Building Security Tips for the Holiday Season

Security risks increase exponentially during the holiday seasons for high-rise buildings. Many residents travel for the holidays, move to warmer weather during the winter months, or have an influx of guests and family members in and out. These factors make it easy for intruders to make it into the building, especially if there are no procedures in place to track the many people and deliveries in and out of the building.

Here are some tips to improve security in your building this holiday season:

• Report any malfunctions for locks on any exterior doors to the strata manager immediately. Building security and mitigating potential losses are extremely important and considered an emergency. Don’t hesitate to call management after-hours if building security compromised. Obviously, if it is a matter that involves police intervention, call 911 first.
• Common areas of your building are safer when they are well attended to. The areas should be well lit, clean, and secure to deter criminals.
• Do not leave your strata door unlocked, even when you’re in the unit itself. Check the peephole before opening the door for anyone.
• Any windows accessible from the ground level should have adequate locking mechanisms, and possibly metal bars, depending on the area.
• Consider using a light timer when you’re away on vacation, to give your unit the appearance of being lived-in.
• If your home will be vacant for a long period of time, notify management so they aware of the time frame your unit will be vacant.
• When entering or exiting the building, make sure the door closes firmly behind you and that you’re not allowing strangers to enter behind you. This is especially important for automatic doors, wait to make sure it closes securely.
• If you see something suspicious, don’t shrug it off. Let building security or your strata manager know as soon as possible.
• If your strata has concierge services, they  should store packages in a locked, secure location. The holiday season brings in an abundance of packages and having procedures for check-ins and check-outs of each package will help deter losses. At FirstService Residential properties with concierge services, we log each package within FirstService Residential Connect™ and track all movements of the package, as well as, who checked the package in and out.

The only way to maintain a safe community is for all residents to participate and be involved. Reminders and communications assist all parties in working together for the common goal of maintaining a healthy community. If you need to contact management, or other residents, you can always use your community’s www.fsrconnectnow.com for a variety of resources.