Discipline
Access control
Access control fails in the same few places whatever the building is. A reader on the unsecured side of the door with the lock relay behind it, credentials sent in the clear down a cable anybody can reach, and doors that stop working when a computer does. This is how we specify it, and what we check before quoting. We supply installers and consultants, and we install directly when a client prefers that.
What a system is made of
Three parts. Where each one sits matters more than which brand it carries.
Readers at the door
Chosen for the door, not the building. Weather exposure, credential type and how busy the door is decide the unit. Cards, phones, fingerprint and face can share one platform.
Controller in a locked cabinet
Holds the credentials, the access levels and every lock relay. Doors keep working whether or not any server on the network is healthy.
Locking hardware and power
Selected per leaf type, including clamps where the door is frameless glass. Dedicated supplies with battery backup, sized for the door count, plus release on every escape route door.
We choose models once we have the door schedule. Send it, or send drawings, and we work the rest out with you.
Four things we do differently, and why they matter
Each of these costs a little more at design stage than the cheapest way to fit a door. All four cost far more to put right once the building is occupied.
Pulling the reader off the wall does not open the door
The part that releases the lock sits inside a locked cabinet, not inside the box on the wall outside the door. On plenty of installations it is the other way round, which makes the reader itself the way in. Many standalone fingerprint terminals sold in Kenya can drive the lock themselves, and are often fitted exactly that way. On a single Suprema door we add a Secure I/O 2 module on the secure side, so the terminal outside cannot release anything.
We do not drill your glass doors
Toughened glass cannot be drilled without putting the pane at risk. We clamp the lock to the top and bottom edges instead. The glass is untouched and the hardware comes off cleanly at the next refurbishment.
The doors keep working through a blackout or a dead computer
The controller holds the credentials and the rules itself. Software on a PC is for reports and for adding people, not for opening doors, so a restart, an update or a virus on that machine does not reach the doors. The controller and locks run on battery backed supplies, so the doors keep working through a power cut for as long as the batteries are sized to last, and we size them against the actual door count.
Cards cannot be copied off the cable
The link between the reader and the panel is encrypted, so someone who reaches the wiring cannot record a valid card and use it later. The older standard, Wiegand, sends the card number in the clear. It is still common on the systems we get asked to look at. On our Suprema doors the Secure I/O 2 module uses the same encrypted standard.
Scoped for your building type
The decisions above hold everywhere. What changes is which doors get controlled and in what order. We have written scopes for five building types so far, each with what is included, what is excluded, the assumptions behind it and the questions we need answered before it can be priced.
Apartments and multi unit residential
Corporate offices and headquarters
Forex bureaus
Warehouses and godowns
Pharmacies
If your building is none of these, tell us what it is and we write the scope from scratch.
What each person actually gets
Three people live with an access system and they want different things from it. If you are specifying it for a client, the first column is yours.
Installer or consultant
If you are specifying or installing this for a client.
- Door schedule and cable routes agreed before anything is ordered
- Power supplies and battery sizing checked against the actual door count
- The whole scope quoted, including locking hardware and materials
- Supply only, or supply and install, whichever suits your contract
- Pricing that varies by volume and project type, not one fixed trade rate
Building or facilities manager
The person who has to run it after handover.
- A leaver removed in software, across every door at once, with no locks to change
- A record of who came in, which door, and when
- Contractors given access for a window of time rather than a key
- Areas separated by access level, which is a settings change and not new hardware
- Doors and the alarm on one controller, with one log
Residents or staff
The people who pass through it every day.
- One credential instead of a key and a fob and a remote
- Card, phone or fingerprint, whichever suits the door and the person
- No waiting for somebody to come and open a door
- A lost credential cancelled the same day
A worked example
One of our defined scopes, so you can see the level of detail before you send us anything.
Tell us about the doors
Whether you are quoting this for a client or the building is your own, start the same way. Send a door schedule or drawings and we come back with questions or a quote.
Quoting this for a client?
A trade account gets you project pricing, a check on your specification before you order, and support during commissioning.
What a trade account includes →