UPS/FedEX Access to Gated Community

Started by MarcS2 • 16 replies • 20692 views

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MarcS2 (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Hello. I am a new member on the forum.

My community is going gated shortly. Gates are installed but not fully activated. Residents will use a garage door opener style "clicker" and visitors will need to be buzzed in by a resident who is contacted via a directory/intercom. Fire/EMS/Police can open all gates by use of their siren or traffic preemption strobes. The post office uses a universal bypass key.

So my question is what has other gated communities done for UPS/FedEx, etc? I am willing to give them a bypass code however it has been impossible to make contact with anyone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Marc

LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MarcS2 on 11/02/2017 8:33 AM
Hello. I am a new member on the forum.

My community is going gated shortly. Gates are installed but not fully activated. Residents will use a garage door opener style "clicker" and visitors will need to be buzzed in by a resident who is contacted via a directory/intercom. Fire/EMS/Police can open all gates by use of their siren or traffic preemption strobes. The post office uses a universal bypass key.

So my question is what has other gated communities done for UPS/FedEx, etc? I am willing to give them a bypass code however it has been impossible to make contact with anyone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Marc

Will the delivery driver be able to piggy back on someone entering or will the gates be one at a time entry? Otherwise the HOA will give out a code to the Trash Company, School District and UPS & Fed Ex it is up to those drivers to contact their dispatch for the gate code.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,045

Posted:

We have a code that is fairly easy to remember ( a lot repeating digits) that we provide to owners who then pass it on to delivery people, lawn crews, etc. It is only valid during daytime hours (7-7, I think). Since the garbage trucks and school busses can come earlier than that, they have their own codes. Since the developer originally created it over 20 years ago, a lot of people probably know it, and we've had some discussion of changing it, but opinions are divided. Some want to improve security by changing it occasionally, others don't want the inconvenience of dealing with a change.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,045

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DouglasK1 on 11/02/2017 3:15 PM
We have a code that is fairly easy to remember ( a lot repeating digits) that we provide to owners who then pass it on to delivery people, lawn crews, etc. It is only valid during daytime hours (7-7, I think). Since the garbage trucks and school busses can come earlier than that, they have their own codes. Since the developer originally created it over 20 years ago, a lot of people probably know it, and we've had some discussion of changing it, but opinions are divided. Some want to improve security by changing it occasionally, others don't want the inconvenience of dealing with a change.

This of course assumes your panel has buttons that can be used for entry and is not just purely an intercom.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MarcS2 on 11/02/2017 8:33 AM
So my question is what has other gated communities done for UPS/FedEx, etc? I am willing to give them a bypass code however it has been impossible to make contact with anyone.

Hi, Marc. We have a special "vendor" gate code that we call and inform those companies about whenever we change it. We've changed it twice in 28 years, but many gated communities change their vendor code - which quickly becomes a public code - more often. One condo over near the beach changes theirs every 2 months. The delivery people know that gate codes change and are equipped to disseminate the new codes to their drivers when necessary. They're used to it.

MarcS2 (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 2

Posted:

We plan on giving these type of vendor 4 digit bypass codes. The issue I am having is getting in touch with UPS and FedEx. Nothing on their web sites about it. I guess the worse case scenario is they can buzz the homeowner, but this will be a waste of time.

Thanks,
marc

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,961

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MarcS2 on 11/03/2017 11:24 AM
We plan on giving these type of vendor 4 digit bypass codes. The issue I am having is getting in touch with UPS and FedEx. Nothing on their web sites about it. I guess the worse case scenario is they can buzz the homeowner, but this will be a waste of time.

Thanks,
marc

I don't see why - the owners are the ones having this stuff delivered, so why can't they buzz in the driver? If the homeowners feel this is unnecessary, they can make arrangements to have the stuff delivered elsewhere and they can pick it up themselves. Have you checked if there's a local FedEx or UPS office you can call to discuss this? Perhaps your property manager has other clients with gates and he/she can ask them how this is handled and you can see if that could be adapted to your community.

Or....would it be possible for the owner to contact the property manager and say he/she is expecting delivery during the week of.... and get a temporary bypass code? The code could be deactivated after a certain date and it's up to the homeowner to ensure the information gets to the driver.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,045

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SheliaH on 11/03/2017 11:50 AM

I'm sure that if we tried to implement systems like this we'd have a turnout like we've never seen at the next annual meeting, and probably an entire new board at the end of it.

Many owners/residents are not home during the day so they can't buzz in delivery people, landscapers, pest control, pool guys, maids and whatever variety of service people they have. Temporary codes like you suggest would probably involve dozens or requests a week. Adding a 5-10 hour a week task to your MC will probably not be free. In our case (self-managed), nobody would be willing to take the job of handling codes. Another problem is that with 4 digit codes, there are only 10k (0000-9999) possibilities. If you have too many different valid codes at a given time, it makes it a lot easier for people guessing codes to hit one. If there are 200 codes, one out of every 50 possible combinations is a valid code.

There are a lot of gated communities around here, in talking to people I know who live in them, they all have a single daytime access gate code. In most cases, it has not changed in recent memory, some change it every year or so.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,961

Posted:

In that case, perhaps your community needs to rethink the idea of becoming a gated community or at least delay the start until this is figured out - especially since the holidays are approaching. You say other communities have a single daytime access code, so why not ask them how they manage it?

Maybe your homeowners will need two or three unique codes, one for everyday use, another for deliveries only and the third for service providers. It would probably be just as cumbersome because you'll have to keep track of when you give it out and you'll still won't know if someone gets what should be a delivery code and then passes it around to others who'll enter the community for not so nice reasons.

OR... just talk to whoever's putting in your system - surely this is the first time they've come across this issue and might have some suggestions.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

DouglasK1 (Florida)
Posts: 2,045

Posted:

I'm not the OP, I'm just explaining how it's been done in our association for the last 20 years, and what appears to be common in this area.

One useful source of info for the OP would be the company that handles gate maintenance, they would know what is typical in their area.

Escaped former treasurer and director of a self managed association.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By DouglasK1 on 11/03/2017 1:39 PM
Many owners/residents are not home during the day so they can't buzz in delivery people, landscapers, pest control, pool guys, maids and whatever variety of service people they have.

Exact same situation where I am. We have an additional problem with some owners. Area codes from a dozen states, another dozen mobile service providers, and maybe our own telephone company's equipment make it so that not all cell phones are able to #6 open the gate remotely to buzz somebody in. We've never been able to nail down a definite combination of factors as to why this is so, but those people just give out the vendor gate code to everyone they know that needs to enter the subdivision.

LetA (Nevada)
Posts: 2,679

Posted:

Since courier deliveries occur during business hours, put the CM office on the call box for entry. Give UPS and Fed Ex a \
password that the drivers will know for entry, or you can issue them clickers or an RFID FOB

SuzieE (California)
Posts: 20

Posted:

For the most part, I didn't have any issues receiving my packages due to the security gate in our HOA. Most of my packages were from Amazon. You are able to enter in your Amazon profile that you have a security gate & list your gate code there. I also created an account for FedEx & UPS and was able to enter in my security gate code so when something was delivered the information was already available. I did have some issues with packages from Fedex. In that case I would track the package and on the day of delivery (or the day prior) I would call in to cust service, give them the tracking number & notify them of the security gate code. I did see that if FedEx couldn't leave a package due to not having the code, they would leave a "attempt to deliver" sticker notice on the gate. I do recommend creating an account with FedEx (it's free to do) and you can enter in the security gate info.

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

This is exactly the same situation my community faces. A "virtual guard" is too expensive. An inexpensive solution is to have cameras at the gate and only give the code to package delivery drivers. Everyone else would have to call the owner at the gate for entry. Would most owners grumble over having to manually answer the phone at work multiple times a week to grant the dog-walker access, or would they be understanding?

Are owners and visitors to gated communities so used to giving out and receiving the code, that scrolling down to someone's name at the call box and calling them is a foreign concept?

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,961

Posted:

This is an old post - start a new conversation with your questions. That way you'll get updated infor. (You've been on this website long enough to know this - 2017 is so five years ago...)

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

SteveH35 (Washington)
Posts: 339

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SheliaH on 05/24/2022 4:48 AM
This is an old post - start a new conversation with your questions. That way you'll get updated infor. (You've been on this website long enough to know this - 2017 is so five years ago...)

Shelia, the information in this "old" post is relevant. Keeping things in the same thread is helpful. So far as I know, the technology and suggestions for how to offer vendors access hasn't changed much since 2017. There are many different systems and situations (attended and non-attended gates, 24/7 staff that can provide remote access vs. 8-5 staff, "old school" analog intercom systems vs. new-school digital intercom and access systems, etc.)

NpB (Arizona)
Posts: 605

Posted:

I think it's relevant too because if there are different delivery drivers daily or a dog walking service where there is a different dog walker each day, is it cumbersome for them to obtain the code?

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