Security Tips for Apartment/Condominium Buildings
As a property manager or owner of a condominium or apartment building, you are often tasked with juggling numerous concerns and questions in relation to keeping the property and its tenants safe and secure.
Protecting yourself, your property and your property management business is essential and requires swift and intuitive installation and management of the best solutions for your specific building.
In general, property crime in Canada is estimated to cost almost $4 billion for property owners a year, according to Canada’s General Social Survey. Installing proper security systems in Canada is a must for your residential properties, as it can have a significant impact on your property management company’s bottom line.
If you own multiple condos or apartment buildings, know that each of your residential properties will require a unique set of safety and security measures. These security features will depend on a variety of things such as the building size, location, and the tenants.
Although the specific needs for each residential property will vary, there are some standard measures you can employ to protect your residential property and tenants.
Security Systems
As a proprietor of multiple residential properties, having dynamic, intuitive security systems can be extremely beneficial to protect your properties. As these security systems continue evolving, they can not only protect you from crime-related damage but can also alert you of activity occurring inside or in close proximity to your apartment or condo building.
These kinds of alerts can help keep your property secure and safe from any other lingering threats that can be caught by a security system such as fire, weather-related damage, etc.
There are a number of ways you can use different types of security systems to protect your residential property:
Access Control Systems
Access control systems can offer a dynamic, highly sophisticated level of security for your residential properties. These systems are very flexible and customizable for your properties and can provide real-time insight into the areas of your residential property that are being accessed at any given time.
Some access control systems can also easily integrate with other property security systems in place such as close circuit cameras or alarm systems. Some types of access control systems include:
- Key Card Systems – Of all the security systems available, electronic key card systems are one of the most secure access control systems currently available. Key card security systems replace locks on any door with electronic scanners that are activated by swiping an authorized card which unlocks the door.
Key card systems can be set to pre-programmed time frames if you’d like to shut access down to specific areas on the property at certain times and some can even send notifications if a door is propped open for too long.
- Biometrics – A more sophisticated and emerging access control system is biometric-based security. These systems have the capability to validate a person based on various biometrics such as facial recognition, fingerprints, iris scanning, etc.
Benefits
Access control systems can yield many benefits, including:
- More control – As physical lock keys can be easily duplicated at any hardware store, the credentials necessary for access control systems are much more sophisticated. In addition, if a key is lost or stolen, it is a simple fix to issue new key cards and immediately deactivate the lost or stolen ones.
- Customizable – Access control systems can be very easily customized to your condominium or apartment building’s security needs. These types of systems can support granular settings and allow property managers to set user-level access all the way down to individual doors and times.
This helps ensure the security of high-value areas by granting access to high-security spaces to only property managers and employees.
CCTV Systems
A classic form of security system that is still relevant today is closed-circuit television – otherwise known as CCTV security systems. These systems provide security personnel monitoring surveillance systems to be able to take immediate action in case of a security threat.
There is a strong correlation with CCTV systems and crime reduction – surveillance systems in parking lots result in a 51% decrease in crime.
Benefits:
Some benefits of CCTV systems include:
- Security and Peace of Mind – Video surveillance can provide comfort to both property managers and tenants. Cameras mounted in various places across the property – entrances, gates, etc. – reduce the likelihood of people attempting to sneak on the property.
In general, having visible cameras around can alert you to any suspicious behaviour, while deterring unwelcome visitors. - High Resolution Footage – As CCTV systems continue to evolve, the images they produce are becoming sharper and clearer. In the unfortunate case of someone causing damage or committing any crime on your property, you will have high quality security footage to share with law enforcement to assist in an investigation.
- Remote Property Check In – Some CCTV systems allow you to view the security camera footage in real time over the internet. This is beneficial to property managers who own many properties and want to check in frequently without physically visiting the property.
Ensuring your residential property has all the necessary safety precautions in place is essential to the livelihood of your apartment or condo buildings and the well-being of your property management company. At Logixx, we provide a suite of access control systems in Toronto as well as many other services and support for residential property security.
With 47 years of experience in security management for a range of brands and businesses, we have an unprecedented expertise in new technology and keeping properties secured. Learn more about our security system solutions or give us a call to find out more about how we can help meet your access control needs.