AN ADVISORY

By far the most important aspect, as the Security and Strength of the Vault would be dependent on the location.

Is there a car park?

Logically one should be able to pop in and out of the vault without having to walk more than 10-20 steps from one's car.

Though one may just be carrying an envelope of documents, there is grave danger of you or your loved ones being mugged walking back to your car, parked in a shopping complex car park.

The weight of a reinforced concrete vault with steel measuring 60ft x 22ft is about 60 tones. This would be 14in walls all round, 24in thick flooring and at least 12in thick ceiling. Such a weight would need massive foundation to support the vault. In the absence of equally strong columns, the vault need to rest on the ground with piles supporting the weight. As such, any discerning vault on a 2nd , 3rd or higher levels will cause the entire building to collapse. Therefore, it is impossible to build a discerning vault of such thickness and strength in shopping complexes or on a 2nd or 3rd floor.

One must also take cognizance that one has no control over the top and bottom floors, thus exposing the client's valuables to undesirable elements.

Does the centre have 24 hours dedicated Security Guards physically present within the Centre. A SDB centre cannot rely on Guards which would also have other security duties.

The level of risk an insurance company is willing to underwrite for a safe deposit box centre is the testimony of the trust the company has in the Credibility, Security and Strength of the service provider.

A SDB centre should have convenient access hours and not limited to normal working hours. One should have the freedom to visit one's SDB outside banking hours, especially on Public Holidays. A SDB centre's opening hours should not be dictated by the opening and closing hours of any complex.

In case of a fire, the vault should have its own and independent Fire Fighting System and not rely on a central system which is not designed to cater for the unique requirements of a vault and your contents in the vault. A Clean Dry Agent system is most appropriate for a vault and its contents. The last thing you would want is your documents damaged by a water sprinkler system.