Industries
Vacant property security in South San Francisco.
Patrol checks and guards for vacant buildings, lots and homes in South San Francisco, keeping them locked, clear and reported on between tenants or sales.
Empty doesn’t mean safe
A building between tenants, a home waiting to sell or a lot waiting for permits all send the same signal: nobody is here. Within weeks that can mean copper pulled from the walls, graffiti, dumped furniture or people moving in. Every month a vacant property sits unwatched, the repair bill grows.
Vacant property security keeps that signal from getting out. Regular visits, locked doors and a written record tell anyone watching that the property is looked after, and tell you exactly what shape it is in.
Patrol checks at varied hours
Most vacant sites are a good match for mobile patrol. A marked patrol vehicle pulls in at a different time each night, the officer walks the outside of the building, checks the lot and the fence line, and logs the visit with the time. Visits can be stacked at the hours that matter for your site: just after dark, the middle of the night, weekend afternoons.
For a large empty building, a high-value home or a property that has already been broken into, a posted officer can hold the site full time, and a temporary guard can often start within 24 hours of the request.
Lock, door and window checks
On each visit the officer tries every exterior door and roll-up, looks over the windows and roof access, and checks that padlocks, chains and lockboxes are where they should be. A forced door or a cut lock goes in the report the same night, with photos, so your contractor can board it up before the next visit.
Squatting and break-in deterrence
Squatters and burglars both look for a property no one checks. A patrol car that shows up at unpredictable times makes the building a poor bet. When an officer finds signs of entry, such as bedding, food waste, a broken window or a fresh gap in the fence, it is recorded and the contact on your list gets a call right away, so you can act while the problem is still small.
Signs, lighting and cameras make each patrol work harder. Remote video monitoring watches between visits, and alarm response sends an officer when an alarm on the property trips.
Buildings, lots and homes
Vacant commercial space in South San Francisco ranges from empty office floors and former light-industrial buildings to retail units waiting for a new tenant. Vacant lots come with fences, gates and the dumping that follows them. Empty homes sit between an estate, a sale or a renovation. Each gets its own route and checklist, agreed at the free walkthrough.
When a vacant building turns into a renovation site, the patrol can roll into construction site security without changing companies.
Reports to the owner
Owners of vacant property are rarely close by. Every visit is time-stamped and written up in a report emailed to you, with photos of the doors, the lot and anything that changed since the last check. Incident reports go out the same day, and your property manager, lender or listing agent can be copied if you want them on the list.
Those records matter later. A clear timeline of visits and findings helps when you file an insurance claim, answer a city complaint about the property or show a buyer that it was looked after.
Officers and cost
Officers hold BSIS guard cards and are background checked before assignment, supervisors make quality inspections along the route, and you receive a certificate of insurance. Patrol checks are billed for the minutes the officer spends on site, $2 to $3 a minute with a five-minute minimum per visit; a posted officer runs $36 to $50 an hour. Coverage is month to month, so it can end the week the property sells or the new tenant moves in.
A few useful answers
Common questions
What visit schedule suits our empty office or warehouse?
Set it by the site’s history. A quiet, well-locked building runs well on one or two visits a night; a property with past break-ins gets more visits or a posted guard. We build the schedule with you at the walkthrough.
What if the patrol finds a squatter in the building?
The officer follows the steps in your post orders: keep watch from a safe spot, call the police and the contact on your list, and write it all up with photos.
Can you secure an empty house as well as commercial buildings?
Yes. Empty homes get the same door, window and lot checks, plus a look at mail, packages and anything left on the porch.
Can you check a vacant lot as well as a building?
Yes. The officer walks the fence line and gates, checks for dumping, campsites or new damage, and photographs the lot on every visit.
Do we have to keep patrols after the building is leased?
Contracts run month to month, so patrols end as soon as the new tenant takes the keys or the sale closes.
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