Construction Site Access Control: Cards for Subcontractors

Construction site access control means every worker, subcontractor and vehicle enters using a personal card or tag, at the gates assigned to them and within their permitted hours, and that a card stops working the moment a contract ends. On a building site, the two things that matter most are grouping by subcontractor and gates that keep making the right decision when the site PC goes offline.

A construction site is not an office block. The workforce changes with every phase: groundworks crews leave, the frame contractor arrives, then mechanical and electrical trades, then finishers. Delivery lorries and plant come and go, entrances move as the build progresses, and security usually works from a small cabin by the gate. A paper sign-in sheet falls behind within days. This guide explains how to set up site access control for that environment and which features of Nooradio access control software help in each plan. All examples are hypothetical.

Why site access control is harder on a building site

• Constant turnover. The list of people allowed on site changes every few weeks as packages start and finish.
• Safety responsibility. The site manager needs to know who is on site and whether anyone got in without clearance.
• Orphaned cards. Operatives finish their package and keep the card, or hand it to someone else.
• Different working hours. Night pours, early deliveries and weekend closures all need different rules.
• Unreliable power and network. On site, a PC going offline or a cable being cut is an ordinary event, not a rare one.
• Several sites at once. A contractor running more than one project does not want to enrol the same supervisors from scratch each time.

Subcontractor access cards: groups and time windows

The first principle is to grant access to groups, not individuals. Each subcontractor becomes a group, and that group’s gates and hours are set once. When a new operative joins the crew, you enrol their card into the existing group and the rules follow automatically. A hypothetical layout:

In Nooradio, permitted hours are defined per group by day of the week and holidays, and each gate can be set to accept entry, exit or both. These features, together with grouping and bulk enrolment of a range of cards, are in the Pro and Elite plans. Our article on access schedules and groups goes deeper into designing them.

A practical tip from general site practice: tie card issue to your induction process. Hand over the card only once the person has completed the site induction and their details are on file, so the access list always reflects who is actually cleared to work.

End of contract: deactivate cards instantly

The riskiest moment is the week after a subcontractor finishes. Their cards are still in people’s pockets and still open the gate. In Nooradio any card can be deactivated instantly without deleting the person’s record or their access history, and this works in every plan. If the same subcontractor returns for a later package, reactivate the cards instead of enrolling everyone again. A duplicate-card warning also stops the common mistake of enrolling one card for two people.

Make it part of the process: add “access cards deactivated” as a line on the subcontractor close-out checklist, and do not sign off the close-out until it is ticked. For cards that go missing, see what to do about a lost access card.

What happens when the site PC goes offline?

Nooradio runs on a computer on site, connected to the card readers at the gates. On a construction site that computer can drop offline because of a power cut or damaged cabling. When it does, the gates still tell an authorised card from an unauthorised one on their own: the gate is not left open for everyone, and cleared operatives are not stuck waiting outside. This behaviour is included in every plan.

Behind the scenes, the software keeps itself running day and night: if the service halts it brings itself back up, and damaged data is rolled back to the most recent intact backup. You can take backups by hand on any plan, while scheduled automatic backups with several versions come with Pro and above. On a site with unstable power, automatic backups are worth having.

Gatehouse monitoring: live view and audible alerts

A site security officer juggles lorries, visitors and the morning rush of operatives. A live screen that lists each card swipe as it happens, flags whether it was accepted or refused and in which direction, sounds an alarm you can silence and switches to full screen, keeps rejected cards from going unnoticed. Security staff work in an operator role with narrower permissions: they monitor traffic and, when needed, open a gate manually from the software, for example for an expected visitor or a driver who has no tag yet. They cannot change cards or access hours. All of this is included from the Start plan.

To be clear about scope: Nooradio works with smart cards and tags only. It does not read number plates and has no cameras, face recognition or fingerprint readers. If your site has CCTV, that runs as a separate system.

Moving card lists between construction sites

When a new project starts, contractors often move supervisors and part of the workforce across from the previous site. Nooradio lets you export the card list to a file and import it on the other site’s computer without creating duplicate records. This is available in Pro and Elite.

Keep in mind that each site has its own computer. Remote management through a browser and from several computers is not in the current version; it is on the coming-soon list. For now, transferring data between sites is done with this file export and import.

Access reports for the client and site management

The client or project manager may ask who from which subcontractor was on site on a particular day, or who tried to get in outside their hours. Fast search and filtering through the history, even with large volumes, and report export for management and audits, are in Pro and Elite. Moving passes in bulk to an authorised or unauthorised list also keeps reviews tidy.

To avoid confusion: Nooradio controls and logs passage through gates. It is not time and attendance software and does not calculate hours worked or subcontractor pay. If valuations depend on hours, calculate them in your own separate system. Also check your local data protection rules before you start logging workers’ movements.

Choosing hardware for a construction environment

Dust, rain, vibration and power fluctuations are harsher on site than in an office. Nooradio is software that connects to the card readers through the site PC, so pick readers, locks, turnstiles and enclosures suited to site conditions together with your hardware supplier, after checking compatibility with P-Soft. A few general pointers:

• Keep the Nooradio PC inside the security cabin, away from direct dust, and give it a backup power supply.
• Route cables away from plant movement routes.
• When the site entrance moves between phases, update the gate definitions in the software as well.

Which Nooradio plan suits a building site?

Note that the software interface is in Persian, which matters if your gatehouse team will operate it day to day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Nooradio track subcontractor working hours?

No. It controls and logs passage through gates; it is not time and attendance or payroll software.

What happens to cards when a subcontractor’s package ends?

Deactivate them instantly. The access history and personal records stay, and the cards can be reactivated if the team returns.

If the site computer is switched off, do the gates stop working?

No. The gates distinguish authorised from unauthorised cards on their own, in every plan.

Can I manage several sites from head office?

Not yet. Remote management is coming soon; today each site has its own PC and card lists move between sites by file.

How are delivery vehicles handled?

With a vehicle tag at the vehicle gate. Nooradio does not read plates; for a vehicle without a tag, security opens the gate manually.

To map out the gates and subcontractor groups on your own project, book a Nooradio walkthrough with our team.

Further reading

• Vehicle Access Control Software: Card & Tag Guide and Use Cases
• Vehicle Access Control: LPR vs RFID vs Remote, Which to Choose?
• Benefits of Parking Management and Vehicle Access Control Software

Complete guide: access control system