Given the economic volatility of the past year, construction leaders don’t need to be convinced that their jobsites are targets. They see it in missing materials, damaged equipment, broken windows and the “small” incidents that turn into a week of rescheduling.
The latest research from Pro-Vigil puts numbers around a truth construction executives live each day: jobsite security is no longer something you revisit only after a major loss. Now, it’s an operating condition you plan for because it impacts schedule, labor planning and profitability.
Pro-Vigil’s sixth annual State of Physical Security survey, conducted in September 2025, found that physical security incidents stayed the same or increased for 88% of businesses in 2025.
Construction leaders were the largest segment of respondents (65 of 114), and their responses underscore the same message in sharper terms: 89% said incidents increased or stayed the same, while only 11% reported a decrease.
If incidents aren’t easing, it begs the question: where does the pain actually show up?
Crime’s Biggest Cost: Business and Project Momentum
Construction respondents were clear about how incidents hit the business. They most often reported that incidents affect inventory (32%) and lead to damaged assets (32%). For one in five leaders (20%), the disruption goes further, contributing to project delays.
And project delays are the quiet killer. Theft and vandalism are easy to quantify when you tally up replacement costs, but crime rarely stays contained within the confines of a jobsite. A missing delivery leads to an idle crew. A damaged piece of equipment turns into a scramble for replacements or rentals. A broken window causes redundancy, inspections, paperwork and insurance claims. Every disruption builds pressure downstream and makes project leaders’ lives even more difficult.
The broader survey results across industries show the same pattern: respondents cited damage to assets (27%), impact to inventory (21%) and project delays (18%) as the top ways incidents hurt operations.
Construction, however, experiences those effects more quickly because the project chain is dependent and because so much value sits outdoors, after hours, behind temporary barriers, and sometimes without any internet connection.
A Familiar Story
Construction crime has become an all too familiar occurrence throughout my career. In one example, we worked with a large homebuilder in the Spokane-area as they faced a problem that still resonates with builders everywhere. As a major U.S. home builder operating across the country and in many markets, the construction company’s field teams were constantly faced with balancing speed, safety and consistency at scale.
In Spokane, rising theft in nearby subdivisions prompted a shift in strategy. Their “boneyard” — an area used to store extra lumber for framing — became a magnet for thieves. The project superintendent described thieves taking large batches of lumber at a time, turning a routine staging area into a recurring operational risk.
What mattered most wasn’t only the dollar value. It was downstream disruption.
When materials disappear overnight, crews show up and can’t proceed. That triggers rescheduling and ripple effects across trades, which is exactly the operational impact construction respondents highlighted in this year’s research.
This construction company’s experience also reflects how security technology is increasingly expected to do more than just deter theft. For example, this company used video to verify whether crews were onsite without making a long drive to see for themselves.
And in a separate incident involving a driver injury where no one witnessed what happened, video was what helped in documenting and reporting the incident.
What Leaders Attribute Rising Jobsite Crime To
When asked what’s fueling jobsite crime, construction leaders pointed first to forces outside their fences: a rise in local crime (26%) and the state of the economy (19%). Tariffs (6%) and insider problems (6%) followed, with supply chain issues (2%) and security guard shortages (2%) also referenced.
This outlook aligns with the full report’s finding that rising local crime and the state of the economy were again the top perceived drivers of increased incidents across industries. However, it’s notable that construction respondents placed more emphasis on “a rise in local crime” and “the state of the economy” than the broader respondent population did.
Those macro pressures shape what leaders worry about entering 2026. Construction respondents’ top concerns about their security posture — inflation (21%), unemployment (18%) and tariffs (16%) — mirror the broader survey’s economic anxiety, but again to a greater degree.
Put simply: when costs are volatile and projects are already running lean, the operational damage of an incident grows, and the construction industry feels it.
AI: The Gap Between Belief and Action
Across all industries, only 15% of respondents said their physical security strategy uses AI, yet 61% believe AI can help stop physical security incidents. Construction’s numbers tell the same story but with a wider gap: just 11% say their strategy uses AI today, but 62% believe AI can help stop incidents.
For construction leaders, AI should no longer be a buzzword. Gone are the days where AI was a novel concept. Now, it should be a practical tool for earlier detection, fewer false alarms and faster response. Today, AI and remote video monitoring (RVM) can team up for AI-assisted detection backed by trained professionals who can verify incidents and activate audio/visual deterrents or coordinate dispatch/emergency response as a breach or incident is in progress.
And because cost predictability matters, a strategically layered system, backed by AI-powered insights and analysis, is an effective way for construction companies to keep eyes on the project site around the clock. Still, there’s a delay in implementing AI into security strategies, and it’s a delay that will separate real preventative efforts from reactive ones.
The 2026 Construction Playbook: Protecting the Timeline
If jobsite crime is an operational constant, your security approach needs to look more like an ongoing plan than a one-time purchase.
Treat security as dynamic. Reassess coverage as the job evolves: when high-value materials arrive, when perimeters shift and when access changes. Prioritize fast verification so you have a chance to intervene before theft becomes loss and loss becomes delay. And build deterrence into the response with visible systems and verified audio/visual actions that signal active monitoring.
Right now, the bottom line is hard to ignore: 52% of businesses predict physical security incidents will increase in 2026.
The builders who perform best this year will be the ones who protect their project timelines by making security consistent, verified and operationally integrated into how the job runs.
