Communal Door Entry Systems Explained

In a block of flats or any shared building, the communal entrance is everyone’s front door — and, in a sense, nobody’s, which is exactly why it is so often the weak point. A door entry system is what controls who gets into the shared areas while letting residents in without fuss. This guide explains what these systems do, the types available, the fire-safety duties that come with them, and the question that causes the most disputes in blocks: whose job is it to keep the thing working?

What a door entry system does

A door entry system pairs an electric lock release on the communal door with a means of identifying who is allowed in. Residents let themselves in with a fob, key or code; a visitor presses the button for a flat, the resident talks to (or sees) them on a handset or screen, and releases the door remotely if they are happy. It keeps the front of the building controlled without anyone having to go down to answer it.

The main types

Systems vary by how much you want to see and how the building is wired:

• Audio intercom — talk to the caller before letting them in.
• Video intercom — see as well as hear, which is a real security upgrade at a shared door.
• Fob or proximity entry for residents — often combined with a maison key arrangement so one key serves both the flat and the communal door.
• GSM systems — the door calls a resident’s phone, so there is no need for handsets in every flat; useful in buildings that are awkward to wire.

Many buildings also fit a timed trade or postal release for deliveries — convenient, but a genuine security trade-off, since a door that opens to a button for part of the day is a door anyone can use.

Where they are used

Door entry systems are standard in blocks of flats, HMOs, shared offices, student accommodation and gated developments — anywhere a single entrance is shared by people who should be allowed in and a wider public who should not.

The communal fire-safety duties

This is the part that must never be an afterthought. A communal entrance door is frequently also a fire door — it must self-close fully, carry intumescent seals, and never be wedged or propped open. And the entry system must never prevent escape: residents have to be able to get out instantly without a fob, key or code, which usually means a simple thumbturn, handle or green break-glass on the inside. Communal fire safety has rightly come under close scrutiny in recent years, and an entry-system installation that compromises a fire door — a closer removed, a seal damaged — creates a serious risk, not just a security one.

Whose job is it to maintain?

This is where blocks most often come unstuck. In a typical leasehold block, the freeholder or managing agent (or a residents’ management company) is responsible for the communal door and its entry system, usually funded through the service charge, while residents are expected to report faults promptly. It matters because a broken communal door is both a security failure and a fire-safety one — a fire door that no longer closes, or an entrance anyone can push open, puts the whole building at risk. The lease or tenancy sets out exactly who is responsible; our guide for landlords on lock changes and the law touches on related duties.

Where we come in

Communal entrances need someone who understands both the security and the fire-door side — because getting one right at the expense of the other helps no one. LocksmithLocal works with landlords, freeholders and managing agents to install, repair and maintain door entry and intercom systems, and to keep communal fire-door hardware such as closers and seals in proper order. Find your local locksmith to arrange a visit.