In this article

Key Takeaways
What elevator access control does
How an elevator card reader works
Types of elevator control and how they relate to access
Credentials: cards, fobs, PINs and phones
System components
Security limits to plan around
Fire service and emergency operations
Planning checklist before you request quotes
Pairing elevators with the rest of your security plan
How GuardEX can help
FAQ
Sources
Recommended

Elevator access control is a combination of readers, controllers, relays and software that decides which floors a person can reach. Someone presents a credential, the system checks their permissions, and only the approved floor buttons respond. For a New Jersey office tower, apartment building, medical building or mixed-use property, it is one layer of a larger security plan. It works best alongside lobby controls, camera coverage and clear procedures for when something goes wrong.

This guide explains how the technology works, what an elevator card reader does, which options exist, where the limits are, and what to settle before you request quotes.

Key Takeaways

Elevator access control restricts floor selection by credential. It does not replace lobby security, cameras or trained staff.
Most systems use a reader, a controller, an interface to the elevator’s controls and management software. Newer destination-dispatch systems move the check to a terminal outside the car.
Tailgating, shared credentials and networked-device vulnerabilities are the practical limits to plan around.
Fire service recall and other emergency operations must always take priority over floor restrictions. Coordinate the work with your elevator contractor and local code officials.
Write down who gets access to which floors, and when, before you choose hardware.

What elevator access control does

An elevator without access control takes anyone who steps in to any floor. With access control, a user must authenticate first. The system then enables only the floors that person is allowed to visit, so buttons for other floors do not respond or cannot be selected.

That gives a property manager several things:

Tenants can reach their own floors but not those of other tenants.
Visitors can be limited to the lobby, a reception floor or a specific suite level.
Parking garage levels, mechanical floors, roof access and storage areas can be restricted.
Hours can be set, for example open access to a shared floor during business hours and credential-only access at night.
Every use can be logged, which helps when you review an incident.

If you manage an office building, office building security usually starts at the front door and lobby. The elevator is the second checkpoint, which matters most after hours and in multi-tenant buildings.

How an elevator card reader works

The technical details differ by manufacturer, but the logic is consistent.

A person presents a credential. This might be a proximity card, a key fob, a PIN or a phone, depending on the reader.
The reader sends the request to a controller. The controller holds the permission table and makes the decision.
The controller drives the elevator interface. In a common design, one relay output per floor is wired so that approved buttons are enabled and the rest stay disabled. One manufacturer’s owner’s manual describes floor-button wiring passing through relays on a control board, which can open or close the circuit to disable or enable buttons for a programmed period.
The rider selects a floor within a short window. Settings vary by system, so confirm the timing with your integrator.
The event is logged. Management software records the credential, the time and, where floor tracking is installed, the floor selected.

Floor tracking is an optional extra. According to one vendor’s administrator guide, when a cardholder uses a credential, the floor buttons for authorized floors are enabled through an output relay, and monitoring inputs that record selected buttons lets the system track floors.

Where the reader goes

There are three common placements:

Inside the car. A reader in each cab is the classic arrangement. It controls floor selection after the rider is already inside.
In the lobby or at a call point. Controls who can call the elevator at all. This is common for garage levels or a private lobby.
At a destination terminal. The rider enters or badges at a panel outside the elevator and is assigned a car.

A reader in the car is simple to understand and widely used. A lobby reader keeps unauthorized people out of the elevator altogether. Some properties use both, with a lobby reader for the building and in-car readers for tenant floors.

Types of elevator control and how they relate to access

People search for “types of elevator controls” and get mixed answers, because the phrase covers two different things: how the elevator dispatches cars, and how access is enforced. For a property manager, the useful split is this.

Approach	How it works	Where it fits
Floor control with relays	Credential check enables or disables floor buttons inside the car	Most existing office, apartment and medical buildings
Lobby or call-button control	Credential required to call the car or to use a restricted bank	Garages, private lobbies, after-hours restriction
Destination dispatch	Rider selects floor at a terminal, the system assigns a car and checks permissions there	New or modernized high-rise buildings with heavy traffic
Time-based restrictions	Floors open freely during set hours and require a credential outside them	Multi-tenant buildings with business-hours public floors

Most retrofit projects in older New Jersey buildings use floor control with relays, because it works with the existing elevator rather than replacing its dispatch logic. Destination dispatch is typically specified during a major elevator modernization and involves the elevator manufacturer.

Credentials: cards, fobs, PINs and phones

The credential you choose affects cost, convenience and how easily access is shared.

Proximity and smart cards. Familiar, easy to issue and easy to revoke. They can be lost or lent to someone else.
Key fobs. Same technology in a different form. Useful for residents and vendors who do not want a card in a wallet.
PIN codes. Inexpensive, but codes are easily shared. Better as a second factor than as the only control on sensitive floors.
Mobile credentials. A phone replaces the card. They can reduce lost-card replacement, and they make it easier to issue and remove access remotely.
Biometrics. Used on high-security floors in some buildings. They add privacy and policy questions that you should settle with counsel before deployment.

Whatever you choose, check that the reader in your elevator cab will work with your existing building credentials. A building with a card system at the front door and a different system in the elevators produces two sets of records and two sets of administration. That is rarely what a property manager wants.

If you are also planning door hardware, the commercial door security guide covers how doors, credentials and locking hardware fit together. Residential property managers can see how credentials work across entries in the apartment building access control planning guide.

Woman presenting an access card in elevator cab

System components

A typical elevator access control installation has four parts:

Credential readers, in the car, in the lobby or at a destination panel.
A controller or access panel, often installed in the elevator machine room, that holds the permission table and decides.
An elevator interface, usually relays wired to the floor buttons, or an integration module supplied for the elevator.
Management software, where you add and remove users, set schedules, review logs and run reports.

One limitation worth knowing: the same vendor guide notes that an elevator, meaning both its cabin reader and its inputs and outputs, must be controlled by a single access control unit. It also lists features such as antipassback, interlock and people counting as not working with elevators. Ask your integrator which features your chosen platform supports for elevators, because they are not always the same as for doors.

Security limits to plan around

Elevator access control narrows who can reach a floor. It does not stop every route to that floor, and being clear about that makes the plan stronger.

Tailgating

An authorized person badges in, and someone else steps in behind them. A professional security report on elevator access control points out that, with elevator control, an unauthorized person can enter a car before its doors close, or exit onto a restricted floor when someone else leaves it. Ways to reduce the risk:

Put a reader in the lobby as well as the car, so people are screened before they board.
Add a staffed lobby desk or a security officer at peak and after-hours times.
Train tenants and staff on polite challenge and reporting procedures.
Use camera coverage of the lobby and elevator landings, so tailgating incidents can be reviewed.

A trained officer at a lobby desk is often the most direct answer to tailgating. GuardEX provides armed and unarmed security guards for New Jersey properties, and a post order can include verifying visitors and escalating anything unusual.

Shared and lost credentials

Cards get lent, copied or left behind. Reduce the exposure with:

A fast process for deactivating lost cards.
Regular audits of active credentials against your tenant and staff lists.
Expiry dates on visitor and contractor credentials.
Phone-based or biometric options on the most sensitive floors.

Networked equipment

Controllers and software are networked devices, so they need updates and sensible configuration like any other. Published vulnerabilities in access control products show why. One example is the SlimLane privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2024-48822) in an access control product. Practical steps for property managers: keep an inventory of access control devices, apply vendor firmware updates on a schedule, change default passwords, limit who holds administrator rights, and keep access control equipment on a network segment of its own where possible.

Communication failures

Ask what the system does when a reader and controller lose contact. Some designs deny access by default when no decision arrives, and others fall back to a stored rule. Neither is universally right, but you should know which one you have, and what the plan is for staff who are locked out of a floor during an outage.

Fire service and emergency operations

This is the part of the project where access control must never get in the way. Elevators have fire service recall, which returns cars to a designated floor when smoke or fire is detected so passengers are not delivered to a floor on fire and the cars are available to firefighters. An explanation of fire service access elevators notes that Phase I recall is initiated when smoke is detected in an elevator lobby, machine room or hoistway.

What that means for an access control project:

Floor restrictions must be bypassed during fire service operation. Fire recall has priority over your access rules.
Installation involves several parties: the access control integrator, the elevator maintenance company and the building’s electrical contractor. Plan the schedule so each knows what the others are doing.
Fire alarm devices tied to elevators have their own placement rules. A county fire marshal guideline describes plan review requirements under NFPA 72, including smoke detectors within 21 feet of the centerline of each elevator door in a lobby. A university fire alarm guidance document adds that smoke detectors may not be used for shunt trip, since they could cut power before recall and potentially trap occupants.

Those documents come from other jurisdictions and are guidance, not New Jersey law. In New Jersey, your elevator contractor, fire protection contractor and the local construction and fire officials decide what is required and permitted for your building. Do not alter elevator wiring without the elevator company’s involvement, and keep records of any approvals. Nothing in this article guarantees code compliance.

Planning checklist before you request quotes

Good quotes depend on clear requirements. Gather these first:

A floor-by-floor access map. Who needs which floors, and when? Include tenants, staff, visitors, delivery vendors, cleaners and contractors.
Elevator details. Number of cars, manufacturer, age, controller type and whether a modernization is planned.
Existing credentials and systems. Which cards and software are already in use at doors and gates?
Special floors. Garage, roof, mechanical, data room, medical suites, storage and any areas with regulatory or insurance requirements.
Visitor process. How do visitors get to a tenant floor, and who approves them?
Emergency procedures. Fire service recall, power failure, lockout and evacuation behavior.
Administration. Who adds and removes credentials, how fast, and who reviews logs?
Response plan. Who investigates an alarm or a forced-access event, and what do they do?

The last two get skipped most often. A system that logs every elevator ride but is never reviewed provides records after the fact and little else. Decide in advance who looks at reports, how often, and what triggers escalation.

Pairing elevators with the rest of your security plan

Elevator control is strongest when it connects to the rest of the property.

Doors and lobbies. Use the same credential for the front door, elevators and tenant suites. See our access control systems page for how we approach site-specific design.
Video. Cameras at lobbies and elevator landings give you context when the access log shows something odd. Our video security systems service covers planning and installation.
Remote monitoring. After-hours alarms and camera views can be watched off-site through remote security monitoring.
People. A lobby officer, concierge or roving patrol handles what technology cannot: challenging an unfamiliar face, helping a locked-out tenant, or responding to an alarm.
Reporting. Written incident reports, with time, location and action taken, make it easier to spot patterns and adjust the plan.

For commercial properties more broadly, our commercial security services page outlines how these layers can be combined.

How GuardEX can help

GuardEX is a boutique, locally owned security company in New Jersey. We build security plans around each property’s specific risks and operations, and our services include access control systems, video security, remote monitoring, mobile patrols and armed and unarmed guards.

If you are planning elevator access for a New Jersey building, we can start from your floor map, your existing credentials and the way your tenants and visitors move through the property, then look at where technology, officers or both make sense.

See our access control systems page, or contact GuardEX to talk through your property.

FAQ

Can elevator access control work with the elevators we already have?

Often, yes. Many systems add a reader and relays to an existing elevator’s control circuits, so the cars do not need replacing. The work needs your elevator maintenance company, since the wiring touches the car’s controls. Your integrator can tell you what is feasible once they see the controller and wiring.

What is the difference between an elevator card reader and a lobby reader?

A reader in the car controls which floor buttons work once you are inside. A lobby reader controls who can call or board the elevator at all. Many buildings use both, so that people are screened before boarding and floor access is still enforced inside.

Does elevator access control stop tailgating?

Not by itself. Someone can still step into the car behind an authorized rider. Lobby readers, a staffed desk or security officer, camera coverage and tenant awareness all help reduce it.

Does access control interfere with fire service operation?

It must not. Fire service recall and emergency operations take priority over floor restrictions, and the design should be coordinated with the elevator contractor, fire protection contractor and local officials.

Elevator Access Control: How It Works and What to Plan