Hiring security for a US strata or HOA

A United States homeowners association, condominium board or strata council is not hiring a greeter. It is hiring a licensed security presence that will meet residents, vendors and guests, protect common property, and stand up in a report if something goes wrong. The existing Canadian-focused guide to concierge security for condos and strata covers the feel of a front desk. This one is about how a US board actually buys that work: the brief, the contract, the insurance and the first months of accountability.

It sits with our condo and strata security page and with concierge security and uniformed guards. For lots and podiums, read parking lot and garage security.

Be clear about what the board is buying

Write down the outcomes before you write the hours. Typical needs include a controlled front desk, vendor and guest sign-in, amenity access, parking and podium patrols, package rooms, after-hours response, and a morning report the manager will actually open. If the building also wants a concierge smile, say so — but do not let hospitality language hide the fact that the person at the desk must be a licensed officer who can refuse access and document an incident.

Be honest about the hours you will fund. A desk that is covered in the evening and empty from midnight to 6:00 is a valid design if the overnight risk is handled another way — for example a randomised patrol and a working alarm path. A board that believes it has 24-hour coverage when it only has a day receptionist is the source of most later disputes.

Front desk, amenities and the parts residents actually use

Most resident complaints attach to places people touch every day: the lobby, the elevators, the gym, the pool deck, the package room and the garage. Post orders should describe how a guest is announced, how a contractor is escorted, what happens when an amenity is used after hours, and how a resident who has lost a fob is verified. If those rules differ from the house rules the board already published, fix the conflict before the first shift, not during it.

Parking and loading bays deserve their own paragraph in the brief. Towing, fire-lane enforcement and overnight guests create friction. The officer can support the policy; the board has to own the policy. Write the limit clearly so a desk officer is not asked to invent a tow decision at 1:00 in the morning.

How to write a brief a contractor can price honestly

A useful request for proposal in this sector names the addresses, the doors, the amenity hours, the expected post hours, the report format, the uniform standard, and the management company contact who will supervise the account day to day. It should also ask for licensing in the state where the building sits, supervision arrangements, and what happens if a shift goes uncovered. Leave room for the contractor to recommend a mix of a desk, a rover and a patrol, rather than forcing a single post that looks tidy on a spreadsheet and fails on a Saturday night.

Invite the short-listed firms to walk the property. A bid written only from a site map will miss the garage blind corner and the side gate residents actually use. Xtreme will do that walk as part of a free assessment, then scope the program to the building rather than to a generic residential template.

Licensing, insurance and who is accountable

In the United States, company and officer licensing is set by the state, and sometimes by the city. Ask for evidence that both the firm and the people on your desk are licensed where the building is. Confirm the requirement with the licensing authority; this guide is general information, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for that check. Our own published company licences include Washington (DOL 25009876) and Oregon (DPSST 0737). We do not list numbers we have not been given to publish, including California.

Ask for a certificate of insurance that matches what your master policy and your management agreement require, and ask how incidents are supervised. Xtreme backs programs with $10 million in liability coverage, 4,500+ full-time staff, a 17,000+ officer network and a desk that is staffed around the clock. Those figures should appear as a named account supervisor and a number the manager can call, not only as a slide.

Working with a management company

Many US associations do not run the contract day to day; a management company does. The security brief should say who may change a standing order, who receives the overnight report, and how a resident complaint is handed from the desk to the manager without turning the officer into an unpaid referee. A clean triangle — board policy, manager direction, officer execution — prevents the desk from receiving three contradictory instructions in a week.

If the association has several buildings or a large planned community, keep one reporting format and one escalation path. A manager looking after properties in Seattle, Bellevue, Portland or Sacramento should be able to read any of the reports without learning a new template.

What good looks like once the post is live

In the early months, the board should see three things: a roster that is actually filled, reports that mention the building’s real doors and amenities, and a supervisor who appears before a complaint forces the issue. If the only communication is an invoice, the program is already drifting. Schedule a short review after the first weeks, walk the property again, and tighten the post orders where residents or staff have found gaps.

We work from our US head office at 2018 156th Avenue NE, Building F, Suite 100, Bellevue, WA 98007, and from 40+ offices across Canada, the United States and Australia. Press 2 on 1-800-730-3712 for the US desk, or use WhatsApp, when you want a residential program that a board can stand behind.

Resident communication without turning the desk into a complaint office

Boards often ask security to “improve the tone of the building.” That only works if residents know what the desk can and cannot do. A short, factual notice — hours, guest process, emergency number, and that the officer is a licensed professional, not a concierge for grocery bags unless that work was actually contracted — will prevent a year of arguments. Do not ask the officer to enforce house rules the board is unwilling to put in writing, and do not ask them to take sides in a dispute between neighbours. Their job is access, safety and a clean report.

Packages, deliveries and rideshare pickups have become a daily friction point. Decide whether the desk signs for parcels, whether a room is camera-covered, and how long a package may sit. Then fund the time it takes. A desk that is also a parcel depot, a guest phone and a parking referee will drop the security part of the job first.