What is Secured by Design; and who is it for?

[SECURED BY DESIGN (SBD) is the official police security initiative, owned by the UK Police Service with the specific aim to reduce crime and help people live more safely.

Part of the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives portfolio, SBD was created in 1989 following the housing boom of the 1960s to 1980s, when there was a huge and urgent demand for housing. Estates were being built quickly and often cheaply without any basic security, resulting in a significant rise in burglary. In response the police service set up SBD to combat that.

SBD seeks to improve the security of buildings and their immediate surroundings to provide safe places to live, work, shop and visit. SBD work closely with builders, developers, local authorities and registered housing associations to incorporate its police crime prevention standards into developments, from initial concept and design through to construction and completion. Police forces throughout the UK have specially-trained Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs), who offer police designing-out crime and SBD advice free of charge.

Over one million homes and commercial properties have been built to SBD standards, with reductions in crime of up to 87%. A number of local authorities have even gone so far as to introduce SBD standards as a planning requirement.

Developers around the UK can achieve SBD awards for incorporating crime prevention measures and techniques into their developments in all kinds of building sectors, such as residential, education, health, transport, commercial, retail, sport and leisure. Indeed, SBD can be used as evidence to discharge third-party obligations under Part Q of Schedule 1 (Security) of the English Building Regulations, the Scottish Building Standard 4.13 (Security) and Welsh Building Regulations Part Q (Security – Dwellings).

Those awards are gained by working with DOCOs, who advise architects, developers and local authority planners long before construction begins – and continue to provide advice and guidance until the development is complete.

SBD has produced a series of authoritative Design Guides to assist the building, design and construction industry to incorporate security into developments, to comply with the Building Regulations in England, Scotland and Wales and meet the requirements of SBD.

The Design Guides, available to download for free at the SBD website, have been updated over the years to keep pace with changing patterns of criminal behaviour and advances in building design and new technology.

They are a valuable source of reference for architects, developers, self-builders, local authority planners and police officers and cover a range of building sectors, including residential, education, health, transport and commercial.

SBD also has a 3D virtual toolkit for planners, architects, surveyors, and anyone involved with designing, building and commissioning developments. Located on the SBD website, it helps to build an understanding of security in developments and highlight best practice solutions. The interactive guides available in the toolkit are based on SBD’s residential, commercial and schools guides.

A series of scenarios, such as the layout of communal spaces, use of lighting, perimeter security and landscape planting, highlight the design decisions that could increase the risk of crime and anti-social behaviour. Each scene has an alternative solution detailing the relevant standards recommended by SBD and the police service.

Architects and town planners can request a professional development session on crime prevention and designing-out crime from SBD.

The presentation content includes relevant legislation, policy and guidance; an overview of property crime trends; an evaluation of why crime occurs; and an introduction to SBD.

SBD has worked with businesses, the construction industry and standards authorities at home and abroad for many years, leading SBD to develop a product-based police accreditation scheme over 20 years ago: the Police Preferred Specification.

Products that have met the Police Preferred Specification provide reassurance to the specifier, purchaser or user that the products have been independently tested to a relevant security standard and fully certified by an independent third-party certification body recognised by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), or tested and certified by an alternative approved body such as Sold Secure or Thatcham.

The SBD focus is on the critical factors that combine to deliver a product’s performance: design, use, quality control and the ability to deter or prevent crime. Better quality means those products last longer, too: making them more cost effective and leading to greater sustainability in crime prevention. q • For more information visit www.securedbydesign.com or visit SBD on Stand No. M21 at London Build www.constructionnational.co.uk 19