High-Rise and Basement Duty

Readiness note. This is a private training programme. It builds knowledge and readiness. It does not grant any official certificate, licence, or government recognition, and it does not create any affiliation with a regulator or an agency. On passing, learners receive a Record of Completion.

Mission briefing

More guards now work in tall office towers, apartment towers and malls with deep basements. These buildings have lifts, long stairs, roofs, plant rooms and car parks under the ground. Each part has its own risks.

Focus: know how your building works at each time of day. Keep stairs and refuge areas clear. Keep plant rooms and roofs locked to the right people. Never use a lift in a fire.

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Explain how a tall building changes between busy hours and quiet hours.
• Check lift lobbies, stair doors, plant rooms and roof doors on patrol.
• Respond safely to a stair alarm or a panic button.
• Keep basements, loading docks and refuge areas safe and clear.

1. The building changes through the day

A tall building does not run the same way all day. Most have three modes:

• Busy hours. Main doors open. Lifts go to all public floors. Reception checks visitors.
• Quiet hours. Early morning, late evening and holidays. Fewer doors open. Lifts may need a card. Visitors must be called up.
• After hours. Most doors locked. Only staff with permission come in. Every entry is written down.

Your post orders should say what changes at each time and who switches it. When a mode changes, check that the doors and lifts really changed. A door left open after hours is a way in.

2. Lifts and lift lobbies

• Watch the lift lobby. People waiting there should have a reason to be in the building.
• Card readers in lifts. In many towers, a card sends the lift only to the floors that person may visit. Do not lend your card or press floors for strangers.
• Service lifts. These are for goods, cleaners and repairs. Do not let visitors use them to skip the reception. Escort deliveries if your orders say so.
• Fire lift. Many tall buildings have a special lift for firefighters. Keep its lobby clear. In a fire, hand it over to the fire service when they arrive.
• In a fire, never use a lift. Send people to the stairs. Unit 8A (Evacuation That Accounts for Everyone) covers getting out.
• Someone stuck in a lift? Talk to them and call the lift company. Do not force the doors. Unit 7C (Natural Hazards and Site Emergencies) covers this.

3. Stairwells

Stairs are the way out in a fire. They are also a quiet way in.

• Stair doors must close by themselves. Never wedge them open. Unit 9A (Exits, Escape Doors and Electric Locks) explains why.
• In some towers, stair doors open from the stairs only on certain floors. Learn which floors let you back in, so you do not get trapped.
• Check the stairs on your rounds: no boxes, bikes or rubbish, lights working, no one sleeping or smoking.
• Stair door alarm. Many stair doors sound an alarm when opened. Tell the control room before you go. If your site allows, go with a second guard. Stay in radio contact. Find out who opened it and why, and log it.

4. Plant rooms, risers and the roof

Plant rooms hold pumps, electric panels, lift machines, water tanks and air-handling units. Risers are shafts that carry cables and pipes up the building. These areas must stay locked.

• Only people with permission go in, usually with a work permit. Write their names and times.
• Keep the keys in the key register. Unit 10B (Keys, Locks and Safes on Your Post) covers key control.
• On patrol, check that the doors are locked and the signs are in place.
• Report anything odd at once: an open door, a smell of burning, water on the floor, or someone near the water tanks or the air intakes.

The roof (terrace). Some roof doors are part of the escape plan. Others must stay locked. Never padlock a roof door unless your fire plan and your supervisor say it is allowed. If you find someone on the roof without a reason, stay calm and call for help. If a person seems to be in danger at the edge, keep talking to them, call your control room and the emergency number, and do not leave them alone. Unit 5B covers people in crisis.

5. Basements and loading docks

Unit 10C (Parking and Traffic Duty) covers basement traffic, poor air and flooding. In a tall building, also watch:

• Loading docks. Goods come in here, so it is an easy way in. Check every delivery against your list. Close the shutter after each one.
• Vehicles left waiting. Do not let a vehicle stand at the dock with no driver. Note the number plate and report it.
• Basement stair doors. People may walk up from the car park into the building. These doors need the same checks as the lobby.
• Monsoon rain. Water can flood the basement fast. Report early. Never let anyone go down to save a car once water is coming in.

6. Panic buttons

Lifts, reception desks, toilets for disabled people and car parks often have panic buttons or alarm buttons.

• Know where every button on your post is, and what it looks like on the panel.
• If your site tests them, take part and log the result.
• When one goes off, treat it as real. Tell the control room. Go carefully. Do not rush into a place you cannot see.

7. Refuge areas and evacuation

Unit 8A (Evacuation That Accounts for Everyone) explains phased evacuation and refuge areas in tall buildings. Your part:

• Know which floors have a refuge area.
• Keep refuge areas empty. They are often misused as store rooms. Report any storage at once.
• In a fire, tell the firefighters which floors have people waiting in a refuge area, and how many if you know.

Activity — night round in a tower

You are on night duty in a 20-floor office tower. What do you do first in each case? Who do you tell? What do you log?

1. At 11 p.m. the main lift still goes to every floor without a card.
2. The stair door alarm on floor 14 sounds. The camera on that floor is not working.
3. The plant room door on the roof level is open. You hear voices inside.
4. The refuge area on floor 10 is full of old chairs and cartons.
5. A delivery van has stood at the loading dock for 40 minutes. No driver is in sight.

Key points

• A tall building has busy, quiet and after-hours modes. Check that doors and lifts really change.
• Do not let visitors use service lifts to skip the reception. Keep the fire lift lobby clear.
• In a fire, never use a lift.
• Stair doors close by themselves. Answer stair alarms with the control room in the loop.
• Keep plant rooms, risers and roof doors locked to the right people, as the fire plan allows.
• Keep loading docks closed between deliveries, and refuge areas empty.

Conclusion

You have completed this module. You now know how a tall building changes through the day, and how to check lifts, stairs, plant rooms, roofs, basements, docks and refuge areas.

Choose the next site-skills module that matches your post.

Complete the Learning Check for this module before you move on.