The most obvious, prominent layer of protection on a premises is a tangible one. These are the physical deterrents from access. These include steel barriers, heavy locks, etc. Selecting an effective combination of these tools is less about buying the most expensive or heaviest ones. It is more about the protection needs of the items and the potential threats.
The first consideration before purchasing security is the item or items at risk.
The first step is always to take an honest inventory of the contents of a building. If an item or items were stolen, what is the potential loss of that? What is the main reason for concern? Theft? Vandalism? Potential vehicle attack? Each potential threat has different countermeasures. Each of these types of premises is different and the appropriate security for one will be completely inappropriate to the other.
To fully assess the security needs, the potential threats must also be considered. End of the line opportunist intruders often leave quickly when faced with a theft deterrent. However, a professional thief is fully aware that the security is a deterrent to accessing the contents, and would normally be fully equipped with tools to breach whatever those deterrents are. A ram-raid is quick, and moves a lot of stock quickly.
The Principle of Layered Security
Not a single product can make an entire building secure.
The purpose of physical security is to slow down an intruder to a point in which they give up, or they end up getting apprehended. Standards like LPS1175 are based on attack time. It does not measure whether a product is theoretically impenetrable to an intruder.
A good shutter on the shop front is rendered ineffective if the rear fire exit suffers from a lax locking mechanism. Consider each layer of your site, starting from the perimeter and working inward, and target making each layer contribute time to a forced entry.
Matching Products to Openings
Shutters are effective at large openings, and places where you need to close a front during the day. Sectional shutters are effective as warehouse loading bay openings where large width and insulated closing is required. Roller shutters are appropriate for shopfronts and secondary access points. Solid shutters, while providing the greatest protection, also render a loss of daytime visibility for a business.
When security is required, but a business also requires light, visibility, or airflow, grilles are the appropriate solution. Retractable grilles pull across an opening during business hours, and fold across a closing at the end of a business day. Fixed grilles are appropriate for window and openings that are not required to be opened during business hours.
Doors are one of the most underrated and underspecified parts in a building design. A doorset that meets the requirements of the Secured by Design Scheme, or meets an equivalent LPS 1175 rating, will offer an insurance policy that the door will resist a forced entry for an expected amount of time. A standard timber door offered by the building contractor do not accomplish this at all.
When you are required to use certified products
The entry requirements for certified product doors is usually determined by the insurance underwriter, the value and the sensitivity of the material behind the door and the risk assessment of the site. LPS 1175 ratings, under Security levels SR1 to SR8, state that SR2 is the default score for the majority of commercial buildings and the higher levels are assigned to critical infrastructure, controlled substances and high-value inventory.
Suspicion of a rated door requirement (or shortfall) is most likely to result in loss of insurance coverage. To rate a door at a level greater than is required, for a nominal price, is a burden and provides no benefit.
In the case of a high-value inventory and/or a vehicle threat
At this higher level of risk, two additional categories of product are available. Bollards and anti-ram devices are designed to stop attacks of a vehicle, be it a ram-raid type of attack on a store, or a hostile attack on a public building. These devices offer protection against attacks at a rated vehicle mass and impact speed, under standards such as PAS 68 and IWA 14. Vaults and safes offer protection from a value, at a rated securable attack, and give a protected last resort defense for cash, jewelry, controlled substances or sensitive documents.
Mistakes to Learn From
Problems are the same time and time again. People position items below the rating required by insurers just to find out at claim time that it isn’t covered. People completely protect the front of the building and leave the back vulnerable. People buy the cheapest items where, instead of a real barrier, they will get a firm deterrent. And people buy cheap physical security items and think that with maintenance they will keep working. People lose the concept that security is an investment and buy the lowest priced, cheap physical security items.
If you handle the brief correctly, and the openings are matched honestly, the rest of the decision is straightforward.