High Priority – The importance of securing rooftops and ceilings with intrusion detection technologies

18 February 2025

When it comes to designing and implementing a new security system, roofs and ceilings are often overlooked. Whether it is a commercial building, residential property, or critical infrastructure site, they each face significant security challenges when it comes to roof protection. Often these spaces have skylights, fire exits and ventilation systems, through which intruders can gain unauthorised access into the building.

In addition, these elevated spaces frequently house expensive equipment such as HVAC units, solar panels, and valuable metal components like copper – making them a prime target for theft and a key area to protect against intrusion.

Due to the complex and often exposed nature of these spaces, roof intrusion detection presents some unique challenges. Environmental factors such as wind, debris, wildlife, and changing weather conditions can trigger false alarms, overwhelming security systems with nuisance alerts. Meanwhile, the varied architectural designs of roofs – with multiple levels, HVAC units, solar panels, and other structures – create complex environments which limit the field of view, making it a difficult environment for video surveillance alone.

Highly sophisticated, intelligent sensing technologies, such as LiDAR, are gaining increased popularity for securing roofs and ceilings as they are capable to cover wide areas (up to 50x100m) and accurately distinguishing between genuine intrusion attempts and natural environmental variations.