Keeping the flat and the building secure

Security is not one person’s job

Eighty-four flats to a building, six to a floor. The corridor outside your door belongs to five other households as well. A guard at the gate does not make a building secure on its own: security starts at the gate and ends at your own door, and every step between is somebody’s responsibility.

The gate — who comes in, who leaves

Most problems start here, and here is where they are easiest to stop. The building is designed with a guard room and a reception; they only work when everyone applies the same rule.

• A stranger at the gate means a call up to the flat for permission — not a name taken and a wave through.
• Deliveries, electricians, domestic staff: name, time, and which flat, written down.
• Give a pass to the people who come regularly, so they are not re-verified daily and the exceptions stand out.
• Record departures too. When it matters, the question is usually when somebody *left*.
• When a guard changes, hand over the procedure, not just the keys.

Written down and findable are different things. A digital log can answer "who visited in March"; a paper register in a drawer cannot.

Your own door

However good the building’s security, the last layer is your door. A few things fixed once serve for years.

• Fit a good deadbolt — and change the locks when you move in. You do not know who still holds a key from the construction and handover.
• Have a door viewer, and use it. Do not open to someone you have not seen.
• On the lower floors, check the veranda grilles are sound.
• Do not leave valuables visible from outside.
• No "meter reader" or "service man" comes in without identification. If in doubt, call the guard room first.

Before you travel

At Eid and through the holidays many flats empty at once, and it shows from outside. A few habits cut the risk considerably.

• Do not post your dates on social media. Put the photographs up when you are home.
• Tell a neighbour you trust and the guard, and leave a phone number.
• Do not let newspapers or post pile up at the door — it is the clearest advertisement an empty flat has.
• Shut the gas at the main valve, and unplug everything except the fridge.
• Close the flat’s main water valve and you will not come home to a wet floor.

Lifts, stairs and parking

If sharing a lift with a stranger feels wrong, wait for the next one — that is not rudeness. Children are better not riding alone, particularly over fourteen floors.

Basement parking is the least lit and least overlooked part of the building. Do not leave a laptop or a bag visible in the car, and report failed lights to the committee: a dark car park is not merely inconvenient.

If something happens

The national emergency number is **999** — police, fire service and ambulance on one line. Save the guard room’s number in your phone, and two committee members’ numbers as well. At two in the morning is not when you want to be looking for them.