In dealing with clients, you often have to remind them that some goals to some degree are in conflict for a project or even just one door. In a past post, I spoke of how secure a lock is based on 3-T's of Time, Tools, and Training. For the most difficult safe containers you need all three to even hope to open it. With doors, you can make a few concessions in your training or tools but only if you take more time. It is a balance but eventually when you compromise on all three, you really can not open a locked door with anything more than a 'police pick' -- kick it in.
The work of hardware has a similar triangle. I can get better security from an ordinary door by using a mortice block instead of a cylindrical lockset. However, it is at higher cost for both the lock and the door. You also get more convenience with the mortice block as more functions are possible and the lock cylinder can be quickly changed out.
Clients want convenience to get into rooms or out. The out direction is often defined by fire exit codes. When a door has to plausibly serve 100s of people fast, the opening must have exit hardware. That is more expensive than door knobs and always will be. For entrances where you need to allow the frail or handicapped, lever sets are needed over knobs, but again those have a higher price point. For the ultimate in easy access, install an auto-operator. One simply pushes a button and the door opens. Convenience costs money.
A good example of a secure door with ease of access is an electrified exit device with a high security cylinder in the outside trim. Everybody enters using a RFID fob and PIN number and then the door pulls open. It is under camera and I am guessing when you scan your fob, the camera image is tossed up beside the photo of the person associated with that fob to some guard desk. It would be consistent with the place. The key was given very limited availability and I am certain would trigger a forced-entry alarm if used as it would be opening the door without an audit trail getting a name. (For doors on access control which have this set up, the alarm system can not tell the authorized key holder is opening the door from somebody just breaking in with a wrecking bar.)
Now I can get you low cost too. On some back exit from an office block where it goes outside, you can supply grade 2 panics which are not fire rated. The parts look thin and you know they would pry open easier than the best grade one devices. There is one model with a terrible way to hold its rim cylinder in the outside trim. A big screwdriver could rip that cylinder out. Where the best models will hold onto the door with up to 6 bolts, some of these will use 2. You get the point. However, the client wants a low price and as long as you explain the limits of the hardware you are providing, it is fine in my books.
Really, the summary of all this boils down to "You can have it all, but not all at once" or 'You get what you pay for".
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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.
Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/
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