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Sheet 01.2

Commercial  access  control  for  Melbourne  businesses.

Door access control for offices, warehouses and shops across Melbourne and Victoria, installed by our own crew. Each door takes the credential that suits it: card, fob, PIN, phone or fingerprint.

Commercial access control in Melbourne is often quoted as a number of doors and a box of readers. We work from Tullamarine and quote it door by door, with the reader and the lock named. This page covers the decisions behind that quote: which credential, which lock, what each door does when the power fails, and who in your business adds and removes people.
Sheet
Access control
Area served
Melbourne & VIC
Licensing
Victorian Private Security Licence
Quote
Itemised, no charge
AC-10

What  a  commercial  access  control  system  includes.

Four parts on every job.

Ref Item
  • AC-11

    Readers and credentials

    The reader on the wall and what each person presents to it. A site can mix them.

    • Card and fob readers
    • Biometric readers
    • PIN keypads, where chosen
    • Phone credentials, where chosen
  • AC-12

    Door hardware

    The lock that holds the door, and the parts that let people out.

    • Electric strikes
    • Magnetic locks
    • Request-to-exit buttons
    • Door position switches
  • AC-13

    Controller and power

    Decides who gets through which door and when, from the comms cupboard.

    • Door controllers
    • Battery backup where specified
    • Runs on your own network
    • Mounted and labelled
  • AC-14

    Management and log

    Where people, doors and schedules are managed and every use of a door is recorded.

    • Lost fob disabled at a desk or remotely
    • Access groups and time schedules
    • Log of every attempt, granted or refused
    • Log held on your own controller
AC-20

The  door  decides  the  credential.

A card access system, keyless entry by PIN or phone, and biometrics, on the same rows.

Suits
Card or fob: Offices, shared tenancies and any site where staff come and go.
PIN keypad: A low-risk internal door, or a second check beside a card.
Phone credential: Offices where cards keep going missing.
Fingerprint or face: A server room, a cash office, a stock cage: doors where the person matters more than the card.
Watch for
Card or fob: Cards are lent and lost. The log records the card, not the person.
PIN keypad: Codes are shared. A shared code logs the door, not the person.
Phone credential: Flat batteries, and staff who do not want a work credential on a personal phone.
Fingerprint or face: Dusty, wet or gloved hands. A fingerprint cannot be reissued the way a card can.
When someone leaves
Card or fob: The card is disabled at a desk.
PIN keypad: A personal code is deleted. A shared code changes for everyone.
Phone credential: The credential is revoked remotely.
Fingerprint or face: The enrolment is deleted.

The rule: choose by the door, not by the building. Fobs on the doors everyone uses, a keypad where a code is enough, biometrics only where you need to know the person. Each reader type is its own line in the quote, as our guide to what a commercial security system costs sets out.

AC-30

What  each  door  does  when  the  power  fails.

A decision for every door. Have it in writing before a lock is ordered.

01 Fail-safe.
A fail-safe lock unlocks when power is removed, and a magnetic lock only works this way. It suits a door people must be able to leave through. A power cut opens it unless a battery is holding it.
02 Fail-secure.
A fail-secure lock stays locked from the outside when power is removed. It suits a door that protects stock or a server room. People inside still leave by the handle, which does not depend on power.
03 Doors on the way out.
The National Construction Code covers a door in a required exit, or in the path of travel to one. It has to open without a key from the side a person is leaving by, with a single downward or pushing action on a single device. The code makes provision for fail-safe devices that release a door when another active system operates, and it lists exemptions. Which doors it covers, and how each must release, is a question for your building surveyor or fire contractor, settled before any lock is chosen.
04 Battery backup.
Where a battery-backed power supply is fitted, a short outage neither opens the building nor shuts anyone out. Ask how long it holds. For longer outages the controller can sit behind a UPS, which is part of our cabling, racks and backup power work.

Send a floor plan with the doors marked. Site attendance and the itemised quote are at no charge.

AC-40

How  the  job  runs.

  1. 01

    Site attendance.

    We walk every door: what it is made of, which way it swings, what lock is on it and where cable can reach it. No charge, no obligation.

  2. 02

    Itemised quote.

    Door by door, with the reader, the lock and the controller named. Ask for the fail state to be written beside each door, on this quote or any other.

  3. 03

    Install.

    Our own crew runs the cable, fits the locks and mounts the controller. A door that has to come off line is scheduled and announced in advance. With CCTV installation or an alarm system on the same job, the cable goes in once.

  4. 04

    Commissioning.

    Every device is tested and demonstrated. Ask to see each door tried three ways: with a valid credential, with a refused one and with the power off.

  5. 05

    Handover.

    Administrator credentials, the configuration and the as-built documentation are handed over. The system and its log are yours.

AC-50

What  the  quote  depends  on.

  • The number of doors, and how many need a reader on both sides.
  • What each door and frame is made of: aluminium, timber, glass and steel take different locks.
  • The cable distance from each door to the controller.
  • The credential type. A biometric reader and a fob reader are different lines.
  • Whether the locks and readers already on the doors can stay.
  • Whether cameras, alarms or cabling go in at the same visit. Everything we install can share one rack and one cable route.
AC-90

Questions  we  get  asked.

Questions about doors, readers and locks. Quotes, ownership and subscriptions are answered on the Solutions sheet.

How does door access control work?

A reader at the door reads a credential, a controller checks it against who is allowed through that door at that hour, and the lock releases or stays shut. Both outcomes are written to the log. The controller makes the decision, not the reader, which is why it is mounted inside the building and not on the wall outside.

What happens to the doors in a power cut?

Each door does what its lock was chosen to do: a fail-safe lock releases and a fail-secure lock stays locked from the outside. Where a battery-backed power supply is fitted, it carries the controller and the locks through a short outage first. Ask for the fail state of every door in writing, so nobody finds out during the outage.

What happens when the fire alarm goes off?

Doors on an exit path have to let people out, whatever the access system is doing. The usual arrangement is that the fire system cuts power to the fail-safe locks on those doors directly, so the release does not rely on the controller or its software. Which doors are on an exit path, and how they release, is a question for your building surveyor or fire contractor.

Can a reader go on a door that has a key lock now?

Usually, yes. An electric strike replaces the strike plate in the frame, so the lock and handle often stay and the key still works as an override. Glass doors and some aluminium frames need a different lock, which is why we look at every door before quoting.

Is a biometric access control system worth it for a small business?

Often on one or two doors, rarely on every door. A fingerprint or face reader proves the person and not just the card, which matters on a server room or a cash office. On a front door used by everyone, a fob is faster and simpler to manage.

Do the doors keep working if the internet drops?

Yes. The controller is in your building and holds its own list of who is allowed where, so doors keep opening and events keep being logged. Only remote management waits until the connection returns.

Who adds and removes people?

You do. The administrator login is handed over at commissioning, and adding a person, changing a schedule or disabling a lost fob is done at a desk or remotely. Day-to-day administration does not need us.
AC-95

Related  sheets.

Send  us  the  doors.

A floor plan with the doors marked, or a photo of each one, is enough to start. Enquiries are read during business hours, Monday to Friday, 07:00–16:00.

Transmittal Issued for enquiry
To
Gentex AU · Tullamarine VIC
Reply
Phone or email, usually the same business day
Attending
Mon–⁠Fri 07:00–⁠16:00
Licensing
Victorian Private Security Licence