Security And Lock-Up After Installation

On a conventional site, a building becomes valuable slowly. There is a frame, then a roof, then a lock-up stage weeks later.

A factory-built dwelling skips all of that. It arrives complete, with joinery, appliances and finishes already in it, and it lands in a single day.

Which means the site goes from empty to holding a finished building in an afternoon.

What that changes

**Lock-up is immediate.** Doors, windows and glazing are installed in the factory. The building is weathertight and securable from the moment it is set down and the modules are joined.

That removes the longest exposure period in conventional construction, and it is one of the reasons [weather and programme risk](/blog/weather-and-programme-risk) behave differently on a modular project.

**The remaining exposure is concentrated.** The period between installation and handover is short, and during it there is a complete dwelling on a site that may still be a construction site.

Services connections, external works, landscaping and the final inspections all happen in that window, and the building is at its most attractive and least monitored.

What is actually at risk

**Appliances and fixtures,** which are already installed.

**Copper and cabling,** including the solar array if one is fitted.

**Damage rather than theft,** which is the more common outcome. A finished internal surface damaged during service connection is an expensive repair on a building that was complete when it arrived.

**The accessible fit-out.** Grab rails, hoist tracks and assistive fittings in a Specialist Disability Accommodation dwelling are specified items, and replacing one is a lead time as well as a cost.

How it is managed

**Secure the site before the module arrives, not after.** Fencing, gates and lighting are part of the site preparation, alongside the [groundworks](/blog/groundworks-and-foundations-for-modular).

**Keys and access controlled from day one.** The module arrives with its locks fitted. Who holds a key, and how many keys exist, is decided before the lift rather than during it.

**Temporary power for lighting,** which is the cheapest deterrent available and frequently the last thing arranged.

**Protection of finished surfaces** during the connection period. Floor protection, door protection and covers on fixtures. The building is finished, so it gets treated as a finished building rather than as a site.

**A short window.** The best security on a modular project is speed. A site that is prepared properly, with services stubbed and ready, turns the exposure period from weeks into days.

On regional and remote sites

The exposure is different rather than greater.

Fewer passers-by, longer response times, and frequently no permanent presence. But also less traffic and more visibility of anyone who arrives.

The practical answer on a [regional or remote site](/blog/modular-for-regional-and-remote-sites) is usually a local arrangement: someone nearby who checks the site, and a connection programme compressed so the building is not sitting complete and unoccupied for a month.

The insurance position

Who carries the risk, and from when, is a contractual matter and it should be explicit.

A module in the factory, a module in transit, a module on a trailer waiting to be lifted, and a module installed but not handed over are four different positions. The cover has to follow the building through all of them without a gap.

That is part of what a [turnkey contract](/blog/what-a-turnkey-contract-covers) resolves, and it is worth reading before it matters rather than after.

The underlying point

The compressed programme that makes modular delivery attractive also compresses the security window into a short, high-value period.

Planned for, it is a smaller exposure than conventional construction carries across months. Unplanned for, it is a finished dwelling standing on an open site.

Talk to us about a project.

MADEmodular / MADEbetter.