SECURE FACILITY SITE SELECTION · CHECKLIST
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Before you sign
the lease

Most secure facility problems are decided long before anyone draws the space. They are decided on the day a lease is signed. This page is a site selection checklist for secure facilities, and a second module that compares leasing, building and the flexible options against your own constraints. Both run entirely in your browser. Neither one gives you an answer about the building; both give you the questions to take to it.

Do not enter classified facility details or the address of a facility that will hold classified information. Planning-level answers only.
›THE PROBLEM

The problem: real estate decides the project

A bad real estate decision creates security, construction, accreditation and schedule problems later, and it creates them in that order. The building sets what can be built in it. What can be built sets what can be accredited. What can be accredited sets when the work can start. By the time any of that surfaces, the lease has been signed and the cheapest fixes are gone.

None of this is exotic. The facts that matter are ordinary building facts: what the lease permits, what the structure carries, where the services run, who else is in the building, what the local jurisdiction requires, and who is available to do the work. They are all knowable before signature, and most of them are cheap to check. They are simply not on the list a broker hands you, because the requirement they serve is not a requirement most tenants have.

This page is that list. It is deliberately generic. It is about what to verify, not about how any particular building is protected.

›WHAT USUALLY GOES WRONG

What usually goes wrong

01 · SEQUENCE
Signing first and scoping second

The most expensive mistake available on this page. A lease is signed on the strength of rent, location and square footage, and the secure requirement is handed to a designer afterwards. Everything that follows is then constrained by a document nobody read for this purpose.

02 · RIGHTS
Assuming the lease allows the work

Alteration rights, roof and riser access, who pulls the permits, what happens to the build at the end of the term: all of it is contractual. A building that physically suits the requirement can still be the wrong building because of what the lease will not let you do to it.

03 · STRUCTURE
Discovering the slab during design

Floor loading is a fact about the building. When it turns up during design rather than during selection, the options left are to reduce what goes in the space, reinforce the structure at cost, or move. All three are worse than looking earlier.

04 · ROUTES
Taking a shell with nowhere for the services to go

Cable routes, mechanical access and a path to the roof decide how much of the design is possible. Space that is beautiful on a floor plan can be unworkable once you trace where the services actually have to run.

05 · NEIGHBORS
Treating the rest of the building as someone else's problem

Shared walls, shared risers, shared entrances and the tenants on either side are part of your project whether or not you want them to be. Tenant turnover across a ten year term is part of it too.

06 · CLOCK
Planning against the contract date instead of three clocks

Real estate, construction and accreditation each run on their own calendar. A schedule built backwards from the award date, rather than forwards from those three, produces a facility that is late in a way nobody can recover.

›WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

What you need to know

How do you evaluate a facility before signing a lease?
Evaluate a facility in the order the answers gate each other. Start with what the lease will let you do, because construction rights, roof and riser access, permitting responsibility and restoration obligations are settled in the document and are difficult to change afterwards. Then take the physical facts of the building that nobody can concede to you: floor loading, shared walls, existing penetrations, mechanical independence and the routes cable can take. Then look outward at parking, access, setbacks and who else occupies the building. Then confirm what already serves the site, which means carriers, entrance paths and standby power. Finish with zoning, permitting, the availability of trades who can perform secure construction locally, and whether the honest sum of real estate, construction and accreditation time sits inside the date you have already committed to.
How do you decide between permanent and modular secure space?
The decision usually turns on four things rather than on preference: how long you will need the space, how much schedule you have, how much of the configuration you need to control, and what your customer expects. A long requirement in a settled location with capital behind it points toward permanent space, owned or leased, because the cost is spread over a long life. A compressed schedule, an unsettled location, or work that may move points toward modular, mobile or shared arrangements, because the whole value of those is that they can be reversed. Most programs also have a third option they overlook, which is performing inside an already accredited customer facility and building nothing at all.
Why do facility and contract schedules diverge?
Because they are three clocks rather than one. Real estate runs on market availability, negotiation and landlord approvals. Construction runs on design, permitting, long-lead equipment and the availability of trades who can perform secure work. Accreditation runs on the authority's own review cycle and its inspection calendar. None of the three is driven by the contract award date, and they do not overlap as neatly as a proposal schedule assumes. The usual answer is to start the site work earlier than feels necessary, and to keep an interim arrangement available so the contract can begin while the facility is still being delivered.
›CHECK YOUR SITE

Check your site

Two modules. The first walks the fifteen things worth verifying before a lease is signed, and tells you which of them still need answers and roughly in what order. The second sets the ways of getting secure space against your own constraints, so the trade-offs are visible before you commit to one. Nothing is transmitted unless you ask for it.

Do not enter classified facility details or the address of a facility that will hold classified information. Planning-level answers only.
MODULE 01

The site selection checklist

Fifteen items, in six groups, each with the reason it matters. Mark each one as checked, not yet, or not applicable to this site. Anything you mark not applicable leaves the picture rather than counting against you, and anything you leave alone stays on the list of things to verify before signing.

01RIGHTS AND NEIGHBORS

What the lease lets you do, and who else is in the building.

01Landlord restrictions and construction rights

The lease decides what you are allowed to build. Alteration rights, approval timelines, who holds the permits and what you must restore at the end are all settled in the document, and they are far harder to change after signature.

Usually needs: counsel
02Roof and riser access

Mechanical equipment, antennas and cable routes need a path to the roof and through the building risers. Those paths are granted in the lease, or they are not available to you at all, and shared risers come with shared conditions.

Usually needs: counsel
03Penetrations and shared walls

Every wall you share with another tenant, and every existing penetration through the envelope, becomes a design question later. Finding them before signature costs a walkthrough; finding them during construction costs a change order.

Usually needs: structural engineer, RF consultant
04Adjacent tenants

Who occupies the floors above, below and beside you affects noise, vibration, shared access and the questions your security officer will ask first. Tenant turnover during your term matters as much as who is there on the day you look.

Usually needs: security officer
02STRUCTURE AND BUILDING SYSTEMS

The physical facts of the building, which are the ones you cannot negotiate.

05Floor loading and slab

Secure construction, storage containers, equipment and mechanical plant are heavy. The live load capacity of the floor is a structural fact about the building, and it is one of the few facts a landlord cannot concede to you.

Usually needs: structural engineer
06Mechanical access and HVAC independence

Whether you can run heating, cooling and ventilation independently of the base building, and reach that plant for maintenance without leaving your own space, shapes the design, the operating cost and how much you depend on the landlord.

07Secure pathways and cabling routes

Cable has to travel from where it enters the building to where it is used, along routes you control. A building that makes that route awkward makes everything downstream of it slower and more expensive.

Usually needs: security officer
03THE SITE AND ITS APPROACHES

What surrounds the space, which is fixed on the day you look at it.

08Parking and controlled access

Where people park, how they enter, and where deliveries arrive are facts about the site rather than choices you make later. A building with a single shared entrance constrains what you are able to arrange inside it.

Usually needs: security officer
09Setbacks and external exposure

The distance between your space and ground that other people control is set by the site. It is worth measuring before you sign, because it is the one dimension you cannot add to the building afterwards.

Usually needs: security officer
04CONNECTIVITY AND UTILITIES

What already serves the building, and what would have to be brought to it.

10Network availability and carrier diversity

Which carriers already serve the building, and by how many separate physical paths they enter it, decides both what you can order and how long it takes. A new entrance facility is measured in months, not weeks.

11Generator and utility redundancy

Whether the building has standby generation, whether any of it is available to you, and where a generator of your own could stand are questions with a physical answer on every site. Ask them before the lease, not during design.

05GROWTH AND APPROVALS

The two things people leave until last and then wish they had not.

12Expansion capacity

Contiguous space you could take later, and the contractual right to take it, are worth more at signature than they cost. Growing into a second building in another part of town is the expensive alternative.

Usually needs: counsel
13Zoning and permitting

Local zoning, permitting timelines and any historic or overlay designation on the building sit outside your control and inside your schedule. They are public records, and they are cheap to check before the lease.

Usually needs: counsel
06DELIVERY AND SCHEDULE

Whether the work can be built here, by whom, and in the time you have.

14Local labor and cleared trades

Secure construction needs trades that can work under the conditions the project requires, and there are markets where those trades are scarce or booked a year out. Availability is a local question with a local answer.

15Schedule fit against the contract date

Real estate, construction and accreditation each run on their own clock, and none of the three runs on the contract award date. Add them up honestly and compare the total against the date you have already committed to.

Before you sign the lease

Secure facility site selection checklist · saliandefense.com/site-selection.html

Do not enter classified facility details or the address of a facility that will hold classified information. Planning-level answers only.

Rights and neighbors

  • Landlord restrictions and construction rightsThe lease decides what you are allowed to build. Alteration rights, approval timelines, who holds the permits and what you must restore at the end are all settled in the document, and they are far harder to change after signature.
  • Roof and riser accessMechanical equipment, antennas and cable routes need a path to the roof and through the building risers. Those paths are granted in the lease, or they are not available to you at all, and shared risers come with shared conditions.
  • Penetrations and shared wallsEvery wall you share with another tenant, and every existing penetration through the envelope, becomes a design question later. Finding them before signature costs a walkthrough; finding them during construction costs a change order.
  • Adjacent tenantsWho occupies the floors above, below and beside you affects noise, vibration, shared access and the questions your security officer will ask first. Tenant turnover during your term matters as much as who is there on the day you look.

Structure and building systems

  • Floor loading and slabSecure construction, storage containers, equipment and mechanical plant are heavy. The live load capacity of the floor is a structural fact about the building, and it is one of the few facts a landlord cannot concede to you.
  • Mechanical access and HVAC independenceWhether you can run heating, cooling and ventilation independently of the base building, and reach that plant for maintenance without leaving your own space, shapes the design, the operating cost and how much you depend on the landlord.
  • Secure pathways and cabling routesCable has to travel from where it enters the building to where it is used, along routes you control. A building that makes that route awkward makes everything downstream of it slower and more expensive.

The site and its approaches

  • Parking and controlled accessWhere people park, how they enter, and where deliveries arrive are facts about the site rather than choices you make later. A building with a single shared entrance constrains what you are able to arrange inside it.
  • Setbacks and external exposureThe distance between your space and ground that other people control is set by the site. It is worth measuring before you sign, because it is the one dimension you cannot add to the building afterwards.

Connectivity and utilities

  • Network availability and carrier diversityWhich carriers already serve the building, and by how many separate physical paths they enter it, decides both what you can order and how long it takes. A new entrance facility is measured in months, not weeks.
  • Generator and utility redundancyWhether the building has standby generation, whether any of it is available to you, and where a generator of your own could stand are questions with a physical answer on every site. Ask them before the lease, not during design.

Growth and approvals

  • Expansion capacityContiguous space you could take later, and the contractual right to take it, are worth more at signature than they cost. Growing into a second building in another part of town is the expensive alternative.
  • Zoning and permittingLocal zoning, permitting timelines and any historic or overlay designation on the building sit outside your control and inside your schedule. They are public records, and they are cheap to check before the lease.

Delivery and schedule

  • Local labor and cleared tradesSecure construction needs trades that can work under the conditions the project requires, and there are markets where those trades are scarce or booked a year out. Availability is a local question with a local answer.
  • Schedule fit against the contract dateReal estate, construction and accreditation each run on their own clock, and none of the three runs on the contract award date. Add them up honestly and compare the total against the date you have already committed to.

This checklist is planning guidance only. It is not engineering, legal, real estate or accreditation advice, and it is not a determination by any government authority. Site conditions, lease terms and local requirements vary, and every item here is a question for a qualified professional about the specific building in front of you. Accreditation rests with the applicable Accrediting Official or Cognizant Security Authority. Do not enter classified facility details.

MODULE 02

Should we lease, build, or use a flexible solution?

Six ways of getting secure space, set against nine things about your situation. The module returns a table, not an answer. Where an option is a poor fit for one of your constraints, the table says so and says why, and you decide what you are willing to trade.

  • Company-owned facilityYou buy or already own the building. The most control and the most capital, and the option that takes longest to stand up.
  • Long-term leaseOrdinary commercial space taken for a long term and fitted out for the requirement. The most common answer, and the one where the lease language does the most work.
  • Short-term leaseThe same arrangement on a term short enough that the fit-out may outlive it. Low commitment, and the commitment is the point.
  • Secure coworking or shared accredited environmentsSpace someone else holds and operates, taken by the seat or by the room, where such an arrangement is available and acceptable to the customer.
  • Modular or mobile facilitiesPurpose-built units delivered to a site rather than constructed in place. Faster to stand up, and reversible, at the cost of the site work around them.
  • Customer-site executionYour cleared people work inside a facility the customer already holds. Nothing to build, and no facility of your own to carry.
07YOUR SITUATION

Nine questions. Anything you leave blank comes back as an open question rather than a guess.

Methodology

Nothing here is judged and nothing is weighted. Each item is either verified, still to verify, or retired as not applicable, and the picture is your own answers restated in the order this work is usually done. Items you mark not applicable leave the picture rather than counting against you. Nothing you enter leaves your browser unless you ask for it.

This comparison does not pick an option for you. It sets out the trade-offs so that the choice you make is the choice you meant to make.

This checklist is planning guidance only. It is not engineering, legal, real estate or accreditation advice, and it is not a determination by any government authority. Site conditions, lease terms and local requirements vary, and every item here is a question for a qualified professional about the specific building in front of you. Accreditation rests with the applicable Accrediting Official or Cognizant Security Authority. Do not enter classified facility details.

›WHAT SALIAN DOES

What Salian does

SITE EVALUATION
Reading a candidate building against the requirement

Walking a shortlisted site with the security requirement in hand, and saying plainly which of the items on this page it satisfies, which it complicates, and which of them would need a specialist before you commit. Done before the lease, this is the cheapest work on the whole project.

SCOPING
Turning a requirement into a scope a building can be measured against

Reading the contract, the DD-254 or the program requirement for what it actually obliges you to build, so that a site can be judged against something specific rather than against a general wish for secure space.

DESIGN AND DELIVERY
Secure facilities carried through to accreditation

Design coordination, construction management, and accreditation package preparation with coordination through the applicable Accrediting Official or Cognizant Security Authority, then sustainment after occupancy. One schedule and one accountable contract rather than five vendors and the seams between them.

OPTIONS
Permanent, modular and interim arrangements

Modular and mobile units are delivered through cleared partners under Salian's schedule. Where the honest answer is an interim arrangement while something permanent is built, we will say so, and we will help you sequence the two.

›WHAT SALIAN DOES NOT CONTROL

What Salian does not control

Nothing on this page is a determination, and nothing on it is a promise about a building. The applicable Accrediting Official or Cognizant Security Authority accredits the facility. Salian prepares the package and coordinates the process, and cannot commit the outcome on the authority's behalf.

The rest of the list belongs to other people too. The landlord decides what the lease permits. The local jurisdiction decides zoning and permits. A structural engineer, not a checklist, establishes what a floor will carry. Counsel, not a website, reads your lease. This page is written so you know which question belongs to whom before you are committed to a building.

›WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

What happens next

  1. Walk the checklist above for each candidate building, and take the printable version with you when you visit. A site you cannot answer for is a site you do not yet know.
  2. Run the comparison if the shape of the answer is still open. If it points somewhere other than a lease, that is a real result and it is cheaper than the lease.
  3. Scope the requirement properly in the project readiness tool before design money is committed.
  4. Take a planning range from the secure facility cost estimator, and compare it against what the building will let you do.
  5. If a facility clearance is also in front of you, work the gates in the FCL readiness self-check, because that clock runs alongside this one.
  6. Send us the picture if you would like a second opinion on a shortlist. We reply within one business day, and we will tell you when the honest answer is that you do not need a facility at all.
›SOURCES

Sources

The public authorities behind the items on this page, all retrieved 2026-09-02. They are a starting point for your own reading and for professional review, not a substitute for either. Local building and fire codes, and any program-specific requirement, sit on top of them.

›TALK TO SALIAN

Talk to Salian

The best time to talk to us about a building is before you sign for it, and the conversation is short. Tell us the requirement and send the shortlist. If one of the candidates carries a problem the others do not, that is usually visible in an hour, and it is worth an hour.

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