Fingerprint door lock fitting

On most uPVC and composite doors the lock replaces the handles and works the multipoint mechanism the door already has. On a timber door with a separate night latch or mortice lock, it depends what is there, so we look first.

Whichever door it is, the reader is on the outside face, in the rain and the cold all year. It has to be a lock made to sit outside, not an indoor model on an outside door.

We enrol two or three fingers per person, not one, so a cut or a plaster does not lock anybody out. Children's fingerprints change as they grow and may need enrolling again.

Worn or very dry fingertips can read poorly — often an older relative, or anyone who works with their hands. They get a PIN or a card as well, set up on the day.

Wet or cold fingers read less reliably, and so does a dirty sensor. That is why a fingerprint is never the only way in on a lock we fit: there is always a PIN, usually a card, and on the lock we supply a key for a flat battery.

For a household, fingerprint first and a PIN as the backup. For a let, or anywhere the people keep changing, a PIN first: you cannot send a guest a fingerprint in advance, and you should not be keeping theirs.

The lock we keep in stock is a fingerprint, PIN and card door lock, sold on its own or fitted. Bought one elsewhere? See fitting a lock you already own.