Keyless Entry Proposal - Too High?

We are trying to do a cost-benefit analysis on installing a keyless entry system (fobs) for our 48-unit condominium's common areas. The proposals are coming up with $29,000 - $30,000. The basic scope of work is as follows: (Note: We have 2 buildings)

Summary:
Building 1 - Front entry door;2 stairwell doors and elevator lobby door
Building 2 - Front entry door;2 stairwell doors and elevator lobby door
Clubhouse Front Door
Pool Gate
Fitness Center Door

The homeowners requested this new technology. Our previous Treasurer thought it a waste of time because we have had only 1 or 2 instances of vandalism in 10 years even with the archaic key system. (and we know we have a lot of keys out that cannot be accounted for). The former treasurer posted an email on our group email site and now the homeowners are pushing back. Personally, a few of the board members think it is too high and is not cost-beneficial given the likelihood of the fees increasing in 2020.

Questions:

1. Based on the brief information, is this price too high?
2. I kind of feel the vendors are gouging us because of our location and are assuming folks have money in the HOA to cover the costs.
3. Have you made the conversion, and do you think the costs reasonable, prohibitive or what?
4. Challenges with the conversion? Any big gotchas after the install?

The president and the former treasurer had some major issues. The former treasurer did the broadcast to the community outlining why the project is a waste of time and money . The president want to push it through. We did so many capital improvements last year, I know the community would prefer we place this on hold. And...I am leaning that way as well.

Thanks for your assistance...as always...

TimB4,

We did get 2 bids and they are very similar with the exception that one has fixed labor costs and the other variable. But, the overall costs still exceeded our budgeted amount of $25K. ($29,000 and $30,000)/

Would still like to hear some experiences from folks as to whether the changeover was fiscally sound and the benefits exceeded the costs.

Thanks for your feedback. We do need to reach out to other vendors. We used our Property Managers' preferred vendors and those may not be what we need.

Carolyn,

Will each fob have a distinct, or discrete, code or are you going to have 48 fobs with the same code?

If all fobs have the same code it would have no advantage over a key system. The value to having discrete codes is that you would be able to track who went in and out each door and when.

The downside to having discrete codes is that the doors must all be wired to a computer running some sort of entry management software. This means having a place for a computer and someone to manage the software. The software will require an update every time someone moves in or out or loses a fob.

I used to manage self-storage units where some clients had 24-hr access. One of my clients once woke me up at 5 AM because his gate code would not work. It turned out that Microsoft had updated the computer operating system during the night and it was waiting for someone to manually input the password for the reboot. Just one example of unforeseen problems.

From personal experience that is an outrageous price. If your dues are north of $600.00 per month I might be inclined to accept that price.

Not so sure about that conclusion. My count is eleven doors that will require hardware. Each door will need a reader with wiring to the central computer, and wiring from the computer back to the door lock. They will need a computer and a place to install the computer where power is available. It is not likely that the builder left any space in his plans for a computer room, so something will have to be built. There will also need to be wiring between the buildings. This is not a repair, it is a whole new installation in a building where nothing like this had been planned.

Having worked in secured corporate environments I found that one of the biggest threats to security was good manners. We tend to hold doors open for the person behind us even when we do not know them. If they look like they should be working there we tend to not slam the door in their faces, even though good security would require us to do just that.

At one place I worked we had a rear entrance that was not marked at all. Once when I returned from lunch I found a woman in our back stairwell fumbling through her purse apparently looking for her ID card to slide through the scanner to unlock the door. I did not know her but she looked like a whole lot of others who worked for our company so I generously opened the door for her with my card. This was the back door to our offices, which were quite a maze of corridors and cubicles. Once we were inside it was clear that she had no idea where she was or how to get anywhere. My first clue that she did not belong there was when she asked how to get to the front lobby. I escorted her to the front desk and was surprised when she went right past the receptionist and out the front door. We were a software company in the then-highly-competitive field of Y2K (remember that?) remediation. About a week after the above incident someone got into our offices one night and stole about 20 laptops. I have always suspected that the woman I let in was part of that theft.