Industry
Corporate offices and headquarters
Access control usually arrives late in an office fit out, after the partitions are up and the cable routes are closed. That is how a floor ends up with a reader screwed to the corridor wall and the part that opens the door sitting right behind it. This is the scope we write for a headquarters floor, and the order we recommend building it. We supply installers and consultants, and we install directly when a client prefers that. The scope is the same either way. Doors keep working through power cuts on battery backup, and a leaver's access is cancelled in software the same day.
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 after handover, when the ceilings are closed and the floor is occupied.
Pulling the reader off the wall does not open the door
The part that releases the lock sits inside a locked cabinet in the comms room, not inside the box on the corridor wall. 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 reception glass
Toughened glass cannot be drilled without putting the pane at risk, and reception is the most visible thing in the fit out. We clamp the lock to the top and bottom edges instead. The glass is untouched and the hardware comes off cleanly at the next fit out.
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.
Your staff cards cannot be copied off the cable
The link between the reader and the panel is encrypted, so someone who reaches the wiring above a ceiling tile 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.
What we build it on
Two manufacturers, three parts. We use them because they support the decisions above rather than work around them.
ICT tSec readers
The readers at most doors. Cards and phones on one reader, talking to the controller over encrypted RS-485 or OSDP with Secure Channel, so the credential on the cable cannot be copied.
ICT Protege WX
The controller in the comms room. Access, alarm and building automation on one controller, managed from its built-in web interface, with the rules held in the controller so the doors do not depend on a server being healthy. Multi-site estates are quoted separately.
Suprema
Fingerprint or face terminals for the doors that need more than a card, such as the server room or the records store. Each connects to Protege with a third-party reader licence, which is quoted per door.
We choose models per door once we have the schedule. How busy the door is, the credential type and the leaf construction decide the reader. The door count and the floor spread decide the controller.
The written scope
We turn all of it into a written scope: what is included, what is excluded, the assumptions behind it, and the questions we need answered before it can be priced. Every system is commissioned with individual administrator accounts, a defined period for keeping access records, and a card or PIN option for anyone who declines biometric enrolment, which is what data protection compliance expects.
Included
- ✓ ICT tSec readers at each controlled door for cards and phones, with Suprema fingerprint or face terminals where a door needs biometrics
- ✓ ICT Protege WX controller and door expansion hardware in a lockable cabinet in the comms room
- ✓ All lock release relays inside the cabinet, never behind the reader
- ✓ Encrypted RS-485 or OSDP Secure Channel wiring between readers and controller
- ✓ Protege third-party reader licence for each Suprema terminal, where biometric doors are specified
- ✓ Mobile credentials for staff who want them, cancelled in software the day someone leaves
- ✓ Rules held on the controller, so doors keep working independently of any server
- ✓ Electric locking hardware per leaf type, including clamps for frameless glass at reception
- ✓ Dedicated power supplies with battery backup sized for the door count
- ✓ Door position and request to exit devices where the door schedule requires them
- ✓ Emergency break glass release on every controlled escape route door
- ✓ Access level design by department, individual administrator accounts, administrator training and handover documentation
- ✓ Hard or soft anti-passback on the doors that need it
- ✓ Escape route doors unlock on a fire alarm signal from the fire panel output
- ✓ Managed from a web browser, with no Windows server or database licence to buy
Not included
- ✕ Civil work, coring, chasing and making good
- ✕ Containment, conduit, trunking and trays
- ✕ Structured cabling backbone and network switching outside the access control cabinet
- ✕ Door leaves, frames and closers where existing hardware is not suitable
- ✕ Turnstiles, speed gates and reception furniture, quoted separately once the entrance design is fixed
- ✕ Fire alarm interface cabling on the fire panel side
- ✕ Integration into an HR or directory system, scoped separately once we know the platform
- ✕ Any recurring software licence or portal subscription, which is quoted separately and stated on its own line
- ✕ Landlord fit out consents and after hours access charges
What we will ask you
Eight questions decide an office quote. Answer as many as you can in the form below or on WhatsApp, and the first number we send will be close to the final one.
- How many doors, and how many floors do they sit on?
- How many staff will hold a credential, and how often do they change?
- Which departments need to be separated from the general staff level?
- Is reception frameless glass, and is there a turnstile planned?
- Where is the comms room the controller can live in, and is there spare cabinet space?
- Do you want cards, phones, fingerprint, face, or a mix?
- Do you need access records tied to HR joiners and leavers, and on which platform?
- Who will hold the administrator account, IT or facilities?
Talk to us about this floor
Whether you are specifying this for a client or you run the floor yourself, start the same way. Tell us about it 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 →Where this applies on the floor plate
Five areas decide whether a headquarters floor is controlled or only looks it. Tap a number to see why.
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1
Reception line
The boundary between public and staff. Usually frameless glass, which settles the locking hardware before anything else does.
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2
Server and comms room
Highest value and highest risk in one room. The controller lives here and the door to it is monitored.
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3
Restricted departments
Finance, HR, records. Their own access level rather than the general staff level, which is a settings change and not extra hardware.
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4
Lift lobby and stair core
Shared with the landlord and other tenants. Control it and a visitor on your floor stops being a visitor everywhere.
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5
Back corridor and service door
The door cleaners and contractors use. Almost always the one left off the schedule.
The diagram is illustrative. Your floor plate and door schedule decide what gets controlled and in what order.
Which parts to do first
An office fit out has a fixed programme and a landlord watching it. This is the order we recommend, because each stage uses the cable routes the previous one already paid for.
- 1
Access control first
Reception, the server room and the restricted departments are where a company cannot afford to be vague. Controlling them first also settles joiners and leavers, which is the problem that grows quietly.
- 2
Cameras at the controlled points
A camera covering a door that already records an entry is worth several covering open floor. Reception, the server room door and the lift lobby come first. General floor coverage after.
- 3
Alarm outside working hours
Once the doors report whether they are open or closed, the same controller can arm the floor at night without a second panel and a second set of cabling.
- 4
Server room monitoring
The comms room is where the highest value and the highest risk sit together. Door monitoring, and where you want it temperature and water detection, are cheap once the controller is already in that room.
- 5
Visitor management and reporting
Visitor passes, contractor access windows and audit reporting sit on top of everything above. Added when the facilities team is ready to run them, not on day one.
What each person actually gets
Three people live with this system and they want different things from it. If you are specifying it for a client, the first column is yours and the other two are what you will need in the room.
Installer or consultant
If you are specifying or installing this for a client.
- Door schedule and containment routes agreed before anything is ordered
- The whole scope quoted, including power supplies, materials and door hardware
- Supply only, or supply and install, whichever suits your contract
- Design support on door counts, reader selection and cable routes
- Pricing that varies by volume and project type, not one fixed trade rate
Facilities and IT
The people who own it after handover.
- A leaver is disabled in software the day they leave, across every door at once
- Departments separated by access level, which is a settings change rather than new hardware
- A report of who entered the server room and when, ready for an audit rather than assembled for one
- Contractors given access for a window of time instead of a key
- Doors and the out of hours alarm on one controller, with one record
- Doors and the alarm keep running through power cuts, on battery backup sized for the door count
Staff and visitors
The people who pass through it several times a day.
- One credential for the lift lobby, reception and their own department
- No queue at reception to be let through a door that should already know them
- Visitors and contractors signed in once and given access only where they are going
- Card, phone or fingerprint, whichever suits the door and the person
- A lost card cancelled the same morning, with no locks to change
What this changes on the running cost side
We do not publish payback figures, because they depend on your headcount, your turnover rate and what you currently spend on guarding. These are the categories a controlled floor moves. Put your own numbers against them.
- Re keying and lock replacement on staff turnover, which becomes a credential disabled in software
- Reception and guard hours spent opening doors, escorting contractors and issuing keys
- Time facilities spends reconstructing who was in the building, which becomes a report
- Audit and compliance evidence for the server room and records store, produced rather than assembled
- Loss of equipment and documents from areas that were open because nobody had a way to close them
- After hours energy and cleaning coordination, where door state is known rather than assumed
None of these are guaranteed savings. They are the lines on your budget controlled access touches, and the ones worth measuring before and after.