Securing an
empty building.

Start with your insurance

Many commercial policies have unoccupancy conditions that apply once a building has been empty for a set period. They often ask for things like regular documented inspections, utilities turned off or drained, and alarms kept in working order. Read your policy, or ask your broker, before the building empties — not after a claim.

Make it look managed

• Entry points. Lock and check every door, window and roof hatch; board or screen ground-floor openings if needed.
• Nothing worth taking. Remove equipment, stock and anything metal that can be stripped and sold.
• Post and rubbish. Clear post, keep the exterior tidy, and remove anything that could be set alight.
• Utilities. Isolate water, gas and electricity where it is safe to, while keeping power to alarms and cameras.

Keep watching it

An empty building is exactly where monitoring earns its keep: there are no staff to notice a broken window or a forced door. Keep the intruder alarm monitored, consider monitored CCTV on the approaches, and make sure there is a keyholder who will actually attend.

Inspections

Regular documented inspections catch leaks, damage and signs of entry early, and give you the record your insurer may ask for. A mobile patrol can carry them out and report back each visit.

If people get in

In England and Wales, squatting in a residential building is a criminal offence; in a commercial building it is generally a civil matter unless other offences are committed, which can make removal slower. Preventing entry in the first place is far easier than getting people out. Take legal advice if it happens.