Since September 11, 2001, risk managers have been especially concerned with what steps they should take to secure their facilities. There was no broad, flexible and simple mechanism available, however, to help risk managers determine how much protection their facilities really need and whether they are, in fact, measuring up to that level. Recognizing this, the American Society of Civil Engineers established the Building Security Council (BSC) in 2005, a nonprofit organization with the vision of enhancing public safety by promoting building security.
The BSC has developed a voluntary building security rating program called PLUS (Promoting Logical Unified Security). At its core are the recommendations of the FEMA Risk Management Series publications, carefully arranged within a risk-based framework. A classification questionnaire addresses hazard and impact considerations that contribute to target attractiveness. A series of checklists then provides a menu of potential physical and operational countermeasures; some are mandatory, but most have points associated with them in accordance with their implementation cost and mitigation value.
In order to attain a specific PLUS rating category, a building must have all of the mandatory countermeasures for that category and receive a certain percentage of the points available for the other countermeasures. Bonus points may be awarded for innovative solutions that are not included in the checklists.
A risk manager who wishes to have a facility formally rated by the BSC will need to retain an assessment team led by a licensed professional engineer or architect to prepare the necessary documentation. In order to identify individuals with the right qualifications, the BSC created the Building Security Certified Professional (BSCP) credential. Candidates must pass a written examination to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the multi-disciplinary security considerations that are relevant to the planning, design, construction, operation and evaluation of buildings.
PLUS ratings from the BSC provide risk managers with detailed and valuable information for making wise investment or underwriting decisions by requiring a systematic evaluation of each facility's capability to defend against, respond to, or recover from an incident. PLUS ratings also enhance loss control strategies by offering a comprehensive, coordinated and cost-effective road map for appropriately safeguarding occupants and contents against a range of potential threats. In addition, by independently and objectively verifying compliance with the standard of care as codified in federal agency guidelines and industry best practices, PLUS ratings greatly reduce premises liability exposure.
The most unique feature of the PLUS rating program is its designation under the SAFETY Act, which effectively limits the terrorism liability associated with each rated building. The BSC receives a number of special legal protections, including exclusive jurisdiction in federal courts, a cap on its liability at its insured amount and a ban on punitive damages. More importantly, third party lawsuits arising from the performance or nonperformance of the PLUS rating program in relation to an act of terrorism may proceed only against the BSC. All others involved in the process are exempt, including the facility's owner and any tenants, and each participant agrees to be responsible for its own losses and those of its employees.
The SAFETY Act applies to any third party claim prompted by a foreign or domestic act of terrorism that may result in losses to the BSC-for example, when a building owner can reasonably argue reliance on a PLUS rating and threaten to sue the BSC for recovery. Consequently, the more BSC-recommended countermeasures a facility has-and therefore, the higher its PLUS rating-the greater the scope of its SAFETY Act coverage in the event of a terrorist attack. Because of this, along with the benefits mentioned above, discussions with property and casualty insurers make premium discounts for rated buildings a real possibility.
Security is best addressed in an integrated fashion, across all disciplines and all stages in a building's life-cycle. PLUS ratings can serve as a valuable tool for risk managers seeking to benchmark the current security posture of their facilities and determine what additional protective steps-if any-should be considered.
Jon A. Schmidt, PE, BSCP, is the director of antiterrorism services at Burns & McDonnell in Kansas City, Missouri. He also serves on BSC's board of directors, chairs the BSC building evaluation committee and previously chaired the committee responsible for establishing the BSCP program.
