Security · Quebec and Ontario
Wireless smart locks for apartment and condo unit doors
Every unit door of the building opened with a card, a fob or a phone, as in a hotel: no keys to copy, no cylinders to change when a tenant leaves, and one record of who opened which door.
What a smart lock installation covers
In a building with many units, keys are the weak point: they are copied, lost and passed on, and every change of tenant means a new cylinder. A wireless smart lock replaces the lockset of the unit door with a battery-powered lock that reads credentials, so a lost card is cancelled in the software and the next resident receives a new one.
Because the locks run on batteries and communicate by radio, no cable reaches the unit door. We survey the doors, choose the lock and the way it will be managed, install every lock, and connect the system to what the building already has: the access control at the main entrance and the garage, the intercom and, where the platform supports it, the property management software.
The opening history of a unit door is personal information. Who may consult it, and for how long it is kept, are decided by the building's manager; we set up the roles in the software to match, and the policy stays with the owner.
- Unit door locksBattery-powered locks with a card and phone reader, fitted to the entrance door of each apartment or condo unit, with a key override kept by the management.
- Cards, fobs and phone credentialsThe credential a resident uses at the main entrance also opens their own unit. Phones work over NFC or Bluetooth with the lock manufacturer's app.
- Offline or connected locksOffline locks carry their access rules on the credential and are updated at a wall reader; connected locks report to the software by radio, through gateways in the corridors or over the building's Wi-Fi.
- Common rooms and amenitiesStorage rooms, bicycle rooms, the gym and the laundry room managed with the unit doors, with the same locks or with wired readers. See Access control.
- Software and integrationsResidents added and removed by the property manager, with links to the building's access control, the intercom and, where supported, the property management software for move-ins and move-outs.
- Existing and new buildingsLocks chosen to fit the existing doors of an occupied building, or specified with the door schedule of a new one.
Buildings where smart unit locks are installed
- Condo and rental buildings run by a property management company
- Student housing
- Seniors' residences
- Hotels
When a building moves to smart locks
- Cylinders are changed at every move-out, and copies of keys circulate that nobody can count
- A new building wants keyless unit doors that work with the main entrance and the garage
- The main entrance already has card access, and the same card should open each unit
- A condo board wants a record of who entered the storage rooms and the common rooms
- Staff of a seniors' residence must reach a unit quickly without carrying a ring of keys
- Student housing changes most of its residents at the same time each year
Often installed together with
Industries we install it for
Locks for the building's entrances, gates and exit doors are described under Electric locks and door hardware; readers and controllers under Access control.
How a smart lock project runs
The same four steps for one floor to start with and for every unit of a building.
- Door survey
We look at each type of unit door: the lockset in place and how the door is prepared for it, the thickness of the door and its fire rating, the frame, and the radio coverage in the corridors. In a new building we start from the door schedule.
- Choice of lock and management
Offline or connected, card or phone, and how the locks will work with the access control, the intercom and the software already in place. The quote names the lock, the credentials, the gateways or wall readers and the software.
- Installation
In an occupied building, locks are changed unit by unit in an order agreed with the management, and each resident receives the new credential when their lock is changed. In a new building, the locks are installed before the units are delivered.
- Programming, testing and handover
Each lock is enrolled and tested with a resident credential, a staff credential and the key override. The management's staff are shown how to add, cancel and replace credentials.
What you receive at handover
The people who run the building will add and remove residents for years. What we hand over is written for them.
- Lock registerEach unit door with its lock, its name in the software and, for connected locks, the gateway it reports to.
- Access planWhich credential opens which doors, and at what hours, by group: residents, staff, contractors.
- Battery and maintenance routineHow low batteries are reported and replaced, and where the override keys are kept.
- Training and manualsAdding, cancelling and replacing credentials, shown to the management on site, with the manufacturers' documentation.
Questions about wireless smart locks
Do smart locks need a cable or Wi-Fi in every unit?
No cable reaches the unit door: the lock runs on batteries. Offline locks need no network at all; connected locks use radio gateways in the corridors or the building's Wi-Fi, which we check on site before choosing the model.
What happens when a resident moves out or loses a card?
The credential is cancelled in the software and stops opening the door; there is no cylinder to change. With offline locks the cancellation reaches each lock through the wall readers and the credentials that update it, so the way updates travel is part of the design.
What happens when the batteries run low?
The lock gives warning well before it stops: a light or a sound at the door and, on a connected lock, an alert in the software. Replacing the batteries does not mean removing the lock, and the key override still opens the door if they are left to run out.
Can residents always get out, and are these locks suitable for fire-rated unit doors?
The door opens from the inside with the handle, without a card or a key. Unit entrance doors in a multi-unit building are usually part of a fire separation, so we install only locks rated for that kind of door, and the door must still close and latch by itself.
Can one card open the main entrance, the garage and the unit?
Yes, when the unit locks and the building's access control use a common credential and, ideally, one software. Where an access control system is already installed, we check what it can work with before proposing a lock.
Can a contractor or a cleaner be given temporary access?
Yes. A credential can be limited to certain doors, certain hours or a set period, and withdrawn when the work is done. With connected locks or phone credentials, the manager issues it without anyone handing over a card.
A whole building of unit doors, or one floor to start with? Tell us about it.
Describe the site and what you need. We reply in English or French.