Overview
ISO 22341-2:2025 - Security and resilience - Protective security - Part 2: Guidelines for crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) for residential facilities - provides practical guidance to prevent and reduce crime and the fear of crime in dwellings and their immediate surroundings. Building on ISO 22341, this standard tailors CPTED principles to single and multi-unit residential settings and is applicable to public and private organizations responsible for housing assets (real estate companies, developers, landlords, estate managers).
Keywords: ISO 22341-2, CPTED, crime prevention through environmental design, residential security, protective security, residential facilities
Key topics and technical requirements
- Risk-based approach: Organizations should conduct a risk assessment (identify, analyze, evaluate) to determine threats, vulnerabilities and appropriate CPTED measures. The process aligns with ISO 31000 principles for continual improvement.
- CPTED concepts: Core concepts adapted for residential settings include surveillance, access control / site hardening / territorial reinforcement, image and maintenance, and activity support.
- Surveillance & lighting: Recommendations include 24 h lighting for communal areas (with dimming options for energy savings), uniform illuminance and colour rendering to support identification (face recognition distance example: 15 m), vandal-resistant luminaires, and mounting heights (e.g., ~2.5 m) to reduce tampering. Compliance with relevant lighting guidance (e.g., ISO/CIE 8995-3:2018) is suggested where applicable.
- CCTV and monitoring: Guidance on planning, installation, maintenance, signage and proportional use of video surveillance - stressing non-invasive, crime-prevention purposes and legal considerations for signage and monitoring.
- Landscaping and defensive planting: Design recommendations to avoid hiding places, preserve sightlines and wayfinding, and use spiny or climbing plants for perimeter protection while considering seasonal effects and resident safety.
- Spatial hierarchy: Tailored CPTED measures by space type - public, semi-public, semi-private and private - and reference to conceptual charts and 19 phased CPTED strategies from ISO 22341 for practical implementation.
Practical applications - who should use it
- Target users: real estate developers, property managers, landlords, housing associations, architects, urban planners, security consultants and local authorities responsible for residential safety.
- Use cases: new housing design, retrofit of existing estates, estate management policies, tenancy safety improvements, landscaping and lighting projects, CCTV planning, and community safety programs.
- Benefits: reduced burglary and anti-social behaviour, improved resident perception of safety, clear design guidance for cost-effective and sustainable security measures.
Related standards
ISO 22341-2:2025 serves as a practical, risk-informed CPTED framework to make residential environments safer, more resilient and better maintained without prescribing exhaustive technical designs.