Gate access control system for vehicle and pedestrian gates

A driver has several ways to open a gate, and which one fits depends on the people passing through. Keypads and card readers usually mount on a gooseneck, a curved post set at the driveway's edge. Gate Depot places the device roughly 42 inches off the ground to suit cars.

LiftMaster's keypad systems can connect to the gate operator without wires. Wiring them is also an option when you want more security, so a driver must present both a card and a PIN.

A long-range RFID reader tends to be the simplest pick for people who drive in daily. With RFID, radio waves read a small tag on the vehicle, so windows stay up. LiftMaster's LMSC1000 picks up vehicle tags from 20 to 30 feet away, letting drivers roll through without stopping.

Your gate also has to sense where vehicles are. That job falls to a vehicle loop, a wire embedded in the pavement that detects a car over it. Gate Depot notes that loops can trigger the gate to open for a departing car, or serve as a safety measure that keeps the gate from closing onto a vehicle.

What works for a resident rarely works for a visitor or a delivery driver. Most parking gates blend 2 or 3 of these options:

• Windshield stickers: scanned without rolling a window down, from 8 to 25 feet away, and they break apart if someone tries to remove them, according to Tech Pro Security
• Credentials on a phone, through Bluetooth or an app: the right fit for visitors, vendors and employees, running $0 to $4 monthly per user
• Phone-based entry that includes guest passes: LiftMaster's myQ Community gives residents phone-based opening of the entrances they may use, plus temporary passes for guests
• License plate cameras: the camera checks the plate and lets approved vehicles through
• Callbox or video intercom: a visitor rings a resident, who opens the gate

Stickers cost $3 to $8 each, and the long-range reader is priced per lane.

These numbers are drawn from Tech Pro Security's gate access guide and its installation cost guide.

If you have a rolling gate, R3 Access reports that mid-range commercial openers cost $2,500 to $4,500, and the typical installed total lands between $2,500 and $6,500.

Yes. UL 325, a US safety standard covering automatic gate openers, applies to commercial gate operators. DASMA defines Class II operators as the kind used at places like apartment buildings with 5 or more units, plus hotels, garages and retail stores.

The most important rule deals with keeping a moving gate from trapping anyone. An entrapment protection device, like a photo eye or a soft edge mounted on the gate, is a sensor that halts or reverses the gate when something blocks its path. LiftMaster states that since August 1, 2018, an operator may only run once at least 2 independent devices are in place for each direction. The reversing system built into the operator counts as 1 of the 2.

Those sensors also need monitoring from the operator. DoorKing explains that the gate refuses to run if it detects a faulty sensor or finds one gone. So a sensor with a fault, or one that is missing, will stop the gate from running, which is one more reason to have an installer match the parts.

A handful of other points from DASMA influence how a commercial entry gets laid out:

• Any button or control that opens the gate must be at least 6 feet away from it, so no one can reach through
• Two or more warning signs must be posted by the gate
• Slide gate operators in Class I and II may not exceed 1 foot per second while moving a load of 75 pounds or more

Gate operators under UL 325 exist for vehicles alone, so DASMA requires property owners to give people on foot a separate entrance. The pedestrian gate can share the same cards, codes or phone app used on the building's doors, which means residents only carry one credential. Getting this wrong leaves walkers beside a moving vehicle gate, so it pays to settle the plan before any work begins.

Before any opener is attached, the gate has to be built to a safe standard. ASTM F2200 is that standard for automated vehicle gates, and it covers swing, slide, bifold, vertical lift, vertical pivot and overhead pivot designs. According to DoorKing, it requires slide gate openings to be screened up to 72 inches high, tight enough that a 2.25 inch ball cannot fit through.

LiftMaster recommends that owners ask their installer to comply with UL 325 as well as ASTM F2200.

When you fill in the door survey, it asks about the hardware on your doors today, your building type and how many doors you have, then gives you a price range for each door and for the property as a whole. Count your building's doors, not the gate. After that, under Add details to the brief, pick Gate and describe how people should enter: key cards or fobs, phones, PIN codes, or some combination. You may also mention any panel or brand already installed, note who owns the property, and include cameras or an entrance intercom.

Your brief goes to a local access control installer serving your ZIP code, who will contact you about the doors and can discuss the gate details you included. The ranges on this page are estimates taken from public cost guides and vendor price lists, and the installer determines the real price once they have seen the site.