David Bolton Anti-Passback Rules: What Access Control Specifiers and Facility Teams Get Wrong at the Door What This Article Covers -- and Who It Helps Anti-passback is one of the most misunderstood rules in access control system design. Facility managers, security integrators, and commercial contractors o... access control door position switches electric strikes electrified hardware security hardware Aug 16, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Adding Card Access to an Existing Mortise Lock: What Actually Has to Change at the Door What This Article Covers and Who It Helps Facility managers, security integrators, and commercial hardware specifiers frequently face the same challenge: a building already has solid-performing mortis... access control credential readers electrified hardware mortise locks retrofit Aug 8, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Door Position Switches: Where They Go, How They Wire, and What Goes Wrong on the First Install What Is a Door Position Switch and Why Does Every Access-Controlled Opening Need One? A door position switch (DPS) is a two-piece magnetic sensor -- a reed switch module and a matching magnet -- that ... access control hardware commercial door hardware door monitoring door position switch electrified hardware Aug 7, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Electric Strike Monitor Switches: Latch-Bolt Sensor vs. Cam Switch and Why the Difference Matters for Your Access Control System What This Article Covers and Who It Helps When an electric strike is part of an access control circuit, the question of how the system knows the door is secured comes up on nearly every project. Two p... access control hardware door security electric strikes electrified hardware monitor switches Jul 30, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Concealed Power Transfer on Doors With Closers: Routing Wires When the Frame Head Is Already Occupied The Problem Nobody Plans for Until the Closer Template Goes Down This article is for commercial hardware contractors, access control integrators, school facilities teams, and specifiers who need to tr... access control door closers electrified hardware fire-rated openings power transfer Jul 29, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Frame Head Reinforcing on Hollow Metal Frames: What Gets Missed Before the Hardware Goes In What This Article Covers and Who It Helps Frame head reinforcing is one of those line items on a hardware schedule that looks minor until a closer arm pulls out of an underbuilt header, or an inspecto... door closer prep electrified hardware fire-rated openings frame head reinforcing hollow metal frames Jul 28, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Electric Latch Retraction on Exit Devices: How Access Control Unlocks the Door Without Touching the Bar What This Article Covers and Who It Helps If you are specifying or installing an access-controlled opening that also requires panic hardware, electric latch retraction (ELR) is the mechanism that ties... access control electric latch retraction electrified hardware exit devices fire-rated hardware Jul 28, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Electrified Exit Device Trim: How the Outside Lever Controls Ingress Without Blocking Egress What This Article Covers and Who It Helps Electrified exit device trim is the outside lever, handle, or pull mounted on the secure side of a panic bar that is controlled by an access system rather tha... access control electrified hardware exit devices fire-rated door hardware panic hardware Jul 24, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton What Happens to Your Access Control System When the Power Goes Out Why Backup Power Is a Core Part of Any Access Control Design This article explains how battery backup works in commercial access control systems, what happens to electrified door hardware when buildin... access control battery backup electrified hardware life safety power supply Jul 23, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton How to Size a Power Supply for an Automatic Door Operator System: What Gets Miscalculated Before the Wire Goes In Why Power Supply Sizing Is the Step That Breaks Automatic Door Projects This article is for commercial contractors, facility managers, and hardware specifiers who are integrating automatic door operat... ADA operators automatic door operators electrified hardware low-energy operators power supply sizing Jul 18, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton Access Level Scheduling Explained: How Time-Based Door Permissions Change What Your Hardware Needs to Do What This Article Covers and Who It Helps Access level scheduling is the practice of assigning different door permissions to different credential holders based on the time of day, day of week, or cale... access control commercial door hardware door scheduling electrified hardware time-based access Jul 15, 2026 Our Blog
David Bolton How PoE Electric Hinges Deliver Data and Power to IP Door Devices Without a Separate Power Run What This Article Covers -- and Who It Helps This guide explains how Power over Ethernet (PoE) electric hinges work, where they fit into a door opening, and what specifiers, integrators, and facility ... IP access control PoE door hardware commercial door hardware electric hinges electrified hardware Jul 10, 2026 Our Blog