The door schedule, written for access control.
The columns that decide the lock, the reader, the egress device and the monitoring for each door — set out before the hardware is ordered, not after.
What the schedule is for
A door schedule fixes one row per door before anything is ordered. It is the document the installer reads on site and the document the specifier prices against.
For access control it does more than list doors. The columns decide which controller serves the door, how many reader ports it needs, which inputs the egress device and the door contact land on, and what the lock relay has to do. Get the columns right and the specification follows.
The columns that matter to access control
A door schedule for a hardware package can stop at the lock. An access control schedule has to carry the columns below as well.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
Door reference | The tag used on the drawings. Every other row is cross-referenced by it. |
Door type and orientation | Single leaf, double leaf, sliding, turnstile. Decides the hardware and the egress device. |
Lock type and fail state | Fail-safe or fail-secure, and whether the lock is powered to lock or powered to release. Decides the controller relay state. |
Reader position and count | Entry, exit, or both. A single door takes one reader in and one out; a double door takes two in and two out. |
Credential technology | Card, PIN, face, or a combination. Sets the reader format and the bit mode for that port. |
Egress device | Push button, break glass, or both. Both wire back to controller inputs. |
Door monitoring | Door contact and request-to-exit, and whether forced-door and door-held-open events are logged. |
Fire release and grouping | Whether the door releases on a fire signal, and which group it belongs to. |
Interlock and anti-passback | Whether the door is paired with another for interlocking, and whether it takes part in anti-passback. |
Reader counts and input functions are from the Falco controller datasheets: one or two doors, up to four readers, with fire alarm, exit push button, door contact and tamper inputs.
Writing the schedule
The order matters — later decisions depend on earlier ones.
- 01
Fix the door list first
One row per door with its drawing tag. Nothing else on the schedule is meaningful until the list is complete and agreed.
- 02
Decide the fail state per door
Fail-safe or fail-secure follows the egress route and the fire strategy, not the reader. Record it before the hardware is ordered.
- 03
Assign readers to controller ports
Mark which controller and which reader port serves each reader. A controller's reader ports are limited, and the port is where the bit mode is set.
- 04
Record the egress device and monitoring
Push button, break glass, door contact and request-to-exit each land on a controller input. The schedule is what tells the installer which input.
- 05
Mark the fire release group
List which doors release together on a fire signal, and confirm the master controller (ID 00) is included for the main exit.
- 06
Hand the schedule to the software setup
Interlocking, anti-passback and grouping are configured in the software. The schedule is the source those settings are read from.
Two columns that get left out
Fail state. It is a door hardware decision, but the controller's relay state has to match it — so it belongs in the access control columns too.
Credential technology. The reader format decides the bit mode, and the bit mode is set per controller port, not per site.
Sending the list to us
Send the door schedule with lock types, fail states and reader positions and we will come back with the controller and reader model list for the doors you have — not a generic package.
If the schedule is still a drawing and a set of requirements, send that instead. We write access control schedules for projects regularly.
The door schedule worksheet
One row per door, with the access control columns already on it: fail state, reader positions, egress device, monitoring, fire group and the relay state the controller has to hold.
No form. Download it, use it on site, and send the project our way when you want the model list priced.
Where this comes from.
Every technical statement on this page is drawn from Falco documentation. Nothing here is written to fill a page.
Falco controller datasheets — one or two doors per controller, up to four readers, and inputs for fire alarm, exit push button, door contact and tamper.
VAULT Site support documentation — fire alarm integration: group release, the master controller (ID 00) and the manual re-secure step after an alarm.
Falco's published tender guidance for specifiers — the fail state is set by the architect and the local fire authority; door position monitoring and request-to-exit are wired back to the controller.
Falco controller wiring diagrams — controller inputs, lock relays and the double-door interlock reference.