Condo safety starts within
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Updated: October 08, 2009 10:44 AM
‘Common Areas’ are defined as areas in condominiums not owned by individual owners but collectively by all owners. These areas are shared by the owners and their invitees.
Thieves like to target apartments and condos because they can easily blend into the common areas. This is mainly because these areas generally have increased traffic and the ‘bad guy’ is often not recognized or questioned by the building’s owners.
Apartment and condominium dwellers tend to be more tolerant of foot traffic because of the comings and goings of people moving through the building. However, when suspicious activity is spotted within the building, the residents need to know.
A good strata council will inform the owners of each and every reported occurrence as it happens. A pro-active strata council will hold monthly ‘security update meetings’ for homeowners.
This is also an opportunity for owners to discuss their security concerns with the rest of the building’s residents. These meetings will help keep the residents abreast of all suspicious activity taking place in and around their building.
For those who can’t or would rather not attend the meetings, letters should be sent to them containing the minutes for their review.
Because condominium security starts from within, residents need to use common sense when protecting their home. The common area is a great starting point.
Common areas should be monitored by owners as carefully as they would their own apartments.
A safety contact phone list should to be supplied to each and every owner in the building.
Once a suspicious person is spotted in the building, the resident could phone for backup support as well as possibly notifying the police department of the questionable activity.
If you don’t take the initiative to protect your building, somebody is going to take advantage of an opportunity that might result in your loss.
Frank Fourchalk writes bi-weekly on home and business security for The Peace Arch News. www.yourhomesecurity.ca
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