Before Your Build Your Building — Pre Construction Security Tips

The reality of construction in today’s world is that security and safety must be included as an integral part of a new structure’s design and planning. Not only must the building itself be planned and built in accordance with security best practices, but the surrounding site must also be included in security planning. Before you start a major construction project, consult with a security professional to incorporate important security features into your building and its grounds. Effective pre construction security planning will make your building and its occupants safer, preventing harm from both natural and man-made forces.

Pre Construction Security and Safety Basics

Modern buildings and their surrounding sites and neighborhoods must be able to withstand or deter threats from a range of potentially devastating sources, including:

• Weather, including high winds, strong storms, excessive ice or snowfall, floods, electrical storms, and other weather phenomena.
• Natural forces, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, mudslides, and other dangerous events that cannot be foreseen, prevented, or stopped.
• Human-imposed threats, such as terrorism, shootings, deliberate damage and vandalism, theft, and other forms of conflict and violence. It would be impossible to predict any and all possible threats that could occur in a new building or within its grounds. However, using sensible pre construction security planning and design, a new project can be made as safe as possible.

Assessing Pre Construction Security and Safety Requirements

Careful analysis of a building’s security and safety needs is vital to a successful construction project.

Accomplishing this goal will usually require collaboration with security experts or design professionals who specialize in security and safety planning. Some of the requirements for effective building security and safety include:

• Reducing risks while ensuring the building and surrounding spaces are functional, appealing, and accessible.
• Determining potential risks and forces that could threaten a building, its occupants, and members of the public in nearby spaces.
• Deciding on the priority of areas and structures to be protected and determining how that protection can best be applied.
• Recognizing that some security and safety measures may be physically impossible to include, beyond the project’s budget, or otherwise unavailable, and taking steps to account for the lack as thoroughly as possible in other areas.
• Choosing security countermeasures and safety features to be incorporated into the building, its public areas, and its grounds.
• Applying a design that allows for the inclusion of additional security and safety features in the future.
• Providing for effective site management and quick response to any threats that occur at multiple levels of severity.

Elements of Successful Pre Construction Security and Safety Design

The best pre construction security and safety design takes a comprehensive approach to protecting a building, its occupants, and its surroundings. Flexibility for alterations and expansions should be incorporated into the design in case the building’s use changes in the future or new safety and security features are necessary. A successfully designed and constructed building should provide:

• Physical deterrence, such as barriers, increased size of security zones, reinforced walls, or other features that can deter physical threats.
• Psychological deterrence, such as clearly defined and obvious security features that can intimidate or discourage any human-based threats.
• Clear identification of use, which includes structural elements that make it clear what the building is used for and what kinds of activities are not encouraged or welcome in the building or on its grounds.
• Effective surveillance and observation perspectives, such as open lines of sight in important areas, plenty of areas for installing security cameras, clearly positioned security stations or observation decks, and easy visual monitoring of doors, windows, public areas, open spaces, and approaches.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about Plumbing, HVACR, Fire Protection and Alarm Systems in Mechanical, Commercial and Residential settings. For more information on pre construction security and how to plan for the security and safety of your new building, and to view projects we’ve worked on, visit our website!