Empty Property Security for
Industrial and Commercial Real Estate

The tenant hands the keys back on Friday. Within a fortnight the lead on the roof, the cabling in the risers and the plant in the compound are worth more to somebody else than they are to you. A void unit rarely stays quiet for long, and it has no power, no alarm contract and no reason for anyone to walk past. A Mobile Tower Platform puts cameras 20 feet up inside the site line in 15 minutes.

Up in 15 minutes

No power, no alarm contract, no groundwork

Off-grid for weeks

Solar, batteries or fuel cells in the cabinet

Evidence for the insurer

Recorded footage on an unoccupied building

Moves to the next void

One platform across a portfolio of units

Three Reasons a Void Unit Gets Attention

Unauthorized occupation comes first. An empty commercial building is noticed within days of the last van leaving, and getting people out again is a legal process measured in weeks, not hours.

Metal theft comes second. Lead, copper cabling, catalytic converters off vehicles left in the car park, plant off the roof. Scrap value is immediate, and the damage done getting at it usually costs several times what was taken.

Insurance comes third, and it decides the other two. An unoccupied building sits under different policy terms, cover often depends on demonstrable inspection and monitoring, and a claim gets measured against what was actually in place on the day.

Common applications:

  • Metal and cable theft prevention
  • Deterrence against unauthorized occupation
  • Evidence for unoccupied building cover
  • Cover through a void period between tenants
* Business Parks & Office Voids - uk - Premium

One Platform, a Portfolio of Voids

A void is temporary by definition. Nobody signs a five year monitoring contract for a unit that will let in eleven weeks, and nobody trenches a cable to a building that is about to be refurbished or demolished.

A platform behaves the way the asset does. It stands on the unit that is empty, comes down when the lease is signed, and goes to whichever building in the portfolio empties next. Forklift slots on four sides and lifting eyes mean that move takes minutes.

What goes on the mast stays your specification. The platform arrives as a galvanized steel shell with the mast, the winch and the cabling, without cameras, which typically costs 15 to 20 percent less than a pre-built tower. CE certification by TUV Rheinland with a 95 page test document and ISO 9001 go into the file for the client or the insurer, and four sides of neutral housing carry the managing agent’s branding.

Where it earns its place:

  • Industrial units and light industrial estates
  • Business parks and office voids
  • Retail units and out-of-town parks
  • Insolvency and receivership instructions

Applications in Industrial & Commercial Real Estate

Eight ways asset managers, managing agents and the security firms instructed by them put a Mobile Tower Platform to work on an empty building.

Metal and Cable Theft Prevention

Lead, copper risers, cabling and roof plant have an immediate scrap value. Height, visible presence and recorded footage change the calculation before the roof is opened up.

Deterrence Against Unauthorized Occupation

Once people are inside, it becomes a legal problem rather than a security one. Visible surveillance and an audio challenge from a monitoring center address it while it is still someone standing at the gate.

Evidence for Unoccupied Building Cover

Policies on empty buildings ask for demonstrable monitoring. Recorded footage held off site answers the question an insurer asks after an incident, not before.

Void Period Cover Between Tenants

Cover for eleven weeks, not eleven years. The platform arrives when the unit empties and leaves when the next lease starts.

Yard, Service Area and Car Park Watch

Service yards, loading areas and surface parking sit outside the building envelope and outside whatever alarm the building had.

Insolvency and Receivership Instructions

An instruction arrives with no handover, no keys to the alarm and no idea what is still on site. Surveillance that needs nothing from the building goes up the same day.

Fly Tipping and Arson on Cleared Sites

A cleared plot awaiting redevelopment attracts tipping and fire long before it attracts a contractor. A platform holds the ground until work starts.

Remote Monitoring over 4G and 5G

Cellular uplink on the same mast as the cameras feeds a control room or an alarm receiving center from a building with no live line.

Built for a Building With Nothing Switched On

Nothing to Connect, Nothing to Commission

An empty unit has no live supply, no working alarm and often no safe roof access. A platform needs none of that. Two people bring it from transport to full mast height in about 15 minutes.

Equipment Out of Reach on an Empty Site

Nobody is on site to interrupt an attack on the camera. Below 15 feet equipment can be reached from the ground, so it goes to 20 feet, and the cabinet underneath is built to stay shut.

Weeks Without Mains Power

The supply to a void unit is usually capped or disconnected. Batteries, solar panels, hydrogen or methanol fuel cells go inside the cabinet and a cellular uplink shares the mast with the cameras.

Documentation the Insurer and the Client Ask For

Two parties want paperwork on an empty building, and both get the same file. CE certification by TUV Rheinland backed by a 95 page test document, ISO 9001, ANSI and a two year warranty.

Deployed on Empty and Managed Buildings

Security firms holding portfolios of void and managed property run these platforms across Europe.

Theft and vandalism down across vacant properties, car parks and infrastructure works

Vollmergruppe Dienstleistung | Germany

Vollmergruppe secures vacant properties, car parks, construction sites and infrastructure projects from a TUV and VdS certified control center. Physical guarding was expensive and hard to scale on buildings that empty and let again, so the fleet went mobile.

Units in operation
45
On-site personnel
None required
Cover
24/7
Control center
TUV and VdS certified

Where Asset Managers Deploy It

Five situations where a Mobile Tower Platform covers a building that has nothing left switched on.

Industrial Units
* Industrial Units & Estates - Basic plus - UK

Industrial Units & Estates

Light industrial and trade units where the cabling, the plant and the roof are worth more than the fit out. Cover from the day the unit empties.

Business Parks
* Business Parks & Office Voids - uk - Premium

Business Parks & Office Voids

Whole floors or whole buildings between tenants, with a car park and a service yard that the building alarm never covered anyway.

Retail
* Retail & Out-of-Town Units - UK - compact

Retail & Out-of-Town Units

Empty retail with a service yard at the back and a surface car park at the front, both outside the shutter line.

Cleared Sites
* Cleared & Redevelopment Sites - uk - premium

Cleared & Redevelopment Sites

A demolished plot awaiting a start on site attracts tipping, fires and unauthorized access long before a contractor arrives.

Insolvency
* Insolvency & Receivership - uk -premium xl

Insolvency & Receivership

An instruction with no keys, no handover and no working alarm. Surveillance that needs nothing from the building goes up the same day.

Common Questions from Asset and Facilities Managers

Speed, power, hire, insurance and response. What asset managers, managing agents and insolvency practitioners ask before a platform goes on an empty building.

Two people bring a platform from transport to full mast height in about 15 minutes. Nothing has to be connected to the building, so an instruction that lands in the morning can be covered the same day.

Yes, and on a void unit that is usually the point. The cabinet takes batteries, the MSB-Edge carries three 220 W solar panels, and hydrogen or methanol fuel cells extend a long deployment. The uplink runs over 4G or 5G on the same mast as the cameras.

TelescopicMast manufactures the platform and supplies it to security firms, integrators and rental partners, so a short hire runs through one of them rather than directly. Tell us the region and the requirement and we will point you at the partners who hold stock there.

Policy wording decides that, and it varies by insurer and by building, so nobody should promise you a yes in advance. What the platform gives you is the height, power and connectivity for the monitoring and recorded evidence that unoccupied building policies typically ask for. Worth putting the specification in front of your broker before the unit empties.

Visible height does most of it. A 20 ft mast with cameras and floodlighting is obvious from the road and changes the calculation before anyone commits. Where the monitoring center has a speaker on the mast, an audio challenge stops a great deal at the gate stage.

That sits with your monitoring provider, not with the platform. Detection, analytics and the response procedure belong to the cameras and the alarm receiving center you choose. The platform supplies the mounting point at 20 feet, the power, the data link and the speaker position that make the response possible.

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Gawain Guedry
Gawain Guedry
Director, North American Sales and Operations

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