In the last month, no less than three of my friends have had their cars broken into while parked in their underground parking lots overnight.

This has prompted me to second-guess the security measures in most condominiums.

Who ever thought that we’d take our security for granted?

My brother told me a relatively amusing story.  I say “amusing” because he was able to shake his head and laugh about it afterwards…

When he moved into his new condominium, he took his Raleigh mountain bike with him and stored it in the “bike room” at 168 King Street.  The bike wouldn’t fit into his locker, but the building had a special room for bicycles, unlike most buildings where bikes are stored at racks in plain view of everybody who passes by.

A little over one year later, my brother had this thought: “Oh yeah….I forgot about my bike.  Huh…”

He then went downstairs to check on it.

He entered the “bike room” to find nothing left but a single wheel locked to the rail where he’d left it over fourteen months earlier.  Somebody had taken the entire frame and other wheel, since it was not properly secured.

My brother admitted, “I’m an idiot for leaving it down there.  Anybody who has a key to that room has access to all those bikes and nobody is around to see it.  And what’s to say the door isn’t left open?”

The huge “bike bust” of Summer, 2008 garnered an incredible amount of media attention, and it demonstrated just how unsecured most condominiums are, since majority of the bikes confiscated in the bust were assumed to have been stolen from underground parking lots in condominiums.

But aside from cars and bikes, it is our own safety that we should be concerned about.

Here a few issues to consider:

Individual Alarm Systems
I have never actually known somebody who uses the alarm system inside their condominium unit, but I suppose the alarms are there for a reason.  Maybe it’s a young person thing; not using it, that is.  Or maybe it depends on the area.  But majority of new condominiums have individual alarm systems in addition to security guards or concierge.

24/7 Concierge
I never thought much of the idea at first, but when I arrived outside my building at 2AM in -15 degree weather after taking a cab from the airport, and soon realized that I didn’t have my FOB to get into the building, I was happy to see Sebastian waving at me and opening the door.  There is something to be said for that friendly, familiar face you see every night when you get home, but it’s also nice to know that there is somebody watching who comes in and out of the building, and more specifically, somebody ensuring that nobody sneaks in behind a resident when they open the door.

FOB’s For Parking Garage
Most newer buildings require a scan-card or key-FOB to be used in each parking level, meaning that pressing the elevator button on P1, P2, etc., won’t work unless you own a FOB.  This means that nobody can gain access to the building through the underground parking, if for example, they were to drive or walk in behind a resident’s car when the gate opened.

FOB’s For Individual Floors
A lot of buildings take the FOB/parking idea one step further, and residents must swipe their cards in order to gain access to their floor, even if they get on the elevator in the lobby.  The scan-card is specific to each floor, and a resident living on the 4th floor can only gain access to that floor.  This might be a nuisance, however, if you have friend who lives on the 18th floor and you want to go and visit them.  But it means that if a non-resident does gain access to the building, that person can’t access any of the residential floors.

Automatic Door-Locks
I’ll be honest – I forget to lock my front door every single time I come home, and most nights I see the door unlocked just as I’m about to go to bed.  I don’t really care since I’m not really a scaredy-cat and there are other measures of security in the building, but many residents have benefitted from automatically-locking doors.  No longer must residents physically turn the deadbolt when they enter, although I pity the fool who goes to the garbage chute without their keys.

Surveillance Cameras
Every building has security cameras in place, but it’s the sheer number of cameras that is important in new buildings.  Every door, elevator, hallway, common area, nook, and cranny are videotaped on a 24/7 basis.  Perhaps this isn’t so much of a preventative measure, since a security guard who takes frequent smoke breaks or is just lazy might not be able to watch 25 TV monitors at once, but everything is caught on camera meaning the appropriate people can always go back and view the tapes.

Every building is different, and each come with their own security measures, whether they are comprehensive and state-of-the-art or just a simple video-camera capturing three hours of footage at a time on Beta…

I’m not sure how important security is to most condo buyers, but it should be on the list of criteria to examine.

Most buyers are too enamoured with the unit itself and neglect the fact that they are just one of possibly three-hundred partners in ownership of the building.  You still have four walls and a roof over your head, but you’ve also got neighbors in very close confines, and all the people that they let into the building.

When I was in 2nd year university in Hamilton, I lived in a storefront/apartment building in one of five residential units above a hair salon.  I a was walking towards the front door one morning when I smelled something absolutely putrid, and as I approached the top of the stairs I saw a homeless man laying on the floor on the landing below.  The man was gone when I came back that night, but the whole building stank to high-heaven.

The next morning, the man was there again.  It occurred to me that he was sleeping there every night, since the front door was always unlocked.

It took a phone call from the police from one of the other residents before the Landlord finally put a lock on the front door and gave us all keys.

It just goes to show that your individual unit is not the only entity you should be concerned with.

As a condo owner, you have part ownership of every square inch of the building that isn’t a residential unit.

As such, you should work to see that your investment is well-secured.

Personal safety is always a priority, but just don’t ever take it for granted…