An access control system decides who may open which door, and when. Each controlled door gets a reader outside (PIN, card, tag, fingerprint or face), a lock that the system releases, and an exit button inside. A controller ties it together and keeps a record of every entry. It replaces handing out keys you cannot get back, and lets you remove one person in seconds. Tell us how many doors and people, and local access control installers will quote you, free and with no obligation.
What an access control system is made of
Every door in the system has the same building blocks:
- A reader: keypad, card or tag, fingerprint or face. Many take two, such as a card plus a PIN.
- A lock: a magnetic lock (fail-safe, releases without power) or an electric strike (often fail-secure, stays locked).
- An exit button inside, and an emergency break glass on escape routes.
- A controller and power supply with a battery backup for load shedding.
Small sites use a stand-alone reader that does it all at one door. Larger sites network the controllers so one person manages every door from software.
Choosing a system: cards, PINs or biometric access control
Choose by the people, not the gadget:
- PIN codes are cheap but get shared.
- Cards and tags are quick and easy to cancel, but get lent and lost.
- Biometric access control (fingerprint or face) cannot be lent, but needs more care with data.
Then decide whether you need time zones (cleaners only after hours), an entry log, remote management, and links to the gate, lift or alarm. For one or two doors, a good keypad or fingerprint lock may be enough.
POPIA, escape routes and access control installation
Fingerprints and face data are biometric, which is special personal information under POPIA. An employer, school or body corporate must protect it, use it only for access, and get consent. Keep a card or PIN option for anyone who declines.
On escape routes, the door must open from inside without a card, and the lock should release if the power or the system fails. Good access control installation also means cabling inside the wall, a battery that holds through your longest power cut, and a door closer so the door actually shuts after each person.
What affects the price
The number of doors drives it: each needs a reader, lock, button and cabling. Then come the reader type, controller, software licences, cards and labour. Ask for a price per door and for the controller and software separately, and ask who maintains it.
Also ask whether the system is tied to one supplier's cards and software, what a spare card costs, whether more doors can be added later, and how you get the entry log out if you change installers. A system that only one company can service gets expensive over the years.
What to include in your request
- How many doors and gates need readers
- How many users, and staff or residents
- Card, PIN, fingerprint or face
- Escape routes and fire doors
- Backup power and who will manage it
Access Control for different clients
- Homeowners: a keypad and maglock on the pedestrian gate, with codes for family and the garden service
- Complexes, estates and body corporates: tag readers on the pedestrian gate, clubhouse and pool, cancelled when a tenant moves out
- Offices, shops and practices: card readers on the front door, server room and stock room, with a log of every entry
- Landlords and letting agents: tag access on the shared entrance of a block of flats so lost keys need no rekey
- Factories, warehouses and workshops: fingerprint readers at the staff entrance and on stores, with time zones for each shift
- Farms and smallholdings: a reader on the workshop and the fuel store so only named staff can open them
- Schools, clinics, churches and hostels: card readers on school gates, staff rooms and clinic stores, linked to escape route break glasses
- Builders, shopfitters and contractors: electricians, shopfitters and property managers adding readers to new or refitted buildings
Frequently asked questions
How much does an access control system cost in South Africa?
Is fingerprint access control allowed under POPIA?
Can access control work during load shedding?
Who will install it?
Access Control by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg