Focus on Jobsite Hazards During Fire Prevention Week
Oct. 8-14 is National Fire Prevention Week, an annual public outreach and awareness campaign by the National Fire Protection Association.
NAHB has resources to help builders keep residential construction sites as fire-resistant as possible, beginning with basic housekeeping, storage, and preparedness practices, especially entering the cold season:
- Keep the worksite clear of extraneous items and clean up spills immediately.
- Be aware of fuel and ignition sources on the jobsite, and ensure proper placement and storage.
- Ensure rooms have proper ventilation before spraying paint and other solvents.
- Ensure temporary heaters are being properly used.
- Keep fire extinguishers within easy reach, and make sure workers are trained to use them.
Serious fires on home building jobsites are rare, but they can be very destructive. And all fires are fairly easy to prevent with diligent planning and maintenance.
Winter is an especially dangerous time as many sites use temporary heaters when working on interiors. These heaters can be knocked over, left on, or simply malfunction, leading to fires that can quickly spread. Proper use of space heaters is essential to keeping workers safe.
Take this week as an opportunity to stop and think about fire safety on your jobsites. Is everyone aware of the escape plan? When was the last time fire extinguishers were checked? Is housekeeping a daily task?
You’re probably already covered. But stop and think about it, and ask the questions to make sure.
For more on home building site fire safety, watch the NAHB Toolbox Talk below or visit the fire prevention toolkit.
Latest from NAHBNow
Jan 20, 2026
Smart Sourcing, Smarter Basis: How AI Is Changing Land AcquisitionFor decades, the process of screening off-market sites has remained painfully slow. But a shift is happening as top-tier land teams are moving away from manual data aggregation and toward AI-driven workflows to eliminate non-viable sites in minutes.
Jan 16, 2026
Building Material Price Growth Remains Elevated Despite a Sluggish MarketResidential building material price growth continued to climb toward the end of 2025, even as the new home construction market showed signs of slowing.
Latest Economic News
Jan 20, 2026
New Single-Family Home Size Trends: Third Quarter 2025New single-family home size has been generally falling since 2015 as a response to declining affordability conditions. An exception occurred when new home size increased in 2021 as interest rates reached historic lows. However, as interest rates increased in 2022 and 2023, and housing affordability worsened, the demand for home size has trended lower.
Jan 20, 2026
Third Quarter 2025 Multifamily Construction DataAccording to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts increased during the third quarter of 2025. For the quarter, 119,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 114,000 were built-for-rent.
Jan 19, 2026
Soft Conditions for Single-Family Built-for-RentSingle-family built-for-rent construction fell back in the third quarter of 2025, as a higher cost of financing and increased multifamily supply crowded out development.