Vacant assets are quiet until they are not. Copper, lead, boilers and switchgear disappear first. Then occupation, fly-tipping and fire. Insurers in 2026 still ask whether anyone actually attended, or whether a car drove past the front.

Risk by building type and city

Former offices in London and Manchester, mills in Bradford and Huddersfield, closed retail in Leicester and Coventry, schools awaiting academy works, and riverside warehouses in Hull and Liverpool all need a different patrol pattern. A listed façade in York is not the same as a steel shed on a Northampton ring road.

QR patrols on an empty site

We print codes for plant rooms, roof hatches, loading doors and the street elevation. Officers scan them on a phone. GPS must match. You get a PDF with times, distances and photos — useful when a broker asks what happened on a Tuesday in February in Sheffield or Sunderland.

Alarm response and keyholding sit alongside. If a panel trips at 03:10, an SIA-licensed officer attends with keys, not a generic call centre script.

How long should you keep a vacant watch?

Until practical completion or sale. Weekly patrols are a starting point; high-risk inner-city shells often need nightly visits plus boarding checks. We cover London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Leicester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Cardiff, Belfast and Hull.

Frequently asked questions

Will patrols stop squatters overnight?

They reduce opportunity and give early evidence. Physical boarding and legal process still matter.

Do you need power on site?

No for QR patrols. Lighting and a safe walk route still help.

Can landlords log in?

Yes. Site-owner accounts are read-only for rotas, reports and incidents.

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