Applied Knowledge

Our Newest Project Manager

Stone Security Engineering, PC is pleased to announce the arrival of our newest Project Manager:  Arturo Montalva, P.E.Arturo Montalva

Mr. Montalva is a licensed professional engineer with a background in mechanical/structural engineering and in-depth expertise in the area of linear and non-linear structural dynamics. He specializes in the areas of blast and structural analysis and design, progressive collapse analysis, and finite element analysis.

Mr. Montalva is experienced in DoD ATFP Minimum projects, DoD projects involving higher threats and levels of protection, new and retrofit GSA Federal Building and Courthouse design and analysis, blast vulnerability assessments for child care centers and California state courthouses, new Airport control tower design, progressive collapse analysis for GSA and DoD facilities, and peer review of blast analysis for an international non-governmental headquarters.

Mr. Montalva is well versed in DoD governing documents such as the UFC 4-010-01 DoD Antiterrorism Standards for Buildings, UFC 4-023-03 Design of Buildings to Resist Progressive Collapse, and the UFC 3-340-02 Structures to Resist the Effects of Accidental Explosions.  He is also experienced in applying the ISC Security Design Criteria For New Federal Office Buildings and Major Modernizations Projects and the new 2010 ISC Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities, and the 2003 GSA’s Progressive Collapse Analysis and Design Guidelines for the New Federal Office Buildings and Major Modernization Projects.

Mr. Montalva can be reached via email at  Arturo@StoneSecurityEngineering.com or telephone at (646) 649-3169.

New Interagency Security Committee Document

The Interagency Security Committee has just released the 2010 Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities (FOUO) and the 2010 Design-Basis Threat Report (FOUO). These documents supersede the 2004 Security Design Criteria for New Federal Office Buildings and Major Modernization Projects (FOUO), the 2005 Security Standards for Leased Spaces (FOUO) and the 1995 DoJ Vulnerability Assessment of Federal Facilities (aka the ‘DoJ Report’). These new documents, in conjunction with the 2008 Facility Security Level Determinations for Federal Facilities (FOUO), establish the new design and construction security requirements that are applicable for all civilian Federal Facilities.

There are major updates in the new criteria document which will translate to changes in the design and design approach for Federal Buildings. Some of the more significant updates include:

• The new 2010 Physical Security Criteria provides guidance for all non-DoD federal buildings (without the exclusions, such as ports of entry, border patrol facilities and ‘unique facilities’, from the previous document) and it also covers leased space in existing buildings.

• The new 2010 Physical Security Criteria is presented in a completely new format

• The 2008 Facility Security Level Determinations for Federal Facilities (FOUO) and the 2010 Physical Security Criteria (FOUO) will provide a baseline for a facility specific risk assessment on which countermeasures will be based upon.

Past experience with new and updated security design criteria has shown that there is an often painful learning curve associated with the government and the private sector applying these new standards. Stone Security Engineering will soon be offering training sessions on the criteria. Please contact us at training@StoneSecurityEngineering.com if you are interested in these sessions.

Applying Federal Design Criteria To Non-Federal Projects

The US Federal Government (Department of State, Department of Defense and the US General Services Administration/Interagency Security Committee to name a few) have done a great job in developing security design standards and criteria to implement on new and retrofit construction projects for their Departments and Agencies.  These standards and criteria are based on the expertise, experience and knowledge of the writers as well as established self-knowledge regarding the unique building occupancies, construction types, building locations, and risk profiles of their building and project portfolios to which the standards and criteria will be applied.     All of these pieces of information are factored into the individual standards (such as minimum standoff distances, design basis threats, required levels of protection, etc).

It is therefore important for private, state and local entities to research the background of the Federal standards before adopting them for a project.  When thinking of adopting standards, the project team should consider (at a minimum) the following items:

  1. What are the Design Basis Threats included in the standards and do they apply to this building/occupancy/location?
  2. What Level of Protection/Hazard Level does the application of the standards provide for the building and occupants and does this meet with the requirements for the project in question?
  3. What are the minimum standoff distances and are these achievable on the project.  If not, what are the design measures required to mitigate reduced standoff and are they feasible for this project?
  4. What ongoing maintenance and staffing requirements result from the implementation of the standards and are these sustainable for the project?