The Security Gaps Property Owners Miss After Business Hours
Updated: Oct 15
A building may have working locks, cameras and an alarm system, yet still have gaps in its after-hours procedures. Someone assumes the cleaner will secure the rear entrance. A contractor stays late without notifying management. An alarm contact no longer works for the company.
For Toronto and GTA property managers, reviewing who is responsible for each task can be as useful as reviewing the equipment itself.
Closing Responsibilities Are Unclear
When several tenants or businesses share a property, it may be unclear who is responsible for securing common entrances, loading areas and parking gates.
A closing procedure should identify:
Which areas need to be checked
Who completes each task
How exceptions are recorded
Who receives unresolved concerns
What happens when someone needs to remain on-site
If a guard handles any of these duties, include them in the agreed site instructions. Avoid relying on informal arrangements that change depending on who is working.
Contractors Have Access but No Clear Departure Process
Cleaning, maintenance and delivery activity can continue after the main workforce leaves. Approved access should include clear instructions about permitted areas, arrival and departure arrangements, and securing entrances.
For example, a contractor may need a loading door open while moving equipment. The procedure should establish who checks that door once the work is finished.
Where security coverage is arranged, guards can support the agreed access process and report exceptions. They need current information about authorised work and a contact who can resolve unexpected requests.
Alarm Contacts and Instructions Are Outdated
An alarm notification is harder to manage when nobody knows who should respond or who can authorise entry.
Review contact details whenever staff, tenants or service providers change. Include an alternative contact and instructions for situations where the first person cannot be reached.
If mobile patrol security forms part of the response arrangement, confirm the agreed duties, access permissions and escalation process. An attendance request should not be treated as a guaranteed arrival time.
Reported Faults Do Not Reach the Right Person
A damaged latch or failed exterior light may be noticed repeatedly without being resolved. Recording the issue is only the first step.
Agree on how maintenance concerns move from the person observing them to the person responsible for repairs. Separate urgent notifications from routine reports, and establish how outstanding issues will be followed up.
Where guards report visible lighting faults or door damage, that observation should not be described as a technical inspection or a repair.
Patrol Expectations Are Not Defined
“Check the property” leaves too much open to interpretation. Before arranging coverage, identify the areas to be checked, access restrictions and reporting requirements.
Ask the security provider how attendance and completed checks are recorded. Confirm whether photographs, electronic checkpoints or other reporting features are available and included in the assignment.
Mobile patrols provide periodic visits. They do not provide continuous supervision between checks.
The Morning Team Does Not Receive a Useful Handover
An overnight incident can create more work when the incoming team receives incomplete information.
A useful handover identifies what was observed, where it happened, who was contacted and what still requires attention. Reports should distinguish confirmed facts from assumptions and include only the personal information needed for the task.
Management can then assign follow-up rather than leaving the next shift to reconstruct events.
Review Your After-Hours Arrangements
Start with your operating hours, contractor activity, shared entrances and current closing procedures. Identify where responsibilities are unclear before deciding whether you need on-site guards, mobile patrols or changes to existing arrangements.
Lima Security Services provides commercial security and mobile patrol services in Toronto and the GTA.
Call (416) 833-5462 or contact Lima Security Services to discuss your property’s coverage requirements.
