1. Define the duty, not the product
Open with what the entrance must do, so every bidder is solving the same problem: how many people in the peak window, in which directions, at what security level, supervised or unmanned, indoor or exposed.
A spec that names a competitor's model number and adds "or equivalent" gets you either that model or an argument about what equivalent means. A spec that states 40 people per minute inbound at shift change, unmanned, coastal exposure, gets you comparable engineering.
- Peak flow and peak window, per direction
- Total lanes: working, standby, and the accessible lane
- Security level: deter, detect or prevent
- Indoor / outdoor / coastal / dusty
- Supervised or unmanned, and the hours
- Who the users are — staff, contractors, visitors, public
2. Mechanical and materials
This is where cheap bids hide. Ask for numbers rather than adjectives, and ask the same numbers of everyone.
- Frame material and thickness, and the finish system — mild steel with which coating, or which stainless grade (see our guide to 304, 316 and powder-coated mild steel)
- Lane width, clear passage width, and overall footprint with clearances
- Height, mass, and the fixing method the supplier requires
- Rotor or wing mechanism, damping, and how it behaves when pushed against
- Cycle life the mechanism is rated or tested to — and what the test was
- Ingress protection (IP) rating of the housing and of the control gear inside it
- Warranty: what is covered, for how long, and specifically whether mechanical parts and electronics differ
3. Electrical, control and integration
Most entrance-control disputes on site are about the boundary between the lane and the access-control system. Draw that line in the spec.
- Supply voltage, current draw per lane, and whether the supply is per lane or per bank
- Behaviour on power failure, per direction — fail-safe or fail-secure — and the manual release
- Battery or UPS backup requirement and run time (in South Africa, state the load-shedding expectation explicitly)
- Interface to the access-control system: dry contacts, RS-485, OSDP, TCP/IP — and who supplies what
- Reader type, mounting provision, and who supplies and commissions the readers
- Anti-passback, one-person detection and alarm outputs — and where the alarm goes
- Fire-alarm and escape-release interface, and which party terminates it
4. Civils, installation and handover
The lane is a week's work; the civils are the long pole. Name them.
- Slab requirement: level tolerance, thickness and load — confirm against the unit's mass
- Cast-in or chemical anchors, and who sets out
- Conduit routes and stub-up positions for power and data, with a drawing
- Who does the builder's work, and who makes good
- Delivery, offloading and access to the position (a full-height unit does not go up a service lift)
- Commissioning, user training, and the as-built handover pack
- Spares holding and service response time — worth more than a low unit price on an unmanned site
5. Evidence to ask every bidder for
These items separate a manufacturer from a reseller, and they cost nothing to request.
- Dimensioned general-arrangement drawings, and a 3D or BIM model for coordination — iMAT publishes both on every product page and on the downloads page
- Quality certification, and the scope it actually covers
- Local manufacturing evidence, where local content is scored
- Reference installations of comparable duty — ours are on the projects page
- Lead time from order to delivery, and where the unit is made
- Spares and service footprint in the region the site is in
Send us the spec
iMAT manufactures locally, so a lane that does not fit the opening is a drawing change rather than a dead end, and drawings and 3D models are available up front for coordination. Send the entrance details or the tender documents and we will respond against your clauses. Request a quote.
Common questions
What information does a turnstile supplier need to quote accurately?
Peak flow and window per direction, lane count including standby and accessible lanes, security level, indoor or outdoor exposure, the access-control system it must integrate with, power-failure behaviour, and the slab and conduit situation at the position.
Should a specification name a specific turnstile model?
It is usually better to specify the duty — throughput, security level, environment, interfaces and evidence required — than a model number with "or equivalent". Duty-based specs produce bids you can compare on engineering rather than on interpretation.
What is a realistic lead time for turnstiles in South Africa?
It depends on configuration and finish, and on whether the unit is manufactured locally or imported. Ask each bidder to state lead time from order and where the unit is made — locally manufactured units take shipping and customs risk off the programme.