A local builder has welcomed proposed new laws targeting construction site thieves but warned the practice could get out of hand if left unchecked.
The Tasmanian government announced on Saturday that it would draft legislation to help curtail a rise in building site theft and would draw on the laws created by mainland jurisdictions.
This could include requiring copper sellers to produce identification when selling to a scrap metal yard, as in Western Australia, or banning cash transactions, like what South Australia put into law in 2025.
Tas City Builders owner Steve Simeoni said that while copper and scrap metal have been a target of thieves of late, all manner of building materials and tools can be stolen.
Ramping up
"I've been in the industry 30 years and it's always been a problem but it's ramping up," Mr Simeoni said.
"So copper is probably the main problem but now it's tools as well and we get broken into all the time.
"We've got a blanket rule now, the guys that work for Tas City are responsible for their own tools if they are left on site because it's too much of an insurance liability these days."
Copper theft has been on the rise as commodity prices for the metal have been hovering around the record high since the turn of the new year.
Cost hikes
Mr Simeoni said property theft has contributed to the cost of insuring work sites, which has increased by around 50 to 60 per cent in the past two years.
Then there is the added cost of going to more extensive lengths to secure the job site, including almost "bulletproof" storage containers.
A lot of the extra money spent ultimately falls on the consumer.
"We need to lock things up, [for example] we're boarding areas up that haven't quite finished being at lock up stage," he said.
"We do that and that does cost the consumer as well and sometimes we have to do monitored security in certain areas, so that's another burden for the consumer.
"It's not only big construction sites, it's small jobs as well, they're everywhere, even to the extent of when we're working in town they'll blatantly walk into sheds that we're in - our guys just chased one last month through town."
Scrapping threat
Housing Industry Association (HIA) Tasmania Executive Director Benjamin Price confirmed that rising insurance costs are a statewide issue, and that if laws are to be reformed, they should focus on the scrap metal "disposal pathway".
"Theft increases claims and risk, and insurers price in that risk," Mr Price said.
"If we crack down on the disposal of stolen scrap metal, we remove the market that fuels these thefts in the first place.
"HIA supports practical measures that tighten identification checks and record keeping in the scrap metal trade, require reporting of suspicious offers, and give regulators the ability to audit and investigate scrap metal dealers where necessary."
Mr Simeoni said the police have been good at tracking down and retrieving stolen power tools although copper and other general building materials are more difficult to recover.
And while he believes the stealing is more "opportunistic" than organised in Tasmania at the moment, he does not want to see it become more of an organised crime like he has heard about on the mainland.
"I think they find it hard to with the copper, I don't think the copper's traceable, but tools are because they've got serial numbers," he said.
"Every time there's a break in, even though we can't get any money for it or we don't expect tools back, we give good descriptions and they're pretty responsive.
"So the idiots that steal they are getting called by the sounds of it, we are getting tools back and the police do well to help out.
"I think these laws if they're carried out correctly can only be a good thing for the consumers and all people involved."