Things To Consider For Gate Security.
A gate is a difficult thing to protect. How do you go about making something secure that almost anyone can climb over? What does a gate provide in terms of protection? If a gate is executed to the highest degree a gate can be, how safe is it going to make you? Many people take a look at a gate and wonder why it is even there. Some people take a look at a gate and call it a fence. Is there a difference? What exactly is a fence? In this article, we will delve deep into what you can do to what a gate is and how to give yours more security. We will give you the proper information to determine if a gate is the right choice for your security needs. What are the advantages and disadvantages for different types of gates? The types of things you should consider for your particular gate needs, and why those things matter. It’s going to be a blast!
Things To Consider:
Pedestrian
- Will giving out codes/keys harm the building’s security more than it will ease foot traffic
- Does it make financial sense to have a guard to verify who is entering
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How often will the gate open and close in a day, week, month, year
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
Auto
- Will giving out codes/keys harm the building’s security more than it will ease traffic congestion
- Does it make financial sense to have a guard to verify who is entering
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How often will the gate open and close in a day, week, month, year
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
Low Use Commercial Gate
This type of gate has to open a few times a day for guests, as well as employees. There will not necessarily be a guard at the gate, or people on the premises frequently.
Things To Consider:
Pedestrian
- How many people need access
- Does it make financial sense to have a guard to verify who is entering
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
- Will the presence of an unknown person be enough to warrant action
Auto
- How many people need access
- Does it make financial sense to have a guard to verify who is entering
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
- Will the presence of an unknown car be enough to warrant action
Shared Residential Gate
This type of gate has to open many times a day for guests, as well as tenants. There will not necessarily be a guard at the gate, but people are almost always are on the premises.
Things To Consider:
Pedestrian
- Will giving out codes/keys harm the residents’ security
- Does it make financial sense to have a guard to verify who is entering
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How often will the gate open and close in a day, week, month, year
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
- Who are the residents
- What is the surrounding area
Auto
- Will giving out codes/keys harm the residents’ security more than it will ease traffic congestion
- Does it make financial sense to have a guard to verify who is entering
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How often will the gate open and close in a day, week, month, year
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
- Who are the residents
- What is the surrounding area
Personal Residential Gate
This type of gate has to open a few times a day for tenants. There will never be a guard at the gate (few exceptions) and there will be long periods of time where no one will be on the premises.
Things To Consider:
Pedestrian
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
- What is the surrounding area
Auto
- Does the gate function correctly
- Removal of nonfunctioning gates
- What is the purpose of the gate
- How large is the concern of unauthorized entry
- Who are the residents
- What is the surrounding area
Questions to Consider:
Will giving out codes/keys harm the building’s security?
If you need to restrict access, sometimes the best thing to do is not give workers or residents the ability to enter freely. This can be solved with a guard at the main entrance point of the building and an ID system. ID’s will not grant access, but they will show the guard that the person who is entering is invited. If everyone does need to have identification checked by a guard this will slow the rate of ingress. You must weigh how important it is to keep out uninvited visitors, versus the restraints that it will cause for the building.
Does it make financial sense to have a guard to verify who is entering?
What is the rent or value of the building? If the contents of the building are of extreme value, it makes sense to not only have a guard but have several guards stationed around the clock. Depending on the rent and location of the building it may make sense to give people the added security of having a guard present to verify who is entering. If you wish to monitor who is entering and exiting the building, consider security cameras. It will not be able to prevent access, but it will keep a record of possible perimeter breaches.
Does the gate function correctly?
If a gate has constant usage, it will begin to function less accurately. Locks only have a finite number of times that they can be opened and closed before failing. Once the lock or gate begins to have problems in its functionality, it will need to be fixed. If the gate is not properly maintained, it may not open, or it may not shut. This provides security and emergency liability and defeats the purpose of having a gate.
Should you remove a nonfunctioning gate?
Always remove a nonfunctioning gate if you do not plan to fix it. Any entrance or exit point that is not working properly creates a safety risk. Removing a gate will result in you having to notify any tenants. This change is security should come with the offer to end the renting or leasing of the building, room, or space. There is not always a need to remove a nonfunctioning gate if you are going to fix it. Some gate problems can be addressed with standard maintenance or maintenance under the price of replacing the gate entirely.
What is the purpose of the gate?
Some gates might just be to break up a fence that is meant to keep animals on the property. There might be no desired security for your gate. In any case, your gate must be able to accomplish its task. A fence that restricts an animal must be appropriate to the ability of the animal, and the gate cannot vary in its protection. If the desire is to restrict access, then it may seem that a lot the responsibility falls on the lock. But the gate might undermine the protection of the lock.
If the locking mechanism can be manipulated easily, then the gate has failed to protect the lock and caused the security to fail. If keeping the parking at the correct capacity is the desire, makes sure that there is some way to account for residents that are tailgated (followed closely by another car so that they do not need to open the gate themselves) into the facility. Keep in mind that the gate should not be modified to close while cars are in its path. You may try and communicate this issue to the tenants. Recommend that they stop after their car is out of the path of the gate until the gate closes. This way no one will be able to follow close behind and circumvent the security.
How often will the gate open and close in a day, week, month, year?
How often a gate is used will create a need for more maintenance, and perhaps restrict what gates you should use. A sliding gate works best for high traffic automotive entry. It can be placed back on its track no matter which way it is struck. Swinging gates often bend if they are hit or abused in other ways. The type of lock might also have to change depending on the volume of exit and entry. A padlock will be slow to open and require many professionally made keys, and is often misused by the operators. A mortise lock will also need keys, but it will stand up to significantly more wear and tear. It is not just about how many people will need access, but how often they will be entering and exiting. For example, a delivery service might have fewer employees, but it may use the gate more often than a business office with a cafeteria (cafeteria will decrease the need for people to leave on their lunch break).
How large is the concern of unauthorized entry?
Depending on the area of your building or residence, the threat of unauthorized entry might not be as great. In some cases, the restricted nature of the site itself may easily identify intruders without the use of a gate. If guests are not expected and employees/residents are very few, then your security may be better focused on some other aspect of the property.
How many people need access?
The amount of people that need access to the gate is a large concern. If a tremendous number of people will need a key or a code, it may defeat the purpose of having these precautions, especially if there is a large turnover in residents/employees. A lot of people entering and exiting will also make it possible for pedestrians and automobiles to follow guests or residents inside the gate when it opens. For more industrial type gates, several padlocks on a chain may seem like the appropriate way to allow three different people entry to the site. This method makes it so if any one of the padlocks is removed, the gate will be unlocked. The largest problem with the multiple padlock chain is that the weakest padlock is the only one that needs to be overcome. Try to balance your gate security with practicality.
Will the presence of an unknown car or person be enough to warrant action?
In tight-knit buildings, sometimes the only thing necessary to find out if there is an intruder, is to see someone you do not recognize. Areas with very low foot/automotive traffic might not need a gate, especially if the building gives a panoramic view of the area. A gate will always deter some would-be thief, but you might find that it causes unnecessary hassles. A fence/wall without a gate on may provide the necessary precaution so that if someone does wish to enter the premises they will have one method of ingress. If there are simply too many people that must enter and leave the area, then a gate will be necessary. Anytime the people present will not be able to verify whether or not a person belongs on the site, it is best to have as many security precautions as possible.
Who are the residents?
Who your residents are, is going to mean a lot about what a gate can potentially do. If your tenants are mainly young people (around college age) a gate alone might not offer much protection. Younger people, as well as their friends, are more likely to undermine the gate. Commonly they will place things in the way of the locking mechanism, break the locking mechanism, or just jump the fence (avoiding the gate altogether). This is often the case because of parties, as well as other visits from large groups, where the host will not want to unlock the gate as people trickle in. If there is a criminal element to the residents, a gate will be ultimately meaningless. When the criminals have access to the gate, there is no reason for the gate. Older non-criminal residents are ideal for gate maintenance and security. They are often more aware of security breaches and active in reporting when repairs are needed.
What is the surrounding area?
The surrounding area plays a large role in gate security. It may determine which way your gate opens, where the gate is placed on the fence, how many gates you have, your necessary security, etc. If the site is in a bad part of town, the gate will most likely need to provide the appropriate level of security. This may mean that the gate has a 24-hour attendant, or that the gate is equipped with security cameras. Depending on the location, a swing gate may expose itself to traffic if it swings in or out. If the property is rather large and can be approached from different sides, there may need to be multiple entrances and exits.
Conclusion
With this information, you should now be able to assess your current security and determine for yourself what your gate needs, or if you need a gate at all. Get creative if you want. Go Medieval is you have to. Just because padlocks may (or may not) have been made especially for gates, does not mean that they need to be your only protection. Layer your security. Consider your particular situation. Not every method of protection can fit your needs. Trial and error can be an effective way of refining your security, but make sure that the risks you take do not compromise the safety of yourself or your tenants. All forms of security are, at their simplest level, barriers. They create a buffer between the things you wish to protect, and the chaos of the outside world. A gate is the portal between those opposing forces. It bridges the gap between control and disarray. The last vestige of order before the maelstrom of our hectic world. Or maybe it’s just a gate.