A construction site is a plan for a building that hasn’t been constructed yet. Sites are specific to the type of building, and each includes an inventory that allows the products required for its construction to be surface transported there. They may be placed on any empty asteroid lot, including those that are controlled by another Crew.
Construction sites may be placed anywhere, but if the placing Crew does not control the underlying lot, they must travel to the lot and back to their base again to place a site. If they do control it, placing the site is instant.
Only once all of the materials required to build a building have been moved onto a construction site may construction begin. Only the Crew that placed the site may construct the building. That Crew must travel to the site, and spend 1/8th of the total construction time there before returning to their base. Once construction is complete, the construction site is replaced with the fully functional building.
When a building is deconstructed it reverts to the equivalent construction site, and some but not all of the contruction materials will be in the site’s inventory.
Empty construction sites may be deleted. Sites with materials on them may not be deleted.
Construction sites, just like the buildings they become, are owned by a single Crew. Only that owning Crew may add or remove construction supplies from the site, or begin construction or delete the empty construction site.
Separately, the underlying lot is controlled by a Crew. That may be the asteroid owner by default, or if lots are leaseable, whichever Crew leased the lot. If the controller of the lot is not the same as the Crew that placed a construction site, the lot controller may take control of the construction site at any time, becoming its owner (and the owner of any materials on the site.)
Great care must be taken when placing construction sites on lots that are leasable but not yet leased, because anyone could come along and see the site and materials on it, lease the lot, and then take control of the site and its materials. Rather, lease the lot before placing a construction site.
Construction sites prevent other sites from being placed on the lot, effectively reserving the lot for the Crew that placed the site, and are free to place, which is convenient… too convenient. Asteroids would rapidly fill up with unused construction sites if they were able to reserve lots for their placing Crews indefinitely.
Instead, construction sites have a 48-hour “grace period” during which only the Crew that placed it is able to add or remove products or start construction. After the grace period has expired, any other Crew may take control of a site and gain control of any products remaining in its inventory, just like the lot controller can do at any time, even before the grace period expires.
When placing a construction site, make sure the needed materials will be able to be sourced and transported to the site, and construction started, within 48 hours.