Access Control Considerations for Commercial Buildings

Start with which doors need control

Not every door needs access control. Start with how people, visitors, contractors and deliveries actually move through the building.

• Main entries. Staff entry, visitor entry and after-hours access arrangements.
• Internal zones. Offices, storerooms, comms rooms, plant rooms and other areas with restricted access.
• Back-of-house doors. Loading areas, fire stairs re-entry and service corridors.
• Lift access. Floor-by-floor control for multi-tenancy or multi-level buildings.
• Credential types. Cards, fobs, wireless credentials or mobile access, and how they are issued and cancelled.

Access control often touches alarms, CCTV and building operations

An access control door involves the reader, the door hardware, the lock, the cabling, the power supply and the controller. It also frequently interacts with the alarm system, CCTV coverage and fire egress requirements.

Planning these systems together avoids doors that lock but do not secure, or systems that conflict with how the building actually operates. EDN works with Inner Range Inception panels and Assa Abloy hardware among others.

Questions to answer before installation

These decisions shape the design and are much easier to make before hardware is ordered.

• Who manages users. Confirm who adds, changes and removes credentials, and from where.
• What happens after hours. Arming, disarming and alarm interaction with access events.
• What gets logged. Which events need records, and how long they are kept.
• Failure behaviour. Whether each door fails safe or fails secure, coordinated with egress requirements.
• Future doors. Controller and cabling capacity for doors likely to be added later.

This guide is a general planning resource. It is not a substitute for project-specific design, site inspection or compliance review.

Frequently asked questions

Published 8 July 2026. General guidance only — every site differs. Talk to EDN about your specific project.