24 Worst Construction Fails You’ll Ever See

When it comes to any sort of construction, safety is always key. Employees need to feel like the environment they are working in is safe and free from potential hazards. But while the building site might be safe for workers, not everyone uses that same logic when it comes to designing the projects they are working on. Construction fails will have you shaking your head in shock as you understand just how poorly conceived some buildings and homes are and the lack of safety that occurs when undertaking these projects. 

Construction fails include everything from stairs that lead to nowhere, exposed wiring, strange toilet designs, and doors that fail to do their job. These are the sorts of disasters occupational health and safety managers would never tick off. 

As is the way of the internet, people love nothing more than exposing these unbelievable fails, with various websites and forums, such as the r/ConstructionFails subreddit and @construction.fail Instagram account, highlighting some of the worst fails. Read on and discover what the worst construction fails to look like and pray to god the people responsible never do work on your home. 

1. Stairway To Nowhere

Led Zeppelin might have sung about a “stairway to heaven,” but this construction blunder takes you nowhere. 

2. Water Run Off

We don’t think drains aren’t supposed to empty on a concrete path like this. 

3. Mind the Step

No idea what the thinking was when someone decided to put a door halfway up a staircase. Not only does it look weird but it’s a major safety hazard.

4. Toilet Safety Bar

Safety bars are used in many different areas of homes to help people who need something to grab onto when they move about. This safety bar in a bathroom is not only in a weird place (behind the toilet and not on the side), but is also built into the light switch. Budget construction at its finest. 

5. Roof Clock

Not only is this clock in a strange place, but it’s also upside down. 

6. Open Door Policy

Being able to shut the door while you go to the toilet is overrated anyway. 

7. Parkour

Good luck navigating this construction project. 

8. Safety Light

Installing this light was the right decision, it’s just the placement of the metal covering that might cause an incident or two. Hopefully, there’s never a need to quickly escape. 

9. The Throne

If you want to feel like a real king when going to the bathroom then this is the way to go about it. More evidence that people really have no clue when it comes to building and design. 

10. Secure Location

This is an image of a hotel door room. Too bad if you want to lock your room and keep your valuables safe. 

11. How Not To Install an Air Conditioner 

The person who installed this air conditioner might need to rethink their job. 

12. High-Speed Internet

When you really need broadband and decide to lay cables through a centuries-old building with historical value. 

13. Upside-Down Blueprints 

When someone on the construction site reads the blueprints upside-down. 

14. Love a Good Slide

Whatever construction company was in charge of designing the bathrooms in this hotel needs to rethink things. Imagine waking up to find your toothbrush in the toilet. 

15. Hit Yourself

When gym motivation fails. 

16. Bathroom With a View

The architect made a bit of a mistake when made the only access to the toilet available via the patio. 

17. Door Handle Protector 

Good to see this little thing is doing its job. 

18. Design Flaw

Only in New York would find an apartment constructed this badly. The contractor obviously didn’t have his glasses on.

19. Privacy Issues

After gym users complained about having no privacy due to the lack of a door in the men’s locker room, the gym installed this see-through door. Good job.

20. Building Stairs

The construction industry as a whole is pretty smart, but the engineers who designed this building must have been smoking the good stuff. 

21. Floating Scissor Lift

This is just asking for trouble. Floating a scissor lift in a pool so you can reach the ceiling is such an insane and unsafe idea, but somehow it worked. How they didn’t sink is anyone’s guess. 

22. Sink Issues

A little bit of misreading the design plans here. The tap is meant to be over the sink, not on the rim. 

23. Sharing is Caring

When you want to go poo poo with your friends. 

24. Disabled Access

Not sure this ramp is really that handicap accessible.