How to Protect Commercial Properties, Without Breaking the Law

It’s a troublesome irony that by protecting a commercial property from crime, you can find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

In the UK, regulations surrounding commercial property security are complex, numerous and occasionally downright baffling. It’s worryingly easy for commercial property managers to inadvertently get themselves into legal trouble.

In this article, we’re working through the laws and regulations which cause businesses the most problems. Here’s how to protect your commercial property, without breaking the law.

Installing CCTV

As you probably know, CCTV is one of the most powerful ways to protect your property against criminal behaviour. The cameras alone are a robust deterrent, while CCTV footage provides valuable evidence should your property be targeted.

However, there are strict rules around CCTV installation for commercial premises. You have to comply with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 which treats CCTV footage as personal data. Be aware of the following:

• Signage should be displayed prominently to inform people that CCTV is in use, and the reasons why.
• Share the footage with authorities, such as the emergency services, when requested and within 1 month.
• Share the footage with any individuals you’ve recorded within 1 month, if they ask you to do so.
• Register the use of CCTV with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and pay a data protection fee.
• Retain CCTV footage only for as long as necessary. The general recommendation is a maximum of 31 days, although some retail and high-risk premises may hold footage for longer.
• Comply with privacy laws by never placing cameras within areas such as toilets and changing rooms. Additionally, beware of inadvertently capturing footage of people in neighbouring residential properties or schools.

Bear in mind that you can be fined for non-compliance, so if you’re worried about any of the above, please get in touch with the team at CSG. We’ll be happy to carry out an assessment and provide all the advice you need.

Dealing with squatters

If you manage commercial premises, squatters represent both a legal quagmire and a bitterly ironic Catch-22.

While it’s illegal for squatters to enter private properties, the same laws do not apply to commercial properties. In fact, if you try to forcibly evict squatters, you risk committing a criminal offence yourself. Moreover, when it’s simply at your request, the police don’t have the power to remove them.

Having said that, police can get involved under certain circumstances — namely, if the squatters have committed a crime whilst at the property. Those crimes include:

• Causing damage when entering the property, or whilst inside it
• Stealing from the property
• Using utilities without permission
• Disposing of rubbish or fly tipping on the property
• Failing to obey a noise abatement notice

Other than this, unless you can negotiate with the squatters to leave, the only option is going to court for a possession order. These proceedings can be costly, lengthy, bureaucratic and frustrating.

Given the above, it’s worth knowing that CCTV can come to the rescue. If you’d like to find out more about this, read our case study How CCTV solved a squatter problem in one day.

Hiring security officers

In terms of the law, a security officer is simply a civilian. They’re not police officers, so their arrest powers are the same as any other private citizen.

That said, the job of a security officer carries huge responsibilities. They are there to protect both the property and the people within it. Security personnel watch what’s going on around them, prevent unlawful activity, maintain order, handle incidents and communicate with emergency services.

If you’re hiring a security officer to work at commercial premises, and they carry out any of the duties below, you must make sure they hold a valid Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence.

• Guarding premises and the business’s property against theft or damage
• Guarding people against physical assault or injury
• Guarding premises against unauthorised access or disorderly behaviour
• Guards property, premises or people by using CCTV to surveil members of the public
• Key holding, i.e. keeping or controlling access to keys or devices which operate locks to the premises

For you, as the hirer, there are severe penalties for employing someone to carry out private security work if they don’t hold a valid SIA licence. You can be fined or, in some circumstances, receive a prison sentence.

Security barriers and bollards

Security barriers and bollards do a great job at preventing unauthorised entry, but there are several pieces of legislation covering them. These include, but aren’t limited to:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• The Equality Act 2010

Let’s start with health and safety. First and foremost, you have to conduct a thorough risk assessment to make sure that bollards don’t pose a risk to employees, visitors or the public.

To give you just one example, with rising bollards which stop vehicles, they should activate in plenty of time to allow drivers to see the bollard and stop safely — even in poor weather conditions or low light. Also, you need to make sure that bollards and barriers aren’t blocking fire or emergency exits.

The Equality Act requires businesses to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and this includes the spacing of bollards — 1.2 metres apart. It also means leaving ample opportunity for people in a wheelchair to see, turn and make room for others going in the opposite direction.

The Act also supports barrier-free access for wheelchair users and people with limited vision. To meet your legal obligations, make sure that all access control systems are safely and easily usable by disabled people.

Finally, be aware that unlike on residential land, you’ll need planning permission to install bollards on a commercial property. And, if you want to install them near public roads, pavements, public access points or pathways, you’ll need to get in touch with the local highway authority.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve outlined just a few of the laws and regulations surrounding security for commercial premises. There are many more which we don’t have the space to include here.

It may seem blatantly unfair that by protecting a property against criminal behaviour you can so easily find yourself in legal hot water. After all, you’re not the person who’s intentionally committing a crime.

At CSG, we’re not in a position to change the law. However, we can provide all the assistance you need when it comes to compliance with current UK laws surrounding commercial security. Just get in touch. We’ll be happy to help.