Security & low voltage
Access Control Installation Cost Calculator
Prices access control installation, where the fail mode has to be decided before anything is ordered.
Result
A planning estimate, not a quote. Access, the age of the equipment, what is found once it is opened up and local labour rates all move the real figure, sometimes a long way.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Hours times crew times rate, plus equipment and the call-out. A controlled door is a reader, a controller, a locking device, a power supply with battery backup, a door position switch, a request-to-exit device and cable to all of it. The labour is cabling and commissioning rather than fitting hardware, so cost scales with distance from the controller and whether a cable route exists, and the head-end cost spreads across however many doors share a controller.
What moves the number
- Cable routing distance and whether a practical route exists.
- Fail-safe against fail-secure locking, which the door's role determines.
- Number of doors sharing a controller.
- Fire alarm interface, which is required where locking affects egress.
Where this one goes wrong
Fail-safe and fail-secure is the decision that matters and the one most often got backwards. A fail-secure lock stays locked when power is lost, which suits a store room. A fail-safe lock releases, which is what a door on an egress route that must free up in an alarm needs. Getting it wrong produces either a door that unlocks in a power cut or, far worse, one that stays locked during a fire. Electrically locked egress doors generally have to release on alarm and on power loss and retain a mechanical means of egress. Reader height and operating force also fall under accessibility requirements on accessible routes.
Before you quote
- Choose fail-safe or fail-secure from the door's egress role.
- Interface to the fire alarm for any door affecting egress.
- Check reader mounting height and operating force against accessibility rules.
Where the rules come from
Questions
About this calculator
What is the difference between fail-safe and fail-secure?
Fail-secure stays locked when power is lost; fail-safe releases. The door's role decides which: a store room wants fail-secure, while a door on an egress route that must free up in an alarm needs fail-safe. Getting it backwards is the common and potentially serious error.
Must an access controlled door unlock in a fire?
Where the locking affects egress, generally yes, releasing on both alarm activation and loss of power while retaining a mechanical means of egress. The specifics come from the adopted building and life safety codes and depend on occupancy, so they need confirming rather than assuming.
What drives the cost of each additional door?
Cabling, mostly. The reader, lock and controller capacity are predictable, while running cable from the door back to the controller and power through an existing building is where the hours go. Doors near the head end are far cheaper than ones across a site.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
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How to use this calculator
- Hours on site (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 8 h.
- People needed. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $115.
- Parts and materials ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $900.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $95.
- Sales tax (%). Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to estimated total, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Hours on site | 8 h |
| People needed | 1 |
| Labour rate charged | $115 |
| Parts and materials | $900 |
| Call-out or diagnostic fee | $95 |
| Sales tax | 0% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total main result | $1,915 |
| Labour | $920 |
| Before tax | $1,915 |
| Sales tax | $0 |
About $1,915: $920 of labour, $900 of parts and a $95 call-out.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour rate charged, this is what happens to estimated total. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour rate charged ($) | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| $58 | $1,459 |
| $86 | $1,683 |
| $115 example above | $1,915 |
| $173 | $2,379 |
| $230 | $2,835 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Hours on site (h)
- Measured in h, between 0 and 400, starting at 8 h.
- People needed
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($)
- A money amount, starting at $115.
- Parts and materials ($)
- A money amount, starting at $900.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($)
- A money amount, starting at $95.
- Sales tax (%)
- Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Estimated total | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour | A money figure. |
| Before tax | A money figure. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.