Security
BUILDING SECURITY: A SPECIFIERS GUIDE
Security systems are now more complex, with system design shaped by a host of factors. Here, Steve Ross, Managing Director of Mul-T-Lock, investigates the most important issues to consider
Security system design depends on the building type, location and on what needs to be secured. Systems must also be responsive to codes and regulations, appropriately interactive with other building systems, cost effective in both the short and long term, and adaptable enough for forseeable needs. Finally, security needs should be addressed early in the design process.
SECURITY AGAINST WHAT?
The first question always has to do with what a security system is designed to protect. It’s most important job is to provide safety for employees, the staff, and the visitors who use a building, But considerations go far beyond this.
Access control often extends beyond merely controlling who may enter a building - and monitoring when and where they do so - to include the control and monitoring when and where they do so - to include the control and monitoring of the specific people permitted access to particular areas within a larger facility.
For different set of reasons, a range of different building types - banks, hotels, offices with sensitive data storage areas - all require different levels of access control. Healthcare facilities will need various levels to ensure drugs and controlled substances are protected. Universities today increasingly require monitoring capability for students to check attendance at lectures.
Security considerations are also not limited to protecting people. All of a building’s contents need protection from damage or loss. Control of access must always also be complemented by control of egress, that is, who leaves a facility and what they’re allowed to carry out. Waiting until the last stages of the design process to begin thinking about security system requirements can spell trouble for budgets and construction schedules, and is a sure way to guarantee that the system installed will be less than optional.
SECURITY DESIGN
Security systems must often be designed in such a way that access control is not obtrusive, that users of a facility do not feel intimidated (and that legitimate visitors aren’t made to feel unwelcome) by security devices, that employees’ privacy is reasonably respected and that restricting access to certain areas within a facility doesn’t make those who are excluded feel like second-class citizens.
The kind of security issues that must be considered always depend in large measure on the kind of building being designed.
Designers of retail stores, for example, must pay close heed to security at loading dock and delivery areas and at customer and employee ingress/egress points; hotel specifiers must weigh security concerns against the importance of maintaining free public access to many hotel areas.
Key to success is tailoring security systems to building type.
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AN INTEGRATED DESIGN APPROACH
Integration occurs in two related ways. First, design strategies should be informed by security considerations from the beginning of the design process.
This kind of integration involves specifiers’ familiarising themselves with the specific security issues of a proposed building, and in many cases may require that specifiers seek the advice of security consultants at a very early stage.
Interaction between the specifier and a security consultant can also help with the specification. For example, if a client plans to begin with a system of mechanical locks, but hopes to convert to electronic door locks at a later time, the security engineer can ensure that adequate conduits, cables and spaces to ease that transition are installed at the beginning.
Second, intelligent security planning means taking advantage of the integrated infrastructure components now available.
COMBINED SOLUTIONS
Mul-T-Lock works closely with specifiers as part of a ‘Combined Solutions’ initiative that encourages security issues to be considered as early as possible in the specification process.
This is to ensure systems are in the place right from the perimeter through to the internal doors (and locker systems) through any establishment.
From this early research, Mul-T-Lock can make bespoke recommendations on the right combination of mechanical and electromechanical security products, which can all be accommodated into a tailored patent protected master key suite for total control in line with the requirements for the application, where credentials cannot be duplicated without the end users permission.
This way, early integration of physical security as part of the design team will produce the most effective balance between controlled access and security, to ensure neither impacts on the daily operations of the building, and its staff and visitors.
CONCLUSION
Ensuring that a security system will be sufficient and suitable for a facility’s needs involves balancing many variables. By taking security considerations into account from the very start - and maintaining that awareness at each stage of the project - specifiers can help ensure a building is protected at every level.
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