Tips for staying safe in an apartment building

Generally, it’s the building owner and management who are responsible for the security of your building. The Residential Tenancies Act notes that the building’s windows, doors, locks and lighting must be in a good state of repair. The safety of your neighbourhood can also have a significant impact on your building’s security. However, residents can also help to ensure that the building is safe and secure. Be alert and help to prevent dangerous situations before they occur.

Residents have a right to expect reasonable protection, both inside their apartments as well as in common areas such as parking garages and elevators. This includes proper lighting in lobbies, corridors and laundry facilities, and deadbolt locks on doors and window locks. Responsible landlords maintain and fix security problems, such as burned-out lights, and deal with complaints about suspicious activities or broken security items. Check out the condition of security features when apartment hunting and after you move in. If you notice that any of your building’s safety features are broken or malfunctioning, report them immediately to the management.

One of the most important ways to help keep your building safe is to restrict and prevent access to the building by persons who are not authorized to be there. This can create serious potential security risks. Do not be afraid to question someone who is waiting for you to buzz them in. Burglars have been known to pose as delivery people to gain entry.

Though the convenience may make it tempting, you should never make a key for friends or family members, or give out your building access code or card to anyone who does not lawfully reside in the building. Relationships change, friends come and go – there’s no need for someone with whom you are no longer involved with to have access to your home, raising safety concerns for both you and other residents in the building.

If you have any concerns or notice anything suspicious, be sure to contact the appropriate person as soon as possible, be it the superintendent, building management, or even the police.

To help keep your building safe and secure, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation recommends that you:

• Report any security concerns or problems to the building manager
• Do not disable security features. Safety latches on windows keep intruders out – and children in.
• Do not prop exit doors open. These are designed to stay closed for security and fire safety.
• Do not hold the door for a stranger to enter. Be wary of strangers who linger around the front door and dash to hold the door open after it has been unlocked.
• Do not give your apartment keys or passcards to strangers or tell strangers the access codes to the building or amenities like the pool, gym, underground garage or other entrance.
• Do not let anyone in to do work in your apartment unless you, the landlord or building manager has previously arranged for the work. Likewise, beware of tradespeople or security personnel who knock on your door unannounced.
• If you live near the ground and you like to open your windows, make sure they do not open wide enough to let someone through.
• Keep your door locked at all times, even when you are in your apartment. Remember to lock you apartment when you step out to do something in the building, like transfer your laundry, get the mail or take out the recycling.
• Keep your balcony doors locked at all times. If they are not equipped with a good deadbolt lock, make sure to keep a sturdy bar in the door’s track to prevent it from opening.
• Do not leave bicycles or other personal items on your balcony, especially if you are on a ground or low floor – thieves can easily climb a ladder to steal them. Conceal and store items you cannot store inside.

Thanks to modern technology, security systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Security pass cards and innovative key fob passes are issued to residents in many buildings. These can be enabled and disabled remotely by the administration, thus limiting building access to tenants who presently reside in the building. Security cameras are commonplace, but in many buildings residents can see who they are buzzing in on a designated channel in their own apartment. But sometimes just old-fashioned precautions, awareness of one’s surroundings, and consideration for others in the community can also help to be effective in creating a safe and secure living environment.