Tools. Have a secure storage area. Record serial and model numbers, mark tools by stamping, etching or other means, photograph them, and keep tools overnight in steel containers with closed-shackle padlocks. Trades should mark their own tools and lock them away. Buy tools only from a genuine seller.
• Keys. Keep the number of keys to a minimum, make named people responsible and lock spare keys away.
• Gates, fences and lighting. Keep the number of entrances to a minimum. Gates should be fixed so they cannot be lifted off, and secured with a hardened steel chain and a closed-shackle padlock. For small sites it recommends perimeter fences or hoardings, with gaps that allow people to see in but not get in. Lighting should let an intruder be seen from outside the site.
• Records and reporting. Keep a record of vehicles on site and of deliveries. Report all thefts.

On a single plot with no hoarding, a fence line, a gate you can lock and a lockable container will go further than anything electronic.

Measures stage by stage

Stage	What arrives or is exposed	What to do
Site setup and foundations	Digger and dumper, fuel, tools, reinforcement, a site hut	Fence the plot and fit a gate that locks. Park plant in one place with keys removed and immobilisers used. Record plant serial numbers and photograph it. Keep fuel out of sight and locked where possible. See site setup and foundations.
Open shell, walls to roof	Scaffold, timber, insulation, windows delivered but not fitted, tools stored overnight	Keep stacks away from the fence. Order for the day of fitting. Lock tools in a container each evening. Consider where windows will be stored before they go in. See roof and weathertight shell.
First fix (pipes and cables inside the walls, before plastering)	Copper pipe, cable, boilers, cylinders, radiators	Ask the insurer’s rule on unfixed metal before the delivery. Take delivery on the day of fitting, and lock the rest away, or, if your policy allows it, have someone you have named to the insurer on site. Photograph each run before it is closed. See first fix.
Pre-move-in	Kitchens, appliances, sanitaryware, flooring, doors	Keep deliveries to the days they are installed. Make sure the house itself can be locked, with doors fitted and temporary locks if needed, before fittings arrive. Ask your broker whether cover changes while the finished house is empty, and for how long. See second fix and finishes.

Over any pause, including the holiday shutdown, take away or lock up what you can, check gates and locks, and email your broker before the pause starts, saying when work stops and when it should restart. Some policies suspend cover after a stoppage (the Optis wording after three months without written agreement); the delayed or paused build section lists what to send.

Keeping people safe: trespassers and public liability

A site that is open to the road invites people in, and some of them will be children. The 2013 Construction Regulations make the project supervisor for the construction stage (the person legally in charge of safety during the build) responsible for coordinating measures so that only authorised people go onto the site (regulation 16(h)). A contractor responsible for a site must also ensure that accessible excavations and openings near where people work have a barrier or cover (regulation 55). If you are acting as your own project supervisor, those duties can fall to you, as the project owner; see project managing a self-build and ask your engineer which duties apply to you.

Practical measures: fence the plot and keep the gate shut, put warning signs on the fence, barrier or cover open trenches and pits, and take ladders off scaffolds and out of excavations at the end of the day. Public liability insurance responds to injury to other people, and your broker will ask what precautions you have, such as fencing and covered trenches. Answer in writing and keep a copy. See insurance when you project manage for who carries what.

If there is a theft

1. Make the site safe and secure what remains. Change the lock or move the rest.
2. Report it to the Gardaí and note the report number.
3. Tell your broker as soon as practicable, in writing, giving the date you discovered it. Do not wait for a better list.
4. Do not clear up or repair until the insurer has had a chance to inspect, where that is safe.
5. Assemble the evidence. Delivery dockets, invoices, hire documents, serial numbers, photographs from the end of each stage and the Garda report.
6. Review the security gap that let it happen, and tell the insurer what you have changed.

The full process, including what an insurer may ask for and how a refusal can be challenged, is in making a self-build insurance claim.

Common mistakes

1. Taking delivery of copper or a boiler on Friday and fitting it on Tuesday. The wording may exclude it over the weekend.
2. Leaving keys in the digger. It breaks the Garda advice and may break a policy condition.
3. Stacking materials against the fence.
4. Telling the insurer about an alarm or CCTV, then switching it off. A “keep in force” condition applies to it.
5. No record of what was on site. Without dockets and photographs, a claim is hard to prove.
6. Assuming tools and plant are covered because the house is. They are normally a separate item.
7. Forgetting the idle periods, such as the holiday shutdown or a stoppage, when nobody sees the site.

What to do next

1. Check which covers you need, including materials, plant and public liability.
2. Put the questions above to your broker and keep the answers.
3. Fence the plot, fit a lockable gate and arrange a locked container before the first delivery.
4. Start a list of plant, tools and serial numbers with photographs, and keep delivery dockets.
5. Plan deliveries around fitting dates, especially at first fix and before move-in.