Economic temptation. It’s a fact, stealing from a construction site is much less complicated than robbing a hardware store. Moreover, what the Ministry of the Interior classifies under the label “simple theft on construction sites” is a phenomenon that has always existed. Except that, according to building professionals, things have taken on particularly worrying proportions in recent months, in particular due to the increase in the price of materials.
By consulting the crime statistics of the Ministry of the Interior, we observe a certain stability in the figures corresponding to “simple thefts on construction sites” in France. Even a slight drop, going from 16,846 facts in 2012 to 12,134 facts in 2021. The other thing that is obvious are the departments that have been at the top of the ranking for ten years in a changing order: the Mouths- du-Rhône, Gironde and the North. Moreover, it was the professionals of Hauts-de-France who were the first to sound the alarm: “In the region, 80% of public works companies complain of fuel theft on construction machinery and 43% who deplore the theft of equipment, ”says Nicolas Delecourt, general delegate of the Regional Federation of Public Works (FRTP).
Reservoir siphoning becomes ‘endemic’
Although he acknowledges that the siphoning of reservoirs was “almost a classic”, he maintains today that the phenomenon is becoming endemic: “the problem is that there is not really a solution against this, so the companies are rather resigned”, slips the FRTP delegate. Unless you fill the machines only strictly necessary: “Either the anti-theft caps are broken, or the tanks are pierced, he continues. So professionals prefer not to put security rather than see the material deteriorated. »
For the French Building Federation (FFB), excluding public works, fuel theft remains marginal. It is rather on the material that the delinquents let go. “Power tools in particular are a classic. On the other hand, we notice that there are waves of flights for very specific things ”, recognizes Laurent Debord, general delegate of the FFB of Gironde. In its sector, companies have recently been confronted with massive thefts of boilers on construction sites. “If it calms down a bit on this side, we are now in a wave of thefts of electrical boxes,” he explains. Hundreds according to him, whether they are posed or not. “The dismantling is always done very cleanly, probably by professionals,” says Laurent Debord.
Bungalows, machines, fire reserve…
In the North, it seems that thieves take what they find without any particular logic: “copper, cast iron, tiles… Many materials which have seen their costs soar in recent months”, lists the FRTB. There is also much more unusual: vehicle batteries, construction machinery, bungalows and even fire reserves. “One contractor even had the caravan he used to stay on his sites stolen,” Nicolas Delecourt is still surprised.
In addition to an impact on the construction sites, these thefts also induce additional costs for companies. On average 100,000 euros per year and per construction company in Hauts-de-France. “On the means of protection, a balance must be found between what it costs and the price of the equipment”, estimates the FRTB. Insurance, let’s not talk about it since “many companies offer premiums against theft as high as the price of the insured equipment”, adds the FFB of Gironde.