What does a security guard do at a construction site?

The gate by day

A construction gate is a process. Deliveries are checked against the day’s schedule and directed to the right laydown area; subs are signed in by name and company; inspectors, the owner’s people and the architect are logged; unscheduled arrivals wait for the superintendent; the gate closes behind every truck. The log is the site’s record of who was on it when, and the answer to the question a superintendent asks on Monday about a tool crib that is short.

The yard by night

After the last truck leaves, the post becomes a patrol. The officer walks or drives the fence line looking for cuts and lifted panels, checks every gate is chained, checks the laydown yard and the conex boxes, checks fuel tanks and equipment cages, walks the rough-in floors where the copper is, notes lighting that is out and vehicles parked where they should not be, and speaks with anyone who is on or near the site who should not be. Rounds vary so they cannot be timed and every one is logged.

When something is found

A cut fence, an open gate, a missing reel or a person inside the site is a call to the superintendent’s after-hours number and, where there is evidence of entry, to police, followed by photographs and an incident report the same night. The officer secures what can be secured and stays with the situation until it is handed over.

Fire watch on the same site

When the site’s permit calls for a fire watch during welding, cutting or torch roofing, an officer trained for it stays where the sparks go and keeps the log for the permit file; on projects where a phase is occupied before its sprinkler or alarm system is in service, an impairment watch may be required as well. The construction hub covers each type of project, and the site preparation article explains what to have ready before the first night.