A badge for the building, an app for your own home
Communal access control — Vigik, badge, entryphone — is managed by the co-owned building and its contractor. A smart lock fitted to your flat door will not replace it: your visitors will still need a badge or an entryphone call to get through the lobby. What you gain is on the inside: giving access to a home help, a relative or a tradesperson, then withdrawing it, without any key changing hands or any copy being cut.
In a block the rule is simple: what can be seen from the landing concerns the co-owned building, what is fitted on the inside concerns only you. A motorised module fitted to the existing cylinder, inside the home, changes neither the door nor its appearance; it is the solution most often chosen in rented homes, provided the landlord is informed. For a house in the old centre, the question extends to the gate and the service door.
What the cover of a multipoint lock imposes on the project
On the shielded flat doors common in the commune's blocks, the space available on the inside dictates everything. The cover that protects the rod linkage leaves little room around the cylinder, the handle is sometimes close by, and some motorised modules simply have nowhere to sit. That is a check to make before buying, not after: cylinder dimensions, clearance around the faceplate, handing, thickness of the door leaf. A photograph of the door standing open is often enough to settle it.
On an old door in the centre the obstacle is a different one: a rim lock, a non-standard cylinder, a thick door leaf, timber that moves with the seasons. A motorised mechanism does not like a door that rubs, because it forces where the hand used to compensate without thinking about it. So the door is adjusted first. And in every case, plan how you get in when the battery runs low: a mechanical override or a backup power supply is something you choose before buying.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our smart lock page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Bruges.