If you own a commercial property, you know better than anyone does how important it is to protect your investment. It doesn’t matter if it’s an office building or an apartment block, if you haven’t taken steps to secure your property, you’re risking your investment, your tenants and your wellbeing.

To find out how you can improve the security of your premise, read on.

Environmental Risk Assessment

The first step towards securing your property is to understand the potential risks and where they may come from. Take a walk around the neighbourhood, and take note of any empty lots, unlit areas, dark laneways, alcohol vendors, and parks. Pay attention to the security measures that nearby buildings have installed, as it may give you an idea of how secure the property owner feels.

It is worth contacting your local police station and requesting information on local crime statistics, as well as assessing their proximity to your property, and how quickly they would be able to respond should the need arise.

Reinforce standoff distance

Determine the space between your building and nearby vehicles, the ‘standoff distance’. In many urban areas, this can be quite small. Make sure you’re paying attention to the local speed limits, parking situations, corners and traffic lights. If there is a risk of cars hitting the building you may want to consider solutions such as bollards, heavy planters, or reinforced fences to slow down any out-of-control traffic.

CCTV cameras

The value of installing CCTV cameras on commercial property cannot be overestimated. Not only do they act as a visible deterrent to anyone planning a break-in, they can also provide valuable reassurance to tenants working or living within the building. With the high definition colour cameras available, they can help the police identity the culprits, which drastically improves your chances of recovering any stolen property.

With cutting edge technology it’s now possible to access the live feed from any smart device from anywhere in the world. This allows you to assess the situation instantly in the case of an alarm being tripped.

It is extremely important to be aware of privacy laws when installing CCTV cameras within your property.

Alarm monitoring systems

Keeping your commercial property protected against unauthorized access starts to get tricky. Unless you have an established relationship with your tenants, it can be very difficult to be sure who’s getting access, especially if there are physical keys to keep track of.

Alarm monitoring systems for commercial properties are similar to those you find in private homes, and will set off an alarm and alert the police or a private security patrol if the right authorisation code isn’t entered within a set timeframe. There’s a lot of customisation options with monitoring systems, including trigger points, activation systems

There are a number of system platforms for monitoring, and the right choice for your property will depend on the location, size and existing security, as well as the level of risk. To find out what would be the best choice for your property, it is worth speaking to a security expert.

Regular maintenance

Whatever security measures you’ve decided on are only effective if they’re operating properly. Make sure to conduct regular checks so that any fault with your locks, cameras, alarm system, or any other measure you’ve taken can be repaired as soon as possible. Repair any breakages to doors, windows or the roof, and if you are using keyless entry locks or an alarm system make sure to change the access codes regularly.

If appropriate, ensure your tenants or employees are aware of safety protocols, and make sure communication is open so they are able to report any potential threats or problems to you and to maintenance.

Visible security measures

Don’t be afraid to make it obvious that you have taken measures to secure your property against intruders. The presence of CCTV camera, alarm systems and access control measures such as digital keyless entry can all help deter potential intruders that might be looking for an easy way to break in.