Residential and Apartment Buildings

The terms residential building and apartment building are used interchangeably in this book.

A residential building is a building containing separate residences where a person may live or regularly stay. Each residence contains independent cooking and bathroom♦ facilities and may also be known as an apartment or a condominium.

A residence is “a temporary or permanent dwelling place, abode, or habitation to which one intends to return as distinguished from a place of temporary sojourn or transient visit.”1

An apartment is “an individual dwelling unit, usually on a single level and often contained in a multi-unit building or development.”2

A condominium is “a multiple-unit structure in which the units and pro rata shares of the common areas are owned individually; a unit in a condominium property. Also, the absolute ownership of an apartment or unit, generally in a multi-unit building, which is defined by a legal description of the air space the unit actually occupies plus an undivided interest in the common elements that are owned jointly with the other condominium unit owners.”3

An apartment building is a “building containing more than one dwelling unit.”4 “Apartment buildings are those structures containing three or more living units with independent cooking and bathroom facilities, whether designated as apartment houses, … condominiums, or garden apartments. Apartments differ from multi-unit residential occupancies that are not considered homes, such as hotels and boarding homes, by the provision of individual cooking facilities, the number of sleeping rooms, and the less transient nature of the occupants.”5

A residential and apartment building may consist of individual owner-occupied apartments, apartments leased or rented by the owner (either the building landlord♦ or the individual apartment owner), and public housing♦ facilities. Residential buildings may also be occupied by students (as is the case with school and college or university dormitories♦♦ ). This chapter does not specifically address public housing facilities and student dormitories; however, much of the information presented herewith could be applied to those types of facilities.

Residential and apartment buildings also will usually “include parking facilities which may be open, enclosed, above- or below-ground, and often directly beneath or adjacent to the [residential and apartment building] itself. These arrangements may require special types of fire protection, and the building codes may require fire separations.”6

To systematically examine the security and fire life safety of residential and apartment buildings, this chapter addresses the following areas: occupancy characteristics; assets, threats, vulnerabilities, and countermeasures; security programs; and emergency management.

Occupancy Characteristics

In addition to individual apartments and residences occupying an entire floor, a part thereof, or possibly several floors with interconnecting staircases, other amenities may be available to the residents. Such services and activities may include “newsstands, retail shops, restaurants, cocktail lounges, health clubs, concierges, and other quality services. Generally, parking facilities are available [many of which include self-park and valet service]. Some have recreational facilities, such as saunas and swimming pools, while others may offer tennis and racquetball courts, gyms, and exercise rooms.”7 There may also be business centers, which include computers with high-speed Internet connections, as well as function areas, conference rooms, and private screening facilities that residents can rent or lease.

At any one time of the day, the number of residents in a residential and apartment building may vary according to factors such as their work status and age group. For example, if a high proportion of the residents are young or middle-aged business professionals, there will probably be a low concentration of residents during normal business hours (Monday to Friday, during daytime hours) when many will be at work; if a large number of residents are elderly retired people, there will likely be a high concentration of residents present during normal business hours. After hours, particularly late at night, most of the residents will likely be in the building (apart from those traveling on business and on holidays and vacation).

Generally speaking, residential and apartment buildings are managed by one group; this will consist of a building or a property manager and administrative staff, plus support staff such as in-house or contract engineers, maintenance staff, security personnel, janitors and cleaners, elevator technicians, landscaping staff, and other vendors associated with building operations.

During normal business hours (Monday to Friday, during daytime hours), the building or property management staff will tend to be on duty (depending on the size and occupancy of the building, there may also be a property manager who lives on site). After hours (Monday to Friday, early evening until the next business morning; weekends and holidays), most buildings will have fewer numbers of engineers and maintenance staff, elevator technicians, and other support staff on duty. The actual numbers of staff will vary according to the size of the building, the services that it offers, the complexity of its operations, and the security needs of the facility.

After hours, building or property management staff (living either on or off site) can be contacted using communication means that include telephones, pagers, e-mail, and text messaging. Some buildings designate an on-duty manager to handle after hours calls relating to building operations.

Assets, Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Countermeasures

A risk assessment (as detailed in Chapter 4) is an important tool for developing an appropriate security and fire life safety program for a residential and apartment building. A “risk assessment analyzes the threat, asset value, and vulnerability to ascertain the level of risk for each critical asset against each applicable threat. Inherent in this is the likelihood or probability of the threat occurring and the consequences of the occurrence. Thus, a very high likelihood of occurrence with very small consequences may require simple low cost mitigation measures [countermeasures], but a very low likelihood of occurrence with very grave consequences may require more costly and complex mitigation measures. The risk assessment should provide a relative risk profile. High-risk combinations of assets against associated threats, with identified vulnerability, allow prioritization of resources to implement mitigation measures.”8

Key steps in the process involve examining the assets, the threats against the assets, the vulnerabilities of the assets, and the countermeasures or mitigation measures that can be used to address identified vulnerabilities of the assets (within the confines of risk management). These areas are now examined for residential and apartment buildings.

Assets

Tangible assets in residential and apartment buildings include the lives of residents, visitors, contractors, vendors, and the apartment building staff; personal property contained within the apartments; and the building itself, its fittings, and its equipment. Building equipment includes of the electrical, water, gas, mechanical, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, lighting, elevator, escalator, communication, security, and fire life safety systems. In addition, there are other types of assets that may include kitchen appliances, furniture and furnishings, entertainment equipment, antiques and works of art, cash and negotiable instruments, telephones, computers, printers, and general-use items for daily living—and assests in common area vending machines, laundry facilities, fitness centers, saunas, swimming pools, spas/hot tubs, dining areas, restaurants, retail shops, newsstands, entertainment and business centers, and vehicles parked in the building's parking garage.

Intangible assets include the livelihood of residents, visitors, contractors, vendors, and the apartment building staff; intellectual property and information stored in paper files, reference books, microfilm, and within computer systems and peripherals; and the reputation and status of the apartment building.

Threats

The types of security and fire life safety threats to residential and apartment building assets are outlined in Chapter 3. Briefly they include the following:

• • Security threats to people: assault, assault and battery, kidnapping, manslaughter, mayhem, murder, robbery, sex offenses (including rape, sexual harassment, and lewd behavior), and stalking.
• • Security threats to property and information: aberrant behavior, arson, burglary, cyberattack, disorderly conduct, espionage, larceny, sabotage, theft, trespass, and vandalism. In addition, there may be the disruption of building utilities such as water; electrical power; natural gas, sewer; heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC); telecommunications; security; and life safety systems. Some security threats may involve terrorism.
• • Security threats to people and property: bombs, chemical and biological weapons, civil disturbance, fires, hazardous materials, natural disasters, and nuclear attack.
• • Life safety threats: aircraft collisions; bombs and bomb threats; daredevils, protestors, and suicides; elevator and escalator incidents; fires and fire alarms; hazardous materials, chemical and biological weapons, and nuclear attack; kidnappings and hostage situations; labor disputes, demonstrations, and civil disorder; medical emergencies; natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, heat waves, storms, and floods and landslides); contractible diseases (pandemic influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and tuberculosis); power failures; slip-and-falls; stalking and workplace violence; traffic accidents; and water leaks.

Sometimes problems arise when residents have parties inside their apartments that cause excessive noise; likewise, the excessive use of alcohol or drugs can be the trigger for incidents to occur. Problems of a similar nature may occur in recreation and function areas that residents are using for social events.

Fire Risk in Residential and Apartment Buildings

Fire is a constant risk in high-rise residential and apartment buildings. “The occupancy hazards of apartment buildings include all risk factors that may arise in particular segments of the population. Preschoolers and older adults, if present, have a higher risk of dying in fires because of the mental or physical limitations associated with their age. Older children and younger adults may be at risk if they are physically or mentally handicapped, or as a result of drug or alcohol abuse. Fatal fires are more common at night when people are asleep.”9

In discussing fire risk,♦ it is helpful to analyze fire incident data♦♦ for the four property classes—office buildings, hotels and motels,♦♦♦ apartment buildings, and hospitals (and other facilities that care for the sick)—that account for the majority of high-rise building fires.10 Even though this data pertains only to the United States, it is worth considering because it includes the types of commercial buildings that are addressed in this book (namely, office, hotel, residential and apartment, and mixed-use buildings).

A study by Dr. John Hall, Jr., of the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) Fire Analysis and Research Division, using statistics from the U.S. Fire Administration's National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS), stated that from 1987 to 1991, office buildings, hotels and motels, apartment buildings, and facilities that care for the sick, averaged 13,800 high-rise building fires per year and associated annual losses of 74 civilian deaths, nearly 720 civilian injuries, and $79 million in direct property damage. However, “most of these high-rise building fires and associated losses occurred in apartment buildings.”11 Hall added that for this period: “Only a small share of high-rise building fires spread beyond the room of origin, let alone the floor of origin.”12

The most recent published study by Hall shows that “in 2002,13 high-rise buildings in these four property classes combined had 7,300 reported structure fires and associated losses of 15 civilian deaths, 300 civilian injuries, and $26 million in direct property damage.”14 He concluded that “these statistics generally show a declining fire problem over the nearly two decades covered”15 and, similar to his previous findings, “most high-rise building fires and associated losses occur in apartment buildings.”16 He further comments pertaining to the latter, “this may seem surprising, but it shouldn't. Homes dominate the U.S. fire problem so completely that it is always a good bet that any newly examined fire problem, unless it is one that cannot occur in homes, will have its largest share in homes.”17 However, Hall did caution that, due to a number of factors (one being lower participation in national fire incident reporting in recent years18 ) “the patterns shown in data available so far should be given limited weight.”19

It is worth noting here that O'Hagan, in his book High Rise/Fire and Life Safety, stated that high-rise residential building fires to some extent are different in nature and not as severe as fires in high-rise office buildings (see the earlier discussion in Chapter 2). Two of his stated reasons for this position are (1) high-rise residential buildings are typically of masonry construction and lack the empty spaces between the interior of their exterior walls and the outer edges of their floors (that typify the curtain walls of steel-framed [core construction] buildings) and (2) for privacy and usage reasons, residential buildings are typically compartmentalized with walls and partitions that have adequate fire resistance to withstand the fire until the arrival of the fire department; as a result individual fires are considerably smaller in area.20

Vulnerabilities

Weaknesses that can make an asset (such as a residential and apartment building, and its operations, including the apartments, and the people who use the building) susceptible to loss or damage21 will largely depend on the building itself and the nature of its operations. A vulnerability assessment is required to “evaluate the potential vulnerability of the critical assets against a broad range of identified threats/hazards.”22

Countermeasures

Mitigation measures to counteract identified vulnerabilities of an asset to a threat may consist of security systems and equipment (see Chapter 5), fire life safety systems and equipment (see Chapter 6), security personnel (see Chapter 7), security policies and procedures (see the next section, “Security Programs”), and emergency management (see the later section, “Emergency Planning“). These countermeasures need to be looked at in terms of security design. “Security design involves the systematic integration of design, technology, and operation for…. The process of designing security into architecture is known as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).”23 As mentioned previously, the key to selecting appropriate countermeasures for a particular facility is for a risk assessment to be conducted. (See Chapter 4.)

Because fire is a risk in high-rise buildings, the following is noted regarding their fire protection features: residential and apartment buildings that have properly designed, installed, operated, tested, and maintained automatic fire detection and suppression systems and other fire protection features—automatic closing fire doors for compartmentation and maintenance of the integrity of occupant escape routes and automatic smoke control systems to restrict the spread of smoke—do have the necessary early warning systems to quickly detect fires and warn occupants (including residents and visitors) of their presence; and they also have the necessary automated sprinkler systems to quickly extinguish a fire in its early stages. One of the key issues here is the presence or absence of sprinklers.

In the study mentioned in the previous section, “Threats,” Hall commented on fire protection in high-rise buildings by stating,

In several instances, the value of these fire protection features [i.e., automatic extinguishing systems (primarily sprinklers), fire detection equipment, and fire-resistive construction] may be seen clearly in a statistical analysis of 1994–1998 loss per fire averages, with and without the protection. For high-rise buildings, automatic extinguishing systems are associated with a reduction of at least 88% in the rate of deaths per 1,000 fires for each of the three property classes (excluding office buildings, which had no deaths recorded in NFIRS [National Fire Incident Reporting System] in high-rise buildings) and at least 44% in the average dollar loss per fire for each of the four property classes. Fire detection equipment is associated with a reduction of 55% in the rate of deaths per 1,000 fires in apartment buildings. Fire-resistive construction is associated with a reduction of 30% in average dollar loss per fire in apartment buildings. This probably is produced not directly by the construction but indirectly by the compartmentation features that tend to be used with fire-resistive construction, features that keep more fires smaller and so keep property losses lower. (Note, though, that compartmentation practices probably vary more by type of occupancy than by type of construction.) Because high-rise buildings often use all three systems, it is very difficult to try to separate their effects on loss rates, and many rates are very sensitive to deaths or large dollar loss in individual incidents.

Automatic extinguishing systems and fire detection equipment and the compartmentation features associated with fire-resistive construction all contribute to fire protection by helping to keep fires small, with extinguishing and construction doing so directly and detection doing so by providing early warning that can lead to earlier manual suppression…

Finally, the effectiveness of these fire protection systems and features and their widespread use in high-rise buildings mean that when people are killed in high-rise residential fires, they are much more likely to have been close to the fire, where it is more likely that fatal injury could occur before [the] fire could be stopped or blocked by these systems and features.24

Security Programs

Security programs for residential and apartment buildings, and for individual residents, involve policies, rules and regulations, and procedures designed “to prevent unauthorized persons from entering, to prevent the unauthorized removal of property, and to prevent crime, violence, and other disruptive behavior.”25 Security's overall purpose is to protect life and property.

Building Access Control

There are many different people who may, at any one time, wish to enter a residential and apartment building. They include building owners and management staff, building contractors (such as elevator technicians and engineering, maintenance, security, janitorial, and parking personnel), residents, visitors, salespersons, tradespeople (including construction workers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, gardeners, telecommunications repair persons, persons replenishing vending machines, and others who service equipment within the building), building inspectors, couriers, delivery persons, solicitors,♦ sightseers, people who are lost, vagrants or homeless people, mentally disturbed individuals, vandals, suicidal persons, protestors, and daredevils. There may also be others who try to enter building parking areas, laundry facilities, fitness centers, saunas, spas/hot tubs, swimming pool areas, dining areas, restaurants, retail shops, newsstands, entertainment and business centers, or an individual residence or apartment, with the sole purpose of committing a crime.

It is primarily the building owner and manager—with the cooperation of the residents—who determines the access control measures for this wide spectrum of persons. These measures aim to screen out unwanted persons or intruders and at the same time provide a minimum of inconvenience to building residents and their guests. When a security program is designed, occupancy characteristics such as the type of building tenancy, its pattern of use, and the time and day need to be considered. Varying degrees of access control can be achieved using security staff—in some residential properties they are known as a security officer, a security guard, a doorman, a concierge, or by other titles that differ according to the respective duties and responsibilities—and various security measures.

Building access controls include vehicle access to parking lots, garages and loading dock/shipping and receiving areas; pedestrian access to building lobbies, elevator lobbies, and passenger and freight/service elevators; and access routes to retail spaces, restaurants, promenades, mezzanines, atria, and maintenance areas. Measures for controlling access to these areas vary from site to site, depending on building management's policy, but generally incorporate some or all of those described in the following sections.

Vehicle Access to Parking Lots or Garages

Access to parking lots or garages may be manual or automatic using a variety of methods that include the following:

• 1.Entry at will. There are no controls on the entry of vehicles (apart from possible vehicle height, weight, and width restrictions at the point of entry).
• 2.A vehicle detector embedded in the roadway, which automatically opens an entry gate or raises a gate arm.
• 3.A parking attendant, a valet, or a security person, stationed either at the point of entry or at a remote location linked to the point of entry by an intercom or a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system and a key switch or a remote control device that opens an entry gate, raises a gate arm, or lowers a surface-mounted traffic barrier.♦
• 4.A ticket (imprinted with the date and time of entry) dispensed by a machine at the point of entry that when withdrawn from the control unit automatically opens an entry gate or raises a gate arm.
• 5.An electronic access card, an alphanumeric key pad, or a vehicle identification system such as a transponder that opens an entry gate, raises a gate arm, or lowers a surface-mounted traffic barrier.

When exiting a controlled-access parking lot or structure, the driver usually will be required to submit to a similar procedure to that encountered on entry and then make a monetary payment (sometimes using a pay-on-exit machine) or use a token. Many access control systems with entry and exit card readers incorporate an antipassback feature. This prevents an access card from being used again to authorize entry of a second vehicle before the card has been used to authorize exit of the first vehicle.

Vehicle Access to Loading Dock/Shipping and Receiving Areas

Vehicles entering loading dock/shipping and receiving areas either may do so at will and park at whatever loading bays or docks are available, or they may be permitted to enter and be directed to park in certain areas by a loading dock attendant who will then supervise subsequent loading or unloading. (Some buildings keep loading dock doors and gates closed between delivery and pickup. Also, docks that are normally unattended may have an intercom or buzzer system, possibly in conjunction with CCTV, to allow drivers to remotely summon building staff for assistance.)

For security purposes, the dock attendant normally will maintain a log or record of the vehicle license plate number, the driver's name and company, the time in, and the time out. Depending on building policy, vehicle keys may remain in the vehicle, or be given to the dock attendant for safekeeping and to permit the attendant to move the vehicle if necessary.

The activity of drivers and delivery persons usually will be confined to the loading dock/shipping and receiving areas, unless they need to proceed to residences or apartments for deliveries or pickups. For this reason, rest areas, toilet facilities, and pay phones often are provided in these areas. If drivers and delivery persons enter the building, they are usually required to notify the dock attendant of the specific residence or apartment they will be visiting and the approximate duration of their stay. They may also be issued special identification badges and be required to leave some form of personal identification (such as a driver's license) with the attendant.

Pedestrian Access to Buildings

Pedestrians entering residential and apartment buildings during normal business hours may simply enter at will and proceed to whatever area they desire, or they may be asked to submit to some form of credentialing procedure before they are permitted to enter the facility and proceed to interior locations. The procedure in place may vary according to the time (either normal business hours or after hours) and the day (either standard working days or weekends and holidays) that the access is requested.

Normal Business Hours

During normal business hours, access control for some residential and apartment buildings is relaxed and may solely rely on a security officer, doorman, concierge, or receptionist trained to observe both incoming and outgoing pedestrian traffic. Persons who are not residents may be challenged with a simple “May I help you?” Specific questions can then determine the particulars—for example, whether the person is a resident, is visiting a tenant (if so, which one?), is delivering or picking up items (if so, to whom? from whom?), or is servicing or inspecting equipment in the building (if so, where? at whose request?). These questions not only help screen out intruders with no legitimate reason for entering but also assist persons who need directions.

For other buildings, access control is stricter, using a variety of methods (including electronic access cards which are presented to readers at building entrance doors, lobby kiosks, on elevator bank walls or inside elevator cars, or to optical turnstiles; and possibly a combination of technologies for identity management).♦ The degree of access control imposed by building policy will determine the percentage of unwanted persons successfully screened out. “The security program should be designed just tight enough to screen out as many intruders as it takes to reduce problems to the level that can be accepted. This means that a useful security program will rarely screen out all intruders.”26 Since the population density of residential and apartment buildings is not as high as office buildings, screening out all intruders usually does not result in unacceptable delays or inconvenience to the residents and visitors.

In a very large, more densely populated residential building, the screening of visitors may be facilitated by establishing a separate visitor center or using visitor management software to expedite entry. The former allows visitors to be moved to a separate staging area for processing. The latter is a password-protected, web-based management system that permits authorized users of the system to preregister visitors online before they arrive at a building. All relevant information about the visitor (such as name, person the individual will be visiting, time of visit, and any special instructions for handling the visitor) can be stored in a database and, in some cases, used to print out a visitor badge♦♦ when the person is cleared for entry. This process not only facilitates visitor handling but also records visitor traffic. It also could be used to track the attendance of vendors and contractors (also recording company information in the database). Some systems even allow visitor self-registration using a scanned identification document, such as a driver's license.

Access control to building maintenance spaces—mechanical rooms and floors, air-conditioning rooms, telecommunications and utilities access points, elevator machine rooms, and janitorial closets—and areas under construction or renovation is usually tight. Depending on building policy, persons accessing these areas may be logged in and out, required to wear special identification badges, given keys (although issuing keys to vendors or visitors can be a security risk) or an electronic access card (if the card is not returned, it can be immediately deactivated) to a particular area, or provided an escort. Some contractors servicing certain types of equipment in specific building areas may be permitted to install their own locking devices at access points leading to this equipment (see further comments in the “Key Points to Consider” section later in this chapter). Main electrical switchgear and power transformer rooms are usually deemed such a life safety risk that building personnel are not issued keys to these areas.

After Normal Business Hours

After normal business hours, access control to most residential and apartment buildings and interior areas is usually strict. An obvious way to provide off-hours access to a residential and apartment building would be to furnish keys to all building occupants or to those who need to enter the facility after hours. This approach, however, can have disastrous consequences proportional to the size of the building and the number of occupants. A heavy workload and costly expense can be created by lost keys, keys not returned by departing residents, and the necessity of rekeying building entrances and reissuing keys to residents every time a key has gone astray. In addition, there may be the problem of unauthorized duplication of keys. To avoid all of this, most buildings never issue building access keys to tenants but rely on some way of verifying a person's right to enter the building. This verification may involve the following procedures.

Visual Recognition

Building security staff, a concierge, or a receptionist may verify on sight a person's right to enter. Several problems may result, however, from this form of verification. For example, although the chances are slender, someone who closely resembles a resident may be admitted in error. Also, particularly if the building is large with a high number of residents, it will be difficult for security staff, the concierge, or the receptionist to recognize all persons authorized to enter. If there is a change or substitution of the security staff or receptionist, the new person will not be familiar with the persons authorized to enter. This may result in the questioning of residents who normally are never challenged and subsequent complaints to building management. Finally, if the security staff is distracted by another duty, an unauthorized person may gain entry without being observed.

Authorization Documents

A document (a letter, a memorandum, or an e-mail) listing those authorized for after-hours access may be provided in advance to security staff at the building entrance. Persons requesting access will identify themselves to building security staff. Security will check the individual's name (which should be confirmed by a driver's license or other photo identification) with the names listed in the document. In some buildings, residents will provide management with a written request listing the names of the persons involved and the time after-hours access is permitted. Building security staff, the concierge, or the receptionist can set up a file sorted alphabetically by tenant name, or by the last name of the person to be granted access, to minimize time spent searching for the appropriate authorization. Building security staff must thoroughly check all documents authorizing access to ensure that the decision to grant access is valid.

Building Access Control Systems

Electronic access control systems can provide after-hours access by operating a building entry door.

Resident Systems

An electronic access control system can allow a resident to present an access card or a key fob♦ to a card reader outside a building main entrance door. Depending on the type of system, an intercom, a telephone, or a CCTV camera may also be provided at this point of entry. If there is a problem using the card, the resident can use the intercom or telephone to communicate with onsite security staff or an offsite central monitoring station. If the person's right of entry is confirmed, the staff can grant access in person or remotely.

Once a resident is inside a building lobby, his or her progress can be controlled using a variety of methods. These include electronic access cards being presented to readers at lobby kiosks, on elevator bank walls, inside elevator cars, or to optical turnstiles, and possibly a combination of technologies for identity management.

For security reasons, most building access cards display only a sequential number and, if used with an insertion or swipe-type card reader, an arrow depicting the correct way to insert or swipe the card. Then, if a card is lost, there are no identifying marks to indicate where it may be used. An advantage of an electronic access card is that when a resident no longer resides at a building, a computer can be used to deactivate the card, eliminating the need to retrieve the card itself.

Visitor Systems

A building telephone entry system or a voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) entry system can allow direct communication by a person seeking entry outside a building to an individual apartment using a telephone line or VoIP. The resident can then remotely operate the building entry door to allow the guest to enter the building.

Also, there are systems available that, for example, enable residents to be “given access to live camera views in the [building's video] surveillance system via two modes: either through their web browser Internet access set up in the Milestone [IP video management] software and viewed on their computers; or through a special cable TV channel provided by the telecom provider to the [building]. This gives all residents a camera view of the entrance to the building, so that they can check who is calling on the intercom.”27 The resident can then refuse entry or remotely operate the building entry door to allow the visitor entry to the building.

After-Hours Access Register or Log

Whichever access control procedures are used, some residential and apartment buildings maintain an after-hours access register or log to record after-hours access activity. In this log, details such as the person's name (printed for legibility) and signature, the name of the resident he or she is visiting, the date, and time in and out are included. In case of an after-hours building emergency, the log can be used to help ascertain who is in the building. However, the register or log does not provide a record of all persons in the building after hours, because some persons will have accessed the building during normal business hours before the access control log was in use. To determine exactly which tenants are in the building after hours, it would be necessary either to telephone or to personally visit every tenant. Such a procedure, particularly in large office buildings, is not considered practical.

Right to Pass Signs or Plates

Signs or sidewalk plates, generally located outside the building, may state the following:

“RIGHT TO PASS BY PERMISSION, AND SUBJECT TO CONTROL, OF OWNERS” or “PERMISSION TO PASS REVOCABLE AT ANY TIME.”

If a person who does not have a legitimate reason for being in the building is discovered, then the owner, manager, or agent acting on behalf of the building may revoke the person's right to remain. After being told to depart the premises, those who refuse to leave may be subject to arrest by law enforcement. Also, anyone reentering a building after having been warned that he or she is not authorized to enter may be treated as a trespasser.

Apartment Access Controls

Entry to residences and apartments is primarily the responsibility of the residents themselves. Whether they are leased or owner-occupied apartments, residents have control over their own premises. (However, if an emergency makes it necessary for property management or an outside agency, such as law enforcement, to enter an apartment, a minimum of two people should enter.♦ If a second individual is not available and if the situation and time permit, at least a second person should be notified of the requirement to enter before it is accomplished.) Entries into residences and apartments should always be thoroughly documented.

Unwanted Solicitors

Residents can play an important role in building security by reporting solicitors. Solicitors may come to buildings with items for sale secreted in a bag or a briefcase. If they can obtain entry through the building lobby, once on a floor they will open up the container, take out their product, and proceed from floor to floor, resident to resident, selling their merchandise. Even though solicitors may be legitimate, their presence is disruptive to residents; furthermore, criminals can pose as solicitors. The resident should never buy anything the solicitor is selling. To do so provides an excuse for the solicitor to attempt to return to the building.

Residents should report solicitors to building security as soon as possible, with a detailed description of the person involved. Residents are not expected to put themselves in harm's way by delaying the person until security can respond to escort the solicitor out of the building.

Apartment Security Systems

Some residents install their own access control systems to monitor entry to their apartments. Sometimes, CCTV systems, intercoms, and intrusion detection systems are used. When considering a system, the local fire authority that has jurisdiction should be consulted to determine whether local codes and standards permit such an installation—this is particularly important when the access control devices are to be installed on doors leading directly from elevator lobbies to the apartment. These doors involve paths of egress during emergency evacuation and therefore require special locking arrangements permitted by the authority.

Doors Locked

It is important that residents never open their doors for anyone they do not know personally. Some residents equip their main entrance door(s) with a conventional door viewer (sometimes called a view port) to provide a clear view of the other side of the door (using a hollow end or peephole to look through and a lens at the other end to give a wide viewing angle). This allows the resident to see the person requesting entry before granting or denying access. Also, digital door viewers are available. Such a device “includes an LCD monitor that mounts on the inside of the … room door with a digital camera on the outside to provide a clear and effortless view.”28

Resident Lock-Outs

If a resident accidentally locks him or herself out of the apartment and needs entry, there must be a clear policy to handle such requests. Some buildings require the resident, after he or she has been positively identified, to complete and sign a “Permission to Reenter” or “Resident Access Authorization” form. Others require designated building management personnel to be notified before access is granted. These arrangements are often detailed in already-executed written agreements entered into by the tenant with the building owner or operator.

Escorts of Building Users

People in residential and apartment buildings may be escorted for a variety of reasons. It may be to protect individuals or the property that they are carrying. It may also be to show a person where to go or to ensure that the person does not remove property. In the high-rise setting, building users can be escorted to, from, and within the building, and within resident areas.

Escorts to and from the Building

Escorts to and from a building usually occur after normal business hours. Security staff members generally conduct these escorts. Residents, particularly older residents or females, may request building security to escort them to areas of the property such as parking garages. Building policy should dictate how, when, and where the escorts are to be conducted.

Escorts within the Building

Building policy may require that persons needing access to certain maintenance spaces and areas under construction or renovation be provided with an escort to accompany them whenever they are in these areas. Building engineering or security staff may be required to provide such escorts.

Some buildings have a list of local and state agencies whose inspectors are authorized to enter, but it is absolutely critical to verify the identification of these individuals and to make building management aware (if possible) of their presence before they are granted entry. It is important to escort anyone claiming to be an inspector while he or she is in the facility. On occasion, professional burglars posing as local or state inspectors have been granted entry to buildings.

Also, if janitorial personnel are employed to clean apartments, they may require escorts when they are removing trash material from building floors and transporting it to trash compactors and dumpsters.

Property Control

Objectives of controlling property that moves in and out of residential and apartment buildings are as follows:29

• • To prevent stolen property or other unauthorized items from leaving. Stolen property may include resident's kitchen appliances, furniture and furnishings, entertainment equipment, antiques and works of art, cash and negotiable instruments, computers, printers, general-use items for daily living, and sometimes items and equipment from common area laundry facilities, recreation areas, dining areas, restaurants, retail shops, newsstands, entertainment and business centers; it may also include property from vehicles parked in the building's parking garage.
• • To prevent dangerous items entering. Items such as explosives, illegal drugs, and hazardous material might easily be secreted on a person or in a vehicle and brought into a building.
• • To prevent unnecessary or disruptive delivery traffic. By keeping out misdirected deliveries, unnecessary traffic is avoided. By routing deliveries through proper entrances, such as loading docks and freight/service elevators, disruptive traffic is avoided and, in some cases, the building and passenger elevators are protected against damage from hand trucks and bulky crates. By intercepting deliveries at these entrances to the building, it may be possible to detect intruders posing as delivery persons.

It is difficult, and often unnecessary, to implement strict property control measures in a residential and apartment building, because residents are primarily responsible for their own apartments and belongings. The use of property removal passes and asset tracking systems to control property is not common. However, the removal of large items from a facility, particularly those from a residence or an apartment, should be scheduled ahead of time and any such unscheduled activity reported immediately to building management. Requiring building residents and visitors to pass through one particular supervised point to enter or leave the building increases the possibility of detecting unauthorized removals.

Security staff should also be alert for people who act in a suspicious manner, as well as for objects, items, materials, or parcels that look out of place or suspicious. It is most unusual for vehicles, even those entering under-building residential parking garages and loading dock areas, to be inspected.♦ Restriction of parking in residential parking garages to only residents and authorized building staff is a sound security measure.

Good housekeeping should always be practiced for trash (rubbish) storage, trash compacting, and dumpster areas.

Couriers and Delivery Persons

Residential and apartment buildings have service deliveries of items such as mail, prepared food, groceries, newspapers, laundry, and various other items. Also, sometimes couriers come to a building to perform deliveries or pick up laundry, packages, and sundry other items. The entry of such delivery persons and couriers needs to be strictly controlled. Some buildings allow these persons to go to the appropriate residence after they have been screened♦♦ for entry by building security in the main lobby reception area.

During mail delivery hours (usually 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday), when many residents are not available to accept package deliveries, many buildings have centralized, wall-mounted mail receptacles where each resident has an individual mailbox for deliveries to be deposited. However, “with the growing Internet shopping trend and magazine subscriptions still growing strong, more parcels and larger pieces of mail are delivered daily. The typical mailbox—especially the smaller boxes commonly used in apartment buildings—is not large enough to accommodate these larger items.”30 This may lead to larger mailboxes and parcel lockers being required in larger apartment buildings where an alternate delivery mechanism (such as a concierge or a security officer able to accept deliveries on behalf of the residents)♦♦♦ does not exist.

For security and safety reasons, some residential and apartment buildings do not permit security staff or a concierge to accept any deliveries. The building does not want to accept the responsibility and potential liability of accepting items the resident may later refuse (such as certain legal documents); also, packages may contain dangerous or illicit items. Some buildings permit the acceptance of after-hours packages on certain occasions and under special circumstances. This usually requires a written request by the resident and an explicit understanding that the building and its agents are absolved from any liability resulting from acceptance of the package on behalf of the resident.

Like any well-run operation, such programs need to be meticulously documented to provide an audit trail to track deliveries and pickups and ensure that these tasks are being done in a timely manner. If there is a question about the time property was picked up or items delivered, or about the individual who signed for it, accurate records should be immediately available for review.

Construction and Remodel Activities

When the apartments are being constructed and remodeled, the security department needs to be a critical part of the operation. It is particularly important that access control measures are in place to prevent the unauthorized removal of property.

Lost and Found Property

Handling lost and found property is an often-neglected but critical part of an effective security program. Most people can recall the anguish they felt on discovering that a valuable personal possession or business item was missing. Likewise, one may remember the exhilaration at being contacted and informed that the missing property had been found and was available for pickup.

If property is lost in a building and is subsequently found and handed to building security staff, the item should be kept in a secure place and, if possible, expeditiously returned to its rightful owner. This can considerably enhance the trust and confidence that building residents and visitors will have in the building security operation. Just the opposite will be true if a tenant learns that the found item was handed to building security staff and was then lost or went missing.

Lost and Found Property Log

Building security staff should maintain a list of lost and found items in a lost and found property log. The log should contain details such as the following:

• •A brief description of the property, including any serial or asset tag numbers
• •The date, time, and place the property was lost or found
• •The identity of, and means to contact, the person who lost or found the property
• •If the property is claimed, the identity of, and means to contact, the claimant and the signature of the person who received the property
• •The name(s) of the person(s) who took the report of the lost property, logged in the found item(s), or handled the return of the property to its rightful owner.

Handing Over to Local Authorities

If the lost property is particularly valuable or sensitive, it may be necessary for the local law enforcement agency to be contacted; if the property is subsequently handed over to authorities, this fact, including the identity of the receiving law enforcement officer, should be noted. A receipt for the property should be obtained. Local and state laws often determine the handling of lost property.♦

Some jurisdictions allow found property, when its owner is unknown and its value is below a certain amount, to be distributed to local charitable organizations. Others, after a certain waiting period, auction the property or allow the finder to assume ownership of it.

Trash Removal Control

The design and implementation of trash removal controls will largely depend on the specific cleaning operations in effect at a building. For apartments that are owned and occupied, or leased or rented from the owner, the residents themselves will usually be responsible for keeping their own apartments clean. They may do it themselves or hire a cleaner to periodically clean the apartment. Building trash chutes may be provided for the residents to dispose of trash, or the building may arrange for trash to be collected from each floor.

Building management will use cleaning staff to clean common areas, including facilities provided by the building for the residents. To facilitate scrutiny of any trash removed from these areas, the bags used by these staff should be made of transparent plastic. Also, CCTV cameras in the dock areas may be used to deter the removal of items from trash bags before they are placed in dumpsters, compactors, or holding areas, or for later retrieval from the receptacles themselves.

Cleaning staff may be required to enter and leave the building through an employee entrance and be subject to certain property screening procedures. The object of the screening procedure is to observe any prohibited items being brought into the building and to detect any stolen property being removed from the building. As part of preemployment or preassignment agreements, cleaners may be asked to submit to a visual inspection of any items they are carrying to and from work—lunch pails, bags, backpacks, packages, and so on. The frequency of the inspections can be established as part of the agreement: inspections may be conducted every time the employee enters or leaves the building, at random, or only with cause. Depending on the number of staff employed (it may be only one or two for many apartment buildings), a cleaning supervisor or a member of building security may conduct these inspections. They are visual only, and employees are requested to open appropriate items themselves. Under no circumstances does the inspecting person touch the items being inspected or attempt to inspect any part of the employee's person or clothing. All persons have a legal right and expectation of privacy, so items such as purses will be subject to inspection only under special circumstances, the nature of which should be established in writing beforehand. Some operations require janitorial staff to wear special clothing or smocks in which it is difficult to conceal items.

Key and Electronic Access Card Control

In residential and apartment buildings, keys and electronic access cards to the facility are under the control of building management, engineering, and usually security personnel. Building management personnel obviously need to have keys to gain entry to all areas of the facility they manage. Building engineers, because of the nature of their work, also need access to virtually all areas, including residences and apartments. Depending on how the building is managed, security staff also will have access to most areas.

Key Control

The decision as to whether master keys are issued to building security staff will vary from building to building. If they are not issued master keys, they will often be issued a ring of keys, permitting them to enter various parts of the building. Many facilities keep apartment keys out of the routine possession of security staff but provide a controlled, documented means for these keys to be obtained if necessary. During emergencies and other special circumstances, security staff can obtain these keys quickly. After the situation has been resolved, the keys are again placed under supervision, perhaps in a locked cabinet or a key cabinet secured with a key, a lock code, an access card, or a consecutively numbered seal.

Keys issued to the security staff should never be permitted to leave the facility. They should be passed from shift to shift and a receipt should be recorded each time they change hands. All security personnel understand the importance of not permitting keys to be compromised.

Key Points to Consider♦

Keys should be issued only to those persons who can be entrusted with them and who have an absolute need for them. The status a key holder may feel by possessing certain keys should not enter into the decision-making process. The following points are important to consider:

• •Residents should be issued keys that pertain to their residence only.
• •Residents should never be issued building entrance keys. (If issuing entrance keys is unavoidable, the locks should be changed periodically or when a key has been lost or taken, and new keys should be issued to the residents authorized to have them.)
• •Residents should not be allowed to duplicate keys. (Keys should be marked “Do Not Duplicate” as a deterrent to duplication. Also, keys issued to residents may be distinctively marked to help identify unauthorized keys they may have had cut themselves.)
• •When a resident moves out, all apartment door entry locks should be changed.
• •Janitorial staff should be issued keys only for the time they require them and for the particular areas to which they require access. Depending on the size of the janitorial staff, designated supervisors within the janitorial operation may be issued master keys that, for instance, provide access to the residences on an individual floor. In this way, the general cleaning staff does not need to be issued keys. In some buildings, no janitorial staff members are issued keys, and security staff must unlock the appropriate doors and relock them after the work is completed. Procedures will vary from building to building depending on size, complexity, and the manner in which cleaning is conducted and trash is removed.
• •Elevator, escalator, dumbwaiter, rubbish chute, laundry and linen chute, and moving walk technicians may be permitted to carry keys that provide access to their equipment, or the building may retain possession and issue the keys only as needed.

In some buildings, telecommunications technicians and gas, water, and power utility workers are permitted to attach their own locking devices to areas containing their equipment. This practice is convenient because building staffs are not required to open these areas, but it compromises security because the control of keys and the areas themselves has been lost. These areas could be used to store unauthorized or stolen items, and general housekeeping may become a problem. If this practice is permitted, no one should be allowed to place a lock on a door without building security or other building departments (such as engineering) having a key. In an emergency, keys must be available for access. A possible alternative is for contractors to store their equipment, including tools, in heavily reinforced large steel boxes, chests, and cabinets that can be secured using high-security padlocks that are protected from attack with cutting tools.

In the event of a lost key, the circumstances surrounding the loss should be fully investigated and thoroughly documented.

Mobile Patrols

Mobile patrols may be conducted in residential and apartment buildings for a variety of security and fire life safety purposes. “Guards [security officers] are typically highly visible thus offering something of a deterrent effect and at the same time imparting a sense of security to the building's tenants and visitors.”31 Patrols can also be used to note and quickly address anything significant or unusual affecting security or fire life safety. After conducting a risk assessment (as described in Chapter 4), the purpose, frequency, and routing of patrols can be determined by management and the security department (and, if special circumstances warrant, with the cooperation of local authorities) and then carried out and thoroughly documented.

When and Where?

Patrols by security staff in residential and apartment buildings may occur as follows:

• •Depending on a building's usage, patrols may also be conducted in swimming pool and spa areas, public parks, gardens, retail arcades,♦ and other areas, with times varying according to the operating hours.
• •When the building is normally closed (some buildings require such patrols contin-uously) throughout all common and maintenance areas (including stairwells), to report obstructions (particularly those blocking emergency egress routes), fire hazards, broken glass, missing equipment (such as portable fire extinguishers), water or gas leaks, wet floors, holes, defects in floor coverings, tiles missing, unsecured areas, malfunctioning lighting equipment, signs of forced entry, unauthorized and suspicious persons, and others (including building staff) found in areas in which they would not normally belong, and so on.
• •Continuously in parking garages and lots to deter theft of vehicles and property within them; note parking violations♦♦ and issue warnings or citations; observe vehicle lights or engines left on, leaks from vehicles, or other unusual conditions of parked vehicles; report fire hazards, water or gas leaks, malfunctioning lighting equipment, broken vehicle windows and other signs of forced entry, unauthorized and suspicious persons, and others (including building staff) found in areas in which they would not normally belong; and provide for the general safety of tenants and visitors. (Motor vehicles, electric carts, bicycles, tricycles, and personal transporters may be used for patrolling large parking areas with long travel distances.)
• •On building floors and in parking garages, patrol stations are often installed at each stairwell so that the patrolling officer must traverse the floor in order to complete the tour.
• •To perform a fire watch when a building has exceptional hazards or the fire protection system is impaired.♦ A fire watch is “the assignment of a person or persons to an area for the express purpose of notifying the fire department and/or building occupants of an emergency, preventing a fire from occurring, extinguishing small fires, or protecting the public from fire or life safety dangers.”32 It is vital that when such an activity is to be performed that the local fire department or other authority having jurisdiction is consulted.

Patrolling Tips

• •Patrols can be conducted either on foot or using a motor vehicle, an electric cart, a bicycle, a tricycle, or a personal transporter.
• •There should be reliable communication between the patrolling officer and the security department or the supervisor.
• •Whenever possible, routine patrols should be conducted in a random, unpredict-able manner to avoid a fixed pattern or routine that someone planning to commit a crime can observe. Sometimes, an effective tactic is for an officer to “double back,” or retrace steps to a previous location; anyone observing the patrolling officer's movements would usually not expect the officer to return quickly to an area just visited.
• •“Alertness, interest and thoroughness must be displayed. A suspicious mind must be cultivated and anything that appears other than normal must be looked into.”33
• •Using a flashlight or a torch in areas where lighting is poor or nonexistent is extremely useful.
• •“A simple but effective patrol plan should be established in each area. Its efficiency should be regularly checked by means of [patrol management devices♦♦ ], radio or telephone checks at regular intervals, etc. Failure to report, or deviation from described assignments, should immediately be investigated.”34 Patrol management devices “provide the security manager with a consistent record of rounds and occurrences at a facility without the need for human supervision to ensure that rounds are completed as assigned.”35 If an electronic patrol management device is not used, a notebook is very useful for recording observations. (The patrolling officer can carry the notebook, or it can be positioned at designated patrol stations so the officer can record when visiting a particular area.)

Resident Security Education

There are many ways to educate building residents about the building's security program. All building residents and their visitors should be made aware of the program and how various policies and procedures affect them. If people are aware of the logic behind security regulations, they usually are more willing to comply with them. This communication can be achieved in the following ways:

• •Explain the regulations on an informal, as-needed basis. For example, building security staff may explain to a visitor the purpose of calling a resident before he or she can be admitted.
• •Use posted signs; written policies and procedures published in the Resident Manual♦ and on the building's website; pamphlets, leaflets, flyers, newsletters, e-mails, and video training materials supplied by building management to the resident. Sometimes, information is displayed on in-car elevator video screens. Such elevator bulletins may, for example, provide information that reminds occupants that in the event the elevator stops running, they should immediately use the elevator emergency communication device to request assistance; or the bulletin may be used to post other appropriate emergency notifications. Appendix 9–1 on the CD-ROM provided with this book is a Sample Resident Security and Safety Awareness Checklist that could be revised and sent to residents at appropriate times during the year.
• •Conduct security and safety orientation lectures, classes, briefings, workshops, and seminars. These events can be an effective medium, not only for communicating to residents what is required of them in the building security program but also as an opportunity to educate employees about basic security and safety measures they can adopt at home. (Such measures could include being aware of their surroundings, elevator safety,♦♦ securing vehicle doors and windows, not leaving valuable items in view in parked vehicles, securing their residences and personal property, and reporting any problems in common areas.) The length of such events will vary, but 45 minutes to an hour is probably the maximum that residents will permit. As with all effective teaching, the use of audio-visual aids—films, videotapes, DVDs, and slides—can help gain the attention of participants and assist in effectively communicating the required message. The frequency of classes, meetings, conferences, seminars, and workshops will vary from building to building; they may be regularly scheduled or conducted when a specific need arises. More will be said about the training of occupants, floor wardens and building emergency staff in the next section, “Emergency Planning.”

The residents themselves are an important part of any building security program. They should be educated to know that they are the eyes and ears of the building. Although the residents are not expected to be trained security professionals, they are expected to be active participants in the building security program by being aware of their surroundings and promptly reporting potential security problems to building management and security staff.

Emergency Planning

For a building owner or manager to effectively manage an incident that constitutes an emergency in a residential and apartment building, it is critical to plan ahead. Before proceeding, it is appropriate to review several key concepts.

Key Concepts

An incident is an “event that has the capacity to lead to human, intangible or physcial loss, or a disruption of an organization's operations, services, or functions—which, if not managed, can escalate into an emergency, crisis, or disaster.”36

A disruption is “an event that interrupts normal business, functions, operations, or processess whether anticipated (e.g., hurricane, political unrest) or unanticipated (e.g., a [power] blackout, terror attack, technology failure, or earthquake).”37

An emergency is “an event, actual or imminent, which endangers or threatens to endanger life, property or the environment, and which requires a significant and coordinated response.”38 During an emergency there may be chaotic conditions, particularly if there is a disruption in normal communications.

A crisis is “an unstable condition involving an impending abrupt or significant change that requires urgent attention and action to protect life, assests, property, or the environment.”39

Emergency management (also sometimes known as crisis management) is defined as “the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness [and] response.”♦

A plan is defined as “a scheme or method of acting or proceeding developed in advance.”40

Combining the terms emergency management and a plan can lead to a definition of an emergency management plan ♦♦ as “a scheme or method of acting or proceeding developed in advance for the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness and response.”41

“The objective of an [emergency management plan] should be to allow those responsible for the [facility] during an emergency to focus on the solution of major problems, not to attempt immediately to bring order out of chaos. If all predictable and routine items are considered in the plan, those responsible for actions during an emergency will be able to deal with the unpredictable or unusual situations that will surely develop.”42

According to Groner,

The chaotic and dynamic nature of building emergencies requires an exceedingly rapid assessment of the situation. The timeframe is measured in seconds and minutes, not hours and days. The rapid onset of many events means that sthe process should be well underway before emergency responders arrive at the building.

Human factors professionals have been actively researching this problem under the generally accepted term of “situation awareness.” Endsley (1988) has provided a well-accepted definition: “The perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the near future.”43 As noted in the definition, it is insufficient to understand the momentary status of the situation; projecting its development is of great importance in choosing a strategy to safeguard building occupants.♦

The purpose of an emergency management plan is to help residential building emergency staff in their efforts to achieve situation awareness and make sound decisions to provide for the safety of occupants during building emergencies, such as fire.

The value of emergency planning is not only the emergency management plan itself but also in the development process leading to it and the education of residential building emergency staff that should occur in the process.

How to Develop a Building Emergency Management Plan

The building emergency management plan♦♦ in Appendix 9–2 (which is on the CD-ROM provided with this book) is a suggested format for developing an emergency management plan for an office building. It includes actions intended to reduce the threat to the life safety of building occupants from emergencies, both fire and non-fire-related, that are likely to occur in a specific building, or in close proximity to it, until the arrival at the building of emergency responders. A residential and apartment building could adopt such an emergency plan as part of its effort to develop its own building emergency management plan. However, several critical differences—building emergency staff organization and occupant documentation and training—need to be taken into account.

Building Emergency Staff Organization

The building emergency staff organization that will carry out emergency response procedures for a residential and apartment building differs from that of an office building. The most obvious difference is that residential buildings do not have floor response personnel (apart from possibly a warden on each floor). The responsibility for overseeing the safe and orderly evacuation of occupants from a residential floor resides with the floor warden (if available♦ ), building management, security, and engineering staff (the personnel involved will vary according to the size of the building, its staffing capabilities, and the time of day or night). Usually after normal business hours these facilities do not have many building emergency staff members present to help residents evacuate.

A typical staff organization♦♦ for a high-rise residential and apartment building is outlined in Figure 11–1 . This sample depicts the fire safety director as reporting to building management. However, it is noted that the authority that has jurisdiction in many cities empowers the fire safety director with full authority to evacuate a building without the need to obtain approval from building owners or managers.

Figure 11–1.

Sample residential/apartment building emergency staff organization.

Each unit of the building emergency staff organization has duties and responsibilities that have been developed and tailored to the specific needs of the building and to each type of emergency they may be required to handle. These duties and responsibilities should be defined clearly so that there will be a coordinated and effective response to each emergency situation. For example, the duties and responsibilities of building management, the building fire safety director,♦♦♦ and the building engineering and security staff♦♦♦♦ in handling a fire emergency will include ensuring that the fire department has been immediately notified, all occupants in the affected areas have been advised of the situation, any necessary evacuation of residents and visitors has begun, fire life safety systems are operating under emergency conditions, any investigation or initial suppression of the fire is carried out, and that the fire department and other responding personnel are met on arrival and briefed on the status of the situation. In contrast, during a bomb threat incident, these personnel may be involved in supervising the evacuation of residents and assisting in searching areas where an explosive device may have been placed. In a medical incident, security staff, depending on the building's policy and the type of situation, may be required to administer CPR, an AED (automated external defibrillator), or basic first aid before the emergency medical responders arrive.

Floor wardens, if present, will have specific duties and responsibilities that vary according to the type of emergency encountered. Primarily, these individuals oversee the safe and orderly evacuation of residents from a building floor.

Occupant Documentation and Training

“Occupants of each living unit must be given emergency instructions on a yearly basis, indicating the location of alarms, exiting paths, and actions to be taken in response to a fire in the living unit and in response to the sounding of an alarm.”44

Occupant Documentation

Information provided as booklets, brochures, pamphlets, leaflets, flyers, wall posters, or items posted on a building's website can be used to train occupants. These materials should document procedures for emergencies considered likely to happen in a building. Some buildings limit the emergencies to fires, fire alarms, bomb threats, medical emergencies, and natural disasters relevant to a building's location. Figure A9–19 (which is contained in Appendix 9–2 on the CD-ROM provided with this book) is a sample occupant safety brochure for Pacific Tower Plaza, the hypothetical high-rise that is located in an area where earthquakes may occur.

Occupant documentation usually includes floor evacuation plans that show the building core, perimeter, stairwells, elevators, and every wall that faces every exit route; exit routes to the stairwells; symbols depicting the location of fire equipment and manual fire alarm devices; the floor number; fire department and building emergency telephone numbers; what stairwells have roof access; and what the fire alarm looks and sounds like. (See Figure 6–28 for a sample floor evacuation plan.) If a written brochure is used, it may also include a Certificate of Occupant Training (Figure A9–20 contained in Appendix 9–2 on the CD-ROM provided with this book) to be filled out by the occupant receiving the training and returned to the building fire safety director for record keeping.

Figure A9–21 in Appendix 9–2 on the CD-ROM provided with this book is a sample of a building's website on which emergency phone numbers, an emergency procedures brochure, a site plan depicting outside safe refuge areas, building floor plans, a fire life safety video, and other emergency preparedness resources (such as links to public websites) are published. If such web-based fire life safety training is provided, some learning management systems record the actual training that each occupant has participated in. For example, after viewing a fire life safety training video, the occupant is asked to answer online questions to gauge his or her comprehension of the viewed material. The occupant's answers are permanently recorded by the system. These records can be invaluable in determining occupant participation in fire life safety training. Also, they can be used as evidence to demonstrate a building's efforts to prepare occupants for emergencies.

Some buildings post fire life safety information on the back of the main entrance door to the resident's apartment. This could include a floor plan with the emergency telephone number, a description of what the building fire alarm sounds like (and looks like if strobe lights are available), the layout of the floor including room locations, corridors, elevators, and the nearest fire exits, a “YOU ARE HERE” indicator for the resident's room location, a directional path depicting the direction of travel to each of the nearest fire exits, and the location of manual fire alarm stations and portable fire extinguishers on the floor—see a sample sign for a hotel in Figure 10–2. Information could also be portrayed in a program routinely broadcast to residents on in-room television channels. As a bare minimum, residents should be familiar with emergency exits on their floor, in particular noting the route leading to the nearest fire exit.

Occupant Training Class

A class that is taught by a qualified person (preferably the building fire safety director) is an invaluable way to inform building occupants of what to do in the event of a fire or other emergency.

In such a class, it is important to explain the building's emergency systems, equipment, and relevant emergency procedures. The instructor must be thoroughly familiar with the building and its emergency management plan. Audiovisual aids and handout materials are extremely helpful. The use of videos, customized to a particular building (describing the emergency systems and equipment and the expected responses of occupants to building emergencies), are extremely useful tools.

Exit Signage

Exit signs (as described in Chapter 6) are also a critical part of the life safety program for residential and apartment building occupants. These include floor evacuation plans that show the building core, perimeter, stairwells, elevators, every wall that faces every exit route, exit routes to the appropriate stairwells, symbols depicting the location of fire equipment and manual fire alarm devices, the floor number, fire department and emergency services telephone numbers, what stairwells have roof access, and what the fire alarm looks and sounds like.

Evacuation Drills

Residential and apartment buildings can utilize evacuation drills♦ —commonly called fire drills—to train, instruct, reinforce, and test the preparedness of the building emergency staff and residents.

Residents can play an important part in any residential and apartment building fire life safety program by promptly reporting things such as suspicious persons or activities, safety hazards, or smell of smoke to building management and security staff.

Important Consideration

It is important that as many as possible of those who will be involved in the execution of the emergency management plan participate in the planning process. Those concerned should include the building emergency staff, and possibly public officials (such as those from the local fire and law enforcement agencies) and building management staff from neighboring buildings (with the view to developing mutual aid agreements).♦♦ Public officials may require a particular format for the plan itself.

It cannot be stressed enough that the sample format for developing a residential and apartment's Building Emergency Procedures Manual is provided as an example of how a building may prepare its plan. Every site and building is different, and emergency plans vary according to local laws and the requirements of the authority that has jurisdiction. It is up to each residential and apartment building to develop the emergency management plan most appropriate to its needs.

Summary

• •From the time a vehicle enters the parking structure and residents proceed to the building, travel in the tower elevators, and enter an individual residence or apartment, there is a need for access control measures that sift out unwanted persons and intruders and yet constitute a minimum of inconvenience to legitimate building users.
• •The purpose of establishing, implementing, and maintaining a building emergency management plan is to provide for the life safety of all building occupants.
• •“Occupants of each living unit must be given emergency instructions on a yearly basis, indicating the location of alarms, exiting paths, and actions to be taken in response to a fire in the living unit and in response to the sounding of an alarm.”45

Key Terms

Apartment. “An individual dwelling unit, usually on a single level and often contained in a multi-unit building or development.”46 See also condominium and residential building.

Apartment building. “A building containing more than one dwelling unit.”47 “Apartment buildings are those structures containing three or more living units with independent cooking and bathroom facilities, whether designated as apartment houses,…condominiums, or garden apartments.”48 See also condominium and residential building.

Bathroom. A room that contains a bathtub and/or shower and usually a washbasin or a washbowl (i.e., a lavatory) and a toilet. Also called a restroom.

Concierge. Provides information and services to building tenants, residents, guests, and visitors, and performs other duties as specified by the facility.

Condominium. “A multiple-unit structure in which the units and pro rata shares of the common areas are owned individually; a unit in a condominium property. Also, the absolute ownership of an apartment or unit, generally in a multi-unit building, which is defined by a legal description of the air space the unit actually occupies plus an undivided interest in the common elements that are owned jointly with the other condominium unit owners.”49 Residential condominiums are commonplace in today's society. See also apartment building and residential building.

Doorman. “An individual hired to provide courtesy and security services at a residential building or hotel. They are particularly common in urban luxury highrises [and major hotels]. At a residential building, a doorman is responsible for opening doors and screening visitors and deliveries. He [or she] will often provide other courtesy services such as signing for packages, carrying luggage between the elevator and the street, or hailing taxis for residents and guests.”50 At hotels they provide a wide variety of guest services.♦

Dormitory. A residence hall or a hall of residence with separate rooms or suites for sleep and study and that accommodate single or multiple students who share common bathing and toilet facilities.51

Guest. In residential and apartment buildings, a guest is a “nonresident who stays in a resident's private dwelling (with that resident's consent) for one or more nights.”52

Landlord. A person or an organization that owns a facility and leases or rents it, or a part of it, to a tenant(s). In the case of an apartment building, the leasing will be of apartments.

Lessee. “The tenant in a lease.”53 See also tenant.

Rent. “Payment for the use of space or personal property owned by another. In real estate, a fixed periodic payment by a tenant to an owner for the exclusive possession and use of leased property.”54

Residence. “A temporary or permanent dwelling place, abode, or habitation to which one intends to return as distinguished from a place of temporary sojourn or transient visit.”55

Resident. “One who lives (or resides) in a place. Referring to residential tenants as ‘residents’ is preferred by many real estate professionals.”56 See also tenant.

Residential building. A building containing separate residences where a person may live or regularly stay. Each residence contains independent cooking and bathroom facilities, and it may be known as an apartment, a residence, a tenement, or a condominium. See also apartment building and condominium.

Tenant. A person, a group of persons, or a company or firm that rents or owns and occupies space within a building. “A legal term for one who pays rent to occupy or gain possession of real estate; the lessee in a lease. Real estate managers often limit the use of the term tenant to commercial tenants and refer to residential tenants as residents.”57 See also lessee and resident.

Visitor. In residential and apartment buildings it is a “nonresident who spends time at the home of a resident (with that resident's consent) but does not stay overnight.”58