Queensland Police are investigating a series of related break and enters across the Moreton Police District, and they say newly built estates and new home builds are being deliberately targeted. The list of stolen items in their 2 October appeal reads like a fit-out schedule: white goods, air conditioning units, hot water systems, timber, tiles, electrical and plumbing supplies, fuel and trade tools.
Ten days before that appeal, on the Sunshine Coast, police say a group of youths entered an apartment construction site at Sippy Downs at about 11pm on Tuesday 22 September, let off multiple fire extinguishers and graffitied the walls. No property was taken, which is a reminder that damage and delay are a risk even when nothing is stolen.
If you are pricing after-hours cover before fit-out starts, this is how we would go about keeping a construction site secure at that stage. It builds on our earlier guide, How to keep your construction site safe and secure, by looking at one stage in particular: lock-up.
What lock-up stage means
Lock-up is the point where a building can be locked, but nobody is living in it and the trades are still coming and going. In QBCC contract terms it is called the enclosed stage: external wall cladding and roof fixed, structural flooring laid, and external doors and windows fixed, even if only temporarily.
From that point the fit-out materials start arriving. Plasterboard, cabinetry, tiles, appliances, hot water units and air conditioners all land on a site that now has doors that lock, but not much else protecting it.
Why lock-up is the weak point
Three things stack up at lock-up.
- The stock is worth more. Before lock-up there is little worth carrying away. After it, appliances, fixtures and tools can be stored behind a door.
- The site is quiet. In our view, a closed-up house on a half-built estate with few neighbours is easy to approach after dark.
- Access gets loose. Temporary locks, lockboxes, and keys or codes passed from trade to trade mean nobody can say who has access.
Start with access and key control
Most of the work here costs nothing but discipline. The police advice for builders covers much of it: keep a list of authorised workers, set site curfews, and make sure every worker understands the site security procedures.
In practice, that means:
- One person owns keys and lockbox codes for each site, and a written register shows who holds them.
- Change lockbox codes between trades, and whenever someone leaves the job.
- Sign-in and a site induction for everyone who comes onto site, including suppliers and visitors.
- A set curfew, and a single after-hours number for anyone who needs to attend outside it.
- Machinery left inoperative with the keys removed when it is not in use.
Fencing, lighting and what the street can see
Temporary fencing and gates on a house block only slow someone down, but slowing them down matters. Keep stock behind the building line, not on the verge. Use a lockable container or a secured fenced area for tools and materials, and mark valuable items so they can be identified later.
Police also suggest removing packaging from high-value items such as white goods, so offenders are not alerted to what is available. Have deliveries arrive in the morning and installed the same day where you can, rather than sitting on site overnight.
Sensor lights and security lighting help deter offenders and improve the chance of identification, according to police. Put a sign at the front with your business details and an after-hours contact number, which is also on the police list.
Talk to the neighbours and the builders on adjoining lots. Tell them your usual working hours and ask them to report anyone on site after hours, loitering nearby, or removing items.
CCTV and alarms: useful, but they do not stop anyone alone
Cameras help with identification and evidence. Police list CCTV alongside lighting as a way to deter offenders and improve the chances of identification. In the Sippy Downs appeal, police asked for any CCTV or dashcam vision from the area.
Cameras and alarms record or signal. They do not arrive. Ask what happens when an alarm triggers at 11pm: who gets the call, who attends, and what they report back. A virtual patrol through a CCTV livestream is useful when an alarm trips, but it is not a replacement for a marked car on the road.
Mobile patrols or static guard
Police specifically point to security patrols during the lock-up stage. For a spread-out new estate, mobile patrols are usually the practical option rather than a guard on every lot.
- Mobile patrols suit spread-out estates, where one marked car can check several houses and a stock compound through the night. ANSIC's mobile patrols include lockup and open, premise integrity and alarm callouts from a marked car.
- A static guard suits one high-value site: a large compound with stock stacked up, a multi-storey build, or a site where the risk is a single gate.
You may need both across a project. Decide it per stage as the stock on site changes, not once for the whole job.
What to put in a security brief
A provider can only quote what you tell them. Include:
- Site addresses and lot numbers, and the stage each is at.
- The lock-up date and the expected fit-out dates.
- What is stored on site and where: appliances, hot water units, copper, tools, fuel.
- Working hours and curfew, and when deliveries arrive.
- Who holds keys and codes, and who the after-hours contact is.
- Any CCTV, alarms or lighting already installed, and who answers them.
- Neighbouring sites you want checked on the same run.
- What you want back: a report each morning, photos, or a call straight away for an incident.
What a provider should quote
Ask for these in writing, so you can compare like with like.
- Hours and frequency. The number of visits per night, or the post hours for a guard, and which nights.
- Alarm callouts. Whether they are included, and what is charged per attendance.
- Reporting. ANSIC officers clock in on a GPS time clock and scan QR or NFC checkpoints on patrol, with clock-ins, scans and incidents written to an occurrence log. Ask any provider you are comparing what record they give you and how fast.
- Who turns up. In Queensland, a business that supplies security services for payment needs a security firm licence, even if the work is subcontracted, and the staff it supplies must hold a licence for the work they are doing. Ask to see both, and ask whether the officers are employees or subcontractors.
- Changes. How the quote moves when lock-up becomes fit-out, or when a site finishes.
Ready to price after-hours cover?
Tell us the sites, the lock-up dates and the stock that has to stay on site, and we will build a quote around it. ANSIC provides construction site security in Brisbane and across South East Queensland, including Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast. See our construction site security page, then use Contact Us, or call 1300 240 829. ANSIC has been doing this work in South East Queensland since 2010.
