Fencing, Gates And Perimeter Security

Fencing on a supported accommodation site is usually treated as a landscaping item and specified last.

It deserves more thought than that, because it is the element that decides whether a resident can leave the property independently and whether they can do so safely.

Three requirements that pull against each other

**Safety,** where a resident may be at risk if they leave unaccompanied.

**Independence,** where a resident should be able to come and go without asking anybody.

**Appearance,** because a dwelling in a residential street should look like a house rather than a facility.

Most sites contain residents with different needs, which means the answer is rarely one fence type around the whole property.

Where it gets resolved

**The front boundary** is the appearance question. A low fence or no fence, consistent with the street, with planting rather than height doing the screening.

**The side and rear boundaries** carry the safety requirement, at a height and with a construction that is not climbable, and without the horizontal rails that make a fence a ladder.

**Internal divisions,** where a private courtyard for one resident sits inside a shared site.

That zoning is designed with the external areas rather than after them, which is part of [landscaping and external works](/blog/landscaping-and-external-works).

Gates are the whole decision

A fence is a surface. A gate is a control, and the hardware decides who it controls.

**Operating force and reach,** so a resident in a wheelchair can open it from either side, with latch side clearance on both approaches.

**Self closing** where the safety requirement needs it, which immediately raises the question of whether a resident can still open it. The same conflict as a door closer.

**Lockable** where required, with a release that works from inside in an emergency and that support staff can operate quickly.

**Powered,** where a vehicle gate is on the accessible route and manual operation is not realistic. Which needs power to the gate position, planned in the services rather than trenched later.

The route through it is the one described in [access paths, parking and arrival](/blog/access-paths-parking-and-arrival), and a gate that narrows the path below the required width defeats it.

Pool and water barriers are separate law

Any swimming pool or spa on the site carries its own barrier, gate and self closing requirements under separate legislation, and those requirements are not satisfied by a general perimeter fence.

Which is a compliance item with inspection and certification attached, handled on its own terms rather than inside the landscaping scope.

Build it to last the hold period

Supported accommodation is usually held for a long time, and the fence is maintained by whoever holds it.

Which argues for materials that do not need a cycle of attention: powder coated steel or aluminium rather than painted timber, posts set properly rather than driven, and gate hardware rated for commercial use rather than domestic. A gate on a shared site is operated far more often than a gate on a house.

That reasoning is the same as in [maintenance and whole of life costs](/blog/maintenance-and-whole-of-life-costs).

Sequence on site

Perimeter fencing is usually the last element, after the modules are installed and the external works are complete, because the crane and the delivery vehicles need the access.

Which means temporary fencing during construction and a handover gap between the site being complete and the boundary being secure. That gap is planned rather than discovered, and it is part of the arrangement in [security and lock-up after installation](/blog/security-and-lock-up-after-installation).

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