Tricks Of The Trade: Security Budgets

By James C. Elledge, IFMA Fellow, CFM, FMA, RPA, RIAQM
Published in the May 2006 issue of Today’s Facility Manager

Q I am involved in accessing funding for an extremely expensive new facility and need to establish a budget figure for the security system. Where do I start?

Paul Griffith
Community Economic Regeneration Officer
NWES
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England

A According to U.S. commercial office building expense categories, security averaged 56¢ per rentable square foot (RSF) in 2004. The Whole Building Design Guide has some very useful resources in determining the types of threats certain types of buildings might be exposed to at any given time. The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) has a publication entitled Are Your Tenants Safe? BOMA’s Guide to Security and Emergency Planning. This resource is available for purchase from BOMA’s Web site. Finally, Johnson Controls has some British office costs.

Elledge,facility/office services manager for Dallas, TX-based Summit AllianceCompanies, is the recipient of the Distinguished Author Award from theInternational Facility Management Association (IFMA), is an IFMA Fellow, and isa member of TFM’sEditorial Advisory Board. All questions have been submitted via the “Ask TheExpert” portion of the magazine’s Web site. To pose a question, visit this link.