Derelict buildings are no playground

Children and youths can look upon derelict and unoccupied buildings as a “playground”; wreaking havoc and starting fires – but tragedy can be one wrong step away

Fire services up and down the country are getting called out on a regular basis to derelict and unoccupied buildings where kids have set fire to part or all of the building – just for “fun” of course. The fire service in one county alone – Lincolnshire – has been called out 146 times to fires at derelict buildings, just in the last year. Such buildings represent a real health hazard – structurally they may be unsafe and are typically littered with broken glass.

The structural problem may have become even more serious if thieves have targeted a building to steal high value raw materials and scrap metals. Children may be oblivious to the risks they are taking and it's surely only a matter of time before a young life is lost “playing” in one of these buildings. Who will be liable? Almost certainly the building owner – for failing to properly supervise or monitor the building.

Clearly manned guarding or security patrols can be prohibitively expensive when, by definition, an unoccupied building is generating no income to help cover the cost. Tag Guard, the wireless security specialists, are reporting more and more enquiries for its products that are specifically designed for derelict and unoccupied buildings – an enquiry level that will surely increase with a UK recession that will mean even more empty industrial and commercial premises in the next few years.

Richard Lang, Tag Guard’s Managing Director, comments, “There are now thousands of derelict and unoccupied buildings all over the UK and unfortunately they have become a playground for kids and the target of thieves intent on removing anything that might be of value.

“As more and more such buildings are set alight by mischievous kids insurance premiums are rising dramatically and of course there are serious liability issues for the building owner.

“Our wireless security products are ideally suited to such applications and are much more cost effective than traditional solutions such as manned guarding.

“We have a range of solutions designed to both warn off and deter intruders but to also monitor their movements if they do enter the premises.

“Being wireless, the systems are quick and easy to install, requiring no cabling or power supplies – useful in a building where the power is likely to have been deactivated.

“The key ingredient is that all our installations can be backed up by our own 24-hour remote monitoring service which means we can react instantly to any incident, alerting the police or other emergency services”.

Tag Guard Ltd pioneered the development of wireless security products and are now one of the UK’s leading specialists in wireless systems for buildings and construction sites.