Replace extension cords when they show damage, not on a calendar.

Don’t wait for a specific number of months—inspect them weekly and swap out the second you see cuts, cracks, or a loose plug.

Daily construction site use is brutal. Cords get dragged over concrete, stepped on, kinked, and exposed to water and mud. Even if the outer jacket looks fine, internal wires can break from repeated flexing. A broken ground wire is invisible but deadly.

The standard advice is a daily visual inspection. In practice, that’s hard to enforce. So make it a Friday habit: unplug every cord, run your fingers along the full length, check both ends. Any nick, abrasion, or heat discoloration means it goes in the trash. Cords that see heavy abuse might only last a couple of months.

Your life is worth more than a $30 cord.