A security inspection checklist is a structured walk around a facility looking for the ways somebody could get in, take something or hurt someone — a fence with a gap under it, a door that does not latch, a camera pointed at a wall, a key nobody can account for. This one works from the outside in, scores every check, and ends in a list of actions with owners and dates. Fill it in here and download the report as a PDF, or carry it on your phone: speak while you walk, and the document writes itself.
What a security inspection covers
Physical security is layers. The boundary slows people down, lighting and cameras make them visible, doors, locks and access control stop them, alarms tell someone they got through, and people — at reception, at the last lock-up of the night — hold the whole thing together. A weakness in any layer is worth recording, because the others are leaning on it.
This checklist follows those layers in the order you meet them walking in from the street. It is a site inspection, not a full security risk assessment: it records what is in place and whether it works, and the findings feed whatever risk assessment or security plan your organization keeps.
Walk it outside in, and once after dark
Start at the boundary and circle the building before you go inside. Note every door, gate and window you could reach from the ground, and anything that would help someone climb — bins against a wall, pallets by a fence, a fixed ladder with no guard. Photograph each entrance as you pass it; the photos become a useful record of the site on their own.
Lighting and cameras can only be judged in the dark. If the whole inspection cannot be done at night, do the outside lighting section on a separate visit after dusk and say so in the details.
Keys and access: where the quiet failures are
Broken fences get noticed. What does not get noticed is the card that was never switched off when a contractor left, the master key signed out three years ago, or the door code everyone in the building — and half the delivery drivers — knows. Ask to see the key or card register, pick two names from it, and check whether they still need access.
The staff spot-check works the same way. Ask two or three people, chosen at random, how they would report a broken lock or what they would do if a stranger was walking the corridors. Record their role rather than their name. The point is to test the procedure, not the person.
From findings to fixes
Every check answered No becomes a finding at the top of the report. Some are fixed on the spot — a propped door closed, a light switched to its timer. The rest go in the action list with one owner each and a date, and the next inspection starts by asking whether they were done.
Weigh findings by what they expose. A dead lamp in the car park and a fire exit that opens from the outside are both one item; they do not deserve the same deadline.
Common questions
How often should a security inspection be done?
Many organizations walk each site quarterly and do a fuller review once a year, with an extra inspection after any break-in, a change of use, building work, or a change of security contractor. Busy or high-value sites are often checked monthly.
Who should carry it out?
A facilities or security manager, a security supervisor, or an outside consultant for an independent view. Walking it with someone who knows the building day to day is useful: they know which doors are always propped and why.
Is this the same as a security risk assessment?
No. A risk assessment starts from the threats and the assets and decides which controls are needed. An inspection checks whether the controls that exist are in place and working. Most organizations need both, and this form records the second.
Should the spot-check record staff names?
It is better not to. Record the person's role and floor. The spot-check is there to find out whether the procedures have reached people, and naming individuals tends to turn it into a test they feel they failed.
Can I use this for a site with no fence, cameras or alarm?
Yes. Those sections each start with a question, and answering No folds the section away and keeps it out of the score. You can still record in the actions that the site should have one.