Access Control near you

The rule that governs every access-control decision is that people must be able to leave. A door on an exit path has to be openable from the inside without a key, a code, a fob or a charged phone, and no security requirement outranks that. This is why a properly designed system controls entry and leaves exit alone, using a handle, a push bar or a release that works whether or not the system is alive.

Fire doors are stricter again, because their function depends on them being closed and on their hardware being what it was certified with. Fitting an electric strike, a magnetic lock or any other device to a fire door changes a rated assembly, and it is not something to improvise. In an apartment building this is squarely the owners corporation's problem, and a resident who modifies a fire door has created a liability for the whole scheme.

The practical test at handover is simple and should be done on every controlled door. Kill the power, then walk out. If anybody has to find something, press something or know something to get out of the building, the design is wrong regardless of how convenient it is the rest of the time.

Fail-safe hardware releases when it loses power. It is used where getting out or getting in during an emergency matters more than the contents, and it is the usual choice on doors in an egress path. Its weakness is obvious: cut the power and the door is open, so it is normally paired with mechanical hardware, monitoring and a backup supply.

Fail-secure hardware stays locked when it loses power. It protects property through a blackout, which is why it appears on store rooms, plant rooms and external gates, and it is why it must never be the only thing between a person and the outside. On any door people pass through, fail-secure hardware has to be combined with a mechanical means of egress that works with no power at all.

Most properties end up with a mix, chosen door by door, and that list is the most important document in the job. Ask for it in writing, with the reason next to each door, and check it against what a person in the building would actually do in a fire or a blackout. If the installer has not produced that list, they have not designed the system.

Access control sits inside state security licensing. Western Australia, for example, licenses security installation work under its security installer scheme, with classes covering different kinds of equipment, and other states run their own schemes, commonly administered by the police. The classes and the titles differ across borders, so ask which licence the installer holds and which class covers the work they are quoting.

Electrical work is a separate licence again, and access control generates more of it than people expect: a supply for each controller, a feed out to a gate, and often a dedicated circuit for the backup equipment. New South Wales requires an electrical licence or certificate before any electrical wiring work, regardless of the cost of the job, which forecloses the argument that a small controller supply is too minor to bother about.

Then there is permission. In a strata scheme, entry doors, lobbies, car parks and the building's wiring are usually common property, so a resident cannot unilaterally add a reader or run a cable, and the owners corporation decides. In a rental, changes to locks and door hardware are regulated by tenancy law in every state. Settle both before ordering equipment.

An access control system keeps a list of who went through which door and when. In a household that is trivial; in a building with residents, cleaners, contractors and visitors it is a record of people's movements, and in a property where people work it can be a record about employees. Decide at installation who can see the log, how long it is kept, and what it will and will not be used for.

The OAIC's position on household security cameras is that the Privacy Act does not cover a camera operated by an individual acting in a private capacity, though state or territory laws may apply, and the same reasoning frames the household end of access logs. Once a business, an employer or an owners corporation is operating the system, that comfort disappears and the obligations have to be looked at properly.

The practical settings are the same ones that apply to any system holding information about people. Keep the log only as long as it is useful, restrict administrator access to named people, remove access for anyone who no longer needs it, and tell residents or staff that the system records entries rather than leaving them to discover it.