Shelter-in-Place Tabletop Exercise for Building & Property Management

This exercise is part of our catalog of tabletop exercises for building & property management.

Scenario Overview

Participants work as the property management team for a fictional multi-tenant building when a sudden explosion shakes the facility and a news report announces that all area buildings must immediately shelter in place. With little warning and limited information, the building is thrust into a tense and uncertain situation.

As the incident develops, chaos spreads among tenants and guests. Occupants become unsettled and angry, radiation is reportedly detected nearby, and some tenants require medicine or other urgent support. Property management must make difficult decisions about how to keep tenants safe, maintain building control, and respond to evolving conditions while everyone remains confined inside.

This exercise challenges building and property management teams to handle a prolonged shelter-in-place emergency involving security concerns, tenant needs, restricted movement, and operational disruption in a multi-tenant environment.

Why This Scenario Matters for Building & Property Management

Building and property management organizations are responsible for maintaining secure, functional environments for tenants, guests, contractors, and staff. A shelter-in-place order can immediately affect building access, occupant safety, security posture, tenant behavior, and the ability to provide critical services inside the facility.

This exercise helps leadership teams evaluate how they would respond when an external threat forces occupants to remain in place for an extended period, requiring strong coordination across security, communications, tenant support, and building operations.

Exercise Objectives

• Evaluate leadership decision-making during a building-wide shelter-in-place emergency.
• Discuss security, access control, and occupant management during a prolonged incident.
• Review tenant support needs, including medical and special assistance requirements.
• Assess communications with tenants, guests, responders, and stakeholders.
• Examine how building operations are maintained during restricted movement and heightened tension.
• Identify opportunities to improve shelter-in-place, evacuation, and security planning.

Typical Participants

• Executive leadership
• Property or building management
• Operations and facilities leadership
• Security or safety personnel
• Tenant relations or occupant services staff
• Communications or public affairs staff
• Business continuity or crisis management team members

Exercise Format

Conduct-It-Yourself Tabletop Exercises are structured, discussion-based simulations designed to help organizations test their response to disruptive events without the time and cost of a fully facilitated exercise. Participants are placed in the middle of a realistic scenario as it unfolds and must work through decisions, priorities, and consequences as a leadership team.

Each downloadable exercise package includes everything needed to conduct the session internally, including facilitator instructions, exercise overview materials, participant forms, a detailed scenario script, and a ready-to-run PowerPoint presentation that guides the scenario and discussion. The materials are designed so organizations can conduct the exercise as delivered or customize the storyline and supporting materials to reflect their own facilities, tenants, operations, and emergency planning objectives.

Most exercises are designed to be conducted in approximately 2 to 4 hours. A typical agenda includes an exercise overview and scenario briefing, the facilitated disaster simulation discussion, group review and preparation for debriefing, and a structured post-exercise discussion to capture lessons learned and improvement opportunities.

Exercise Focus

• Emergency Response
• Shelter-in-Place
• Evacuation
• Security
• Building Operations

Related Tabletop Exercise Scenarios

Organizations exploring this scenario may also find these exercises useful:

• Biological Outbreak Tabletop Exercise for Building & Property Management
• Multiple Disruptions Tabletop Exercise for Building & Property Management
• Train Wreck Tabletop Exercise for Building & Property Management
• Earthquake Tabletop Exercise for Building & Property Management
• Pandemic Tabletop Exercise for Building & Property Management
• Gas Main Explosion Tabletop Exercise for Building & Property Management

Purchase & Download

This exercise is delivered as a downloadable package that includes facilitator instructions, scenario materials, and structured discussion prompts to guide the exercise.