Access Control for Apartment Buildings Perth

Access control for apartment buildings Perth: lobby doors, car park gates, lifts, bin rooms and gyms on one system, with credentials issued per lot and a register the strata manager or council of owners controls. We install new systems in buildings that have never had them, replace fob systems that have run out of capacity or lost their administration, and take over systems the previous contractor walked away from.

Entries, lifts and car parks on one system

Most apartment buildings we visit have grown their access piecemeal: a fob reader at the lobby from the builder, a separate remote for the car park gate, a lift that anyone can ride once inside and a gym door with a mechanical key half the residents have copied. One access control system puts every controlled door, gate and lift floor on the same credential, so a resident carries one fob or uses their phone, and the strata knows exactly which credential opened which door.

A typical scope is the pedestrian entries, the vehicle gate or roller door, the lift with floor control per lot, and the common rooms that cause complaints: gym, pool, bin store and bike room. The intercom is usually tied in at the same time so visitor access and resident access are managed in one place; our intercom replacement for strata page covers how that side is staged. Where a building is mid-size and also wants the common-area alarm on the same controller, Inner Range Inception is our usual answer; larger towers run Gallagher or Integriti.

Credentials per lot, administered by the strata

The request we hear most from strata managers is not about hardware. It is that every new fob, lost fob or tenant change currently needs a contractor on site, and the committee is paying a call-out for a ten-minute programming job. A properly set up system gives the strata manager, or an authorised council member, a login to add, change and cancel credentials themselves from a browser or phone, with the installer kept for faults and additions rather than routine changes.

Per-lot allocation: each lot has a set number of credentials in the register, so an owner asking for a fifth fob is a committee decision, not a surprise.
Tenant changeover: the outgoing tenant's credentials are cancelled the day they leave and new ones issued, without re-keying or chasing fobs that were never handed back.
Encrypted credentials: modern readers and fobs cannot be copied at a key-cutting kiosk, which is the reason most buildings on older 125 kHz fobs have more fobs in circulation than lots.
Phone credentials: residents who want them can use a mobile credential alongside or instead of a fob, which also removes the cost of replacing lost ones.

Fob systems at capacity, lost admin and takeovers

Buildings call us when the existing system has hit its user limit and cannot take another fob, when the only person who knew the software password has left the strata company, or when a reader at the car park door has stopped reading and nobody can say what brand it is. A takeover visit identifies the controller and readers, recovers or re-establishes administration through the manufacturer's process where that is possible, and documents what is connected to what. From there the committee gets a clear choice: keep the controller and upgrade readers and credentials, or replace the controller and reuse the cabling and door hardware that test clean.

We quote the options side by side, with the running cost of each: credential prices, whether the strata can self-administer, and what a future lift or gate addition would involve. Wholesale replacement is not the default; a working controller with a modern reader and credential upgrade is often the better whole-of-life answer.

Audit trails and reports the committee can use

Every modern access controller keeps an event log: which credential opened which door at what time, which door was held open, which lift floor was called. For a council of owners this is the record that settles disputes about who was in the bin room at midnight or whether a former tenant still has access. The log is a feature of the system and is available to the strata manager through the same login used to manage credentials, so a dispute does not need a contractor to pull the data.

Access events can also be matched to common-area CCTV, so a forced door at 2 am has a clip beside it. Our security systems for strata managers page covers how access, intercom, CCTV and monitoring are put together across a building or a portfolio of buildings.

Working with the strata manager and the council

Access control in a strata scheme is a common-property decision under the Strata Titles Act 1985, which means a quote has to be clear enough for a council of owners to vote on, not just for a technician to install from. We write quotes with the options separated, answer the council’s questions before the vote rather than after, and supply the insurance and licence documents strata companies need before issuing a work order. Residents who need to be trained on a new app or intercom get a single session at handover.

Installation is carried out by WA Police licensed security installers, staged so the building is never left without working entry: new readers and controller go in alongside the old, residents are moved across in groups, and the old system is removed last. Managing agents with several buildings on their books can see how we handle portfolio administration on the access control for property managers page.

Questions we get asked

Can the strata manager add and cancel fobs without calling a contractor?

Yes. A current access control system gives the strata manager, or an authorised council member, an administrator login to add, change and cancel fobs and phone credentials from a browser or phone. We set the login up at handover and walk the administrator through the routine tasks. The installer is then needed for faults, new doors and reader changes, not for every tenant change.

Our fob system has reached its user limit. Do we have to replace everything?

Not always. Some controllers can be expanded or re-licensed, and many buildings keep the controller and upgrade only the readers and credentials. We identify the existing system first, then quote keeping it against replacing it, with the running cost of each so the council can compare whole-of-life rather than install price alone. Cabling and door hardware that test clean are reused either way.

Can one fob work the lobby door, the car park gate and the lift?

Yes. Lifts, vehicle gates, pedestrian entries and common rooms can all sit on the same controller, so a resident carries one fob or uses a phone credential, with lift floor access limited to their own floor and the common levels. Lift control involves the lift contractor for the interface, which we coordinate as part of the project.

Can residents use their phone instead of a fob?

Yes, on the platforms we install. Mobile credentials are issued to a resident by the administrator and revoked the same way, which removes the cost and delay of replacing lost fobs. Buildings usually run both, so residents who prefer a fob keep one. Apple Wallet credentials are currently available on UniFi Access.

What happens to access control when a tenant moves out?

The strata manager or managing agent cancels the outgoing credentials in the register and issues new ones to the incoming resident, usually in minutes and without a site visit. Nothing is re-keyed and fobs that were never returned stop working. The event log shows if a cancelled credential is ever presented at a door again.

What does access control for an apartment building cost?

It depends on the number of doors and gates, whether lift control is included, how many lots and credentials the register holds, whether the intercom is replaced at the same time, and how much of the existing cabling and door hardware can be reused. Send the building details, the number of lots and photos of the current readers and we will quote the options for the committee, or arrange a site walk with the strata manager.

Send us the building details

Number of lots, which doors, gates and lifts need control, what readers are on the wall today, and whether the intercom is part of the job. Photos of the lobby reader and the controller cabinet answer most of it. We will quote the options in a form the council of owners can vote on.