Paul asks:

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?

James Elledge replies ...

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. More from this resource is available at: www.wbdg.org/design/riskanalysis.php?r=provide_security.

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 at www.boma.org.

Finally, Johnson Controls has some British office costs. To check these statistics, visit the Web at www.johnsoncontrols.com/cg-fm/research/UKOfficeCostsWinter2001.pdf.

Thanks for your question.

Jim Elledge