What Security Features Should a Document Storage Facility Have?

When you hand over your business documents to a storage provider, you are trusting them with potentially sensitive information — personnel records, financial data, client files, legal documents. The security of the facility where those documents are held should be as robust as the security of your own office, if not more so. Here is what a properly secured document storage facility looks like.

Perimeter Security

Security starts at the boundary of the site, not at the front door. A well-secured facility has a clearly defined perimeter — typically steel palisade fencing or similar robust boundary treatment. The site entrance should have controlled vehicle access, ideally with automatic barriers or gates that require authorisation. Better facilities use ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) to log every vehicle entering and leaving the site.

The perimeter should be well-lit at night, with no blind spots where someone could approach unobserved. External CCTV should cover the full boundary.

CCTV and Monitoring

Internal and external CCTV is standard, but the quality and monitoring arrangements vary enormously. What you should expect:

• HD cameras covering all external areas, entrances, loading bays and internal storage areas
• Infrared or low-light capability for effective night recording
• Footage retained for a minimum of 30 days (some providers retain for 90 days)
• Remote monitoring by a professional monitoring centre, not just recorded for review after an incident
• Regular maintenance and testing to ensure cameras are working

The difference between monitored and unmonitored CCTV is the difference between prevention and investigation. Monitored systems trigger real-time responses; unmonitored systems only help after something has already gone wrong.

Intruder Detection

A modern document storage facility uses electronic intruder detection — typically a combination of door contacts, motion sensors and vibration detectors — connected to an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC). The ARC should be certified to NSI Gold or SSAIB standards, which means it meets strict requirements for response times and reliability.

When an alarm triggers, the ARC follows a response procedure: verifying the alarm, contacting keyholders, and if necessary, requesting a police response. The entire chain from alarm activation to response should be documented and auditable.

Access Control

Who can enter the building, and which areas they can access, is a critical security layer. Look for:

• Electronic access control: Key fobs, PIN codes, or biometric systems rather than physical keys. Electronic systems create an audit trail showing who accessed which area and when
• Zoned access: Different areas of the facility have different access levels. A delivery driver does not need access to the entire archive. Administrative staff do not need access to high-security vaults
• Visitor management: All visitors signed in, given visitor passes, and escorted at all times. Visitor logs retained for audit purposes
• Staff vetting: All staff DBS-checked (Disclosure and Barring Service). For higher-security environments, enhanced DBS or security clearance may be appropriate

Fire Suppression

Fire is the single greatest threat to stored documents. There are two types of fire suppression, and the choice between them fundamentally affects the safety of your records.

Water-based sprinklers are designed to protect the building and prevent fire spreading. They do this effectively, but they destroy paper documents in the process. Water damage to paper is often worse than fire damage — documents become pulp.

Gas-based suppression uses inert gases (Argonite, Inergen) or clean agents (Novec 1230, FM-200) to reduce oxygen levels below the point where combustion can occur, without reaching levels dangerous to humans. Documents remain completely dry and undamaged.

Any facility claiming to offer secure document storage should use gas-based fire suppression. If they use water sprinklers, they are protecting their building, not your documents.

Environmental Control

Paper is sensitive to its environment. High humidity causes mould. Low humidity makes paper brittle. Temperature extremes accelerate deterioration. A proper storage facility maintains conditions within controlled ranges — typically 13-20°C with 35-60% relative humidity.

Good facilities monitor these conditions continuously with automated sensors and alert systems, rather than simply setting climate controls and assuming they work. Ask whether environmental data is logged and available for inspection.

Flood Protection

Documents should never be stored at ground level in areas with flood risk. Look for facilities built on elevated ground or with raised storage areas. Even in low-risk areas, the bottom shelf of racking should be raised above floor level to protect against minor water ingress from roof leaks, burst pipes or cleaning activities.

The Minimum Security Standard

As a baseline, a document storage facility handling business records should have all of the following:

• Secure perimeter with controlled access
• HD CCTV — internal and external — with 30+ days retention and remote monitoring
• Intruder detection connected to a certified ARC
• Electronic access control with audit trails
• Gas-based fire suppression
• Climate control with continuous monitoring
• DBS-checked staff
• ISO 27001 certification

If a provider cannot demonstrate all of these, question whether they are truly offering secure storage or simply offering storage.

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