Tightening up security in your apartment building

Question: I moved into my apartment building 10 years ago. We have had the odd security issue during this time, and our strata council has always dealt with the problem promptly.

In the last two years we have had about eight units change ownership and I've noticed considerably more traffic moving through the halls. Is there any way of tightening up on the security of my building by cutting down on the traffic flow?

Fourchalk: I'm assuming that the traffic flow you are referring to is non-resident. Non-resident traffic flow can be controlled, somewhat, by placing control on the building keys. One way to do this is to install high-security locks on all exterior common-area doors. This will put the key control in the hands of the council (where it should be) to monitor good building security.

Change as many exterior doors as you can to "exit only". This will force most building traffic through the front door and stop key entry through these otherwise active doors.

You should also meet with your strata council and make sure that you don't have a problem with "obliging owners". These are owners who don't hesitate in pushing the front door release to allow strangers into the building without first coming to the main door to check their credentials.

Your building may have to install timers to restrict front-door release times. These timers will not allow an owner to release the front door (from their apartment) after a certain time.