Installation, Handover & After-Sales

A good installation follows the same sequence every time: confirm, prepare, fit, test, teach, tidy. The installer arrives with the lock, tools and a protection mat, and the first thing he should do is re-confirm the model against your order and inspect the actual door and gate before touching anything.

If something does not match what was assessed — a thicker door, a different existing lock body, a warped frame — you should hear about it then, not afterwards. Next comes preparation: removing the old lock, protecting the floor and door surface, and measuring the mortise or mounting points.

The fitting itself is the quiet middle stretch — cutting or adjusting where necessary, mounting the front and back panels, connecting the cable through the door, fitting the strike plate on the frame and inserting batteries. Then testing, which matters more than most people realise.

The installer should cycle the lock repeatedly with the door both open and closed, check that the latch and deadbolt engage cleanly without forcing, and confirm the door still closes squarely. Handover is the final stage: enrolling your fingerprints and PIN, demonstrating every unlocking method, showing the mechanical override and battery replacement, and passing you the keys, cards, manual and paperwork.

AN Digital Lock includes installation with the lock and works through this same sequence. Do not sign off until you have personally unlocked the door yourself..

Most digital lock installations take roughly 60 to 180 minutes, and that is the range AN Digital Lock quotes for a typical job. A straightforward single main door lock replacing an existing one on a standard HDB door sits at the shorter end.

A door-and-gate pair, or a lock needing a new mortise cut, sits at the longer end. Several things push a job towards three hours rather than one.

A door with no existing cut-out, or with a cut-out that does not match the new lock's body, needs fresh routing and careful measurement. Fire-rated main doors demand more care, since the work must not compromise the door's integrity.

Metal gates can be slow if the frame is narrow, ornate or unusually thick, and older gates sometimes need extra drilling. Warped doors and frames that no longer align add time because the latch has to engage cleanly, not be forced.

Installing two locks in one visit roughly doubles the fitting time, though only one setup session. Setup and handover add their own 15 to 30 minutes on top, more if several household members are enrolling fingerprints.

Practical takeaway: block out half a day rather than an hour, and if your schedule is tight, tell the consultant from AN Digital Lock before booking so they can allocate a suitable slot.

Someone over 18 who can make decisions about the flat should be present for the whole visit, and ideally it is you. Access is the obvious reason, but it is not the main one.

Installation involves small judgement calls — where exactly the exterior panel sits, whether a slightly warped frame should be adjusted, whether the strike plate position needs shifting — and those are your decisions, not the installer's alone. The bigger reason is handover.

The person present is the one who gets taught how the lock works, enrolls the first master credentials and sets the administrator PIN. If your helper or your contractor receives the lock on your behalf, you inherit a device you have never operated, and the master code passes through someone else's hands first.

That is a poor start. If you genuinely cannot be there, send an adult household member rather than a contractor, ask the installer to leave the lock on a temporary code, and change the administrator PIN and re-enroll fingerprints yourself the moment you arrive.

Ask beforehand whether the retailer will do a follow-up walkthrough or has setup guides you can work through. The simple rule: whoever will be the household's lock administrator should be standing at the door when it is handed over.

With AN Digital Lock, standard installation is included with the lock, so for most Singapore homes there is no separate installation fee. That covers the normal case: removing an existing lock and fitting the new one on a standard main door or metal gate during a scheduled appointment.

Charges, where they arise anywhere in the industry, tend to come from work that is not lock installation at all. Common examples are structural work on the door or frame, repairing or replacing a damaged or badly warped door, cutting a mortise into a door not designed for one, welding or fabrication on a metal gate, relocating the lock position significantly, or supplying additional hardware such as extra cards, fobs or a replacement strike plate.

Return visits caused by circumstances outside the installer's control — nobody home, renovation not finished, power or access unavailable — are another category some retailers treat separately. None of this should ever be a surprise on the day.

A reputable installer stops, explains what he has found, quotes the extra work and waits for your agreement before proceeding. Practical takeaway: before booking, send photos of your door edge, gate and existing lock, and ask directly, "based on these, is there anything about my door that would make this job chargeable?" Confirm any figures with AN directly rather than assuming.

Technically some people can, but in Singapore it rarely saves money and often costs more. The first thing to weigh is that installation is already included with the lock at AN Digital Lock, so DIY is usually saving a fee you were not being charged.

The risks are real. Digital locks need an accurate mortise or mounting cut-out, correct cable routing through the door, precise strike plate alignment and correct panel torque.

Get the alignment slightly wrong and the deadbolt binds, which strains the motor and shortens the lock's life long before you notice. Over-tighten the panels and the mechanism drags.

Drill in the wrong place and the hole is permanent. The most serious case is a fire-rated HDB main door.

Improper drilling can damage the internal core and create a path for smoke and fire, and the certification that matters is for the door and lock tested together as an assembly. Self-installing on such a door is not a saving worth making.

There is also warranty exposure: self-installation commonly voids coverage, and it removes any argument about who is responsible if something fails. If you still want to try, do it on a low-stakes internal or cabinet lock first — not your main entrance.

A properly done installation leaves no visible damage, because the new lock's panels are designed to cover the area where the old lock sat. Most digital locks have larger front and rear plates than the conventional handle or knob they replace, so the previous cut-out and screw holes end up hidden underneath.

There are limits to that. If your old lock was unusually large, sat in a very different position, or the door has multiple redundant holes from past changes, some marks may fall outside the new panel's footprint.

Timber doors can also show slight surface differences where an old faceplate has protected the finish from years of sunlight and handling — not damage, but visible if you look closely. Metal gates are the more common case for visible holes, since gate designs vary widely and mounting points may not line up with existing ones.

This is exactly why a pre-installation assessment matters. Sending clear photos of the door edge, the door face and the gate lets the retailer flag any coverage concern before the lock is ordered, rather than discovering it with the old lock already off.

Ask one question when you book: "will the new lock's plate fully cover my existing cut-out and holes, and if not, what will be visible?" A straight answer beforehand is worth more than an apology afterwards.

Partly, but not invisibly — you should plan on fitting another lock rather than returning the door to its original state. Installing a digital lock involves cutting and drilling, and those alterations are permanent.

Removing the lock leaves the mortise pocket, the through-holes for the cable and spindle, and screw holes on both faces. In practice this matters far less than it sounds, because almost nobody removes a lock and leaves the hole.

The realistic scenarios are replacing it with another digital lock, which usually covers the same area, or reverting to a conventional mechanical lock, which is where it gets fiddly — conventional locks have smaller faceplates and may not cover a digital lock's cut-out. A carpenter can patch and refinish timber, but a patched area on a painted or laminated door is generally noticeable.

Fire-rated doors are the exception that needs care. Patching such a door alters an assembly that was certified as a whole, so any restoration work should be discussed with the door supplier rather than handed to a general handyman.

The practical takeaway for renters or anyone who may need to reverse the change: get the landlord's written agreement before installing, and ask your retailer whether a like-for-like digital lock swap in future would reuse the same cut-out.

Handover should be a demonstration, not a handshake — you should personally operate the lock before the installer leaves. Insist on seeing each item below rather than being told it is in the manual.

• Every unlocking method the lock supports, tried by you: fingerprint, PIN, card or fob, app, and the mechanical key override.
• How to add and delete users, and how to set and change the administrator PIN or master code.
• Where the emergency power terminal is and what to do when the battery dies.
• How to open the battery compartment and which battery type it takes. The auto-lock, double-lock and mute settings, and how to turn each on or

off.

• Locking and unlocking from inside, including the interior thumb-turn or button.

Beyond the demonstration, the installer should hand over your physical items — mechanical keys, cards or fobs, the manual and any paperwork — and tell you which unlocking method to fall back on if the primary one fails. AN Digital Lock's installers run through setup and usage as part of the included installation, and the after-sales line is there for what you forget later.

One test before he leaves: close the door fully, step outside, and let yourself in unaided. If you cannot, the handover is not finished.

Change the default administrator code first — before anything else. Factory or installer-set codes are the single most common weak point in a new digital lock, and they are easy to leave in place for months without noticing.

After that, set up the essentials while the installer is still there or the same evening. Enrol fingerprints for every household member who will use the lock, including elderly parents and children, and test each one twice from outside rather than assuming it registered.

Create a personal PIN that is not a birthday, unit number or repeated digit. Register the cards or fobs you were given, and label them so you know which is which if one goes missing.

Decide whether auto-lock should be on and at what delay — households with young children usually want it on. If your model has an app, this is the day to install it, create the account, pair the lock and confirm it connects to your Wi-Fi.

Doing it later means finding the pairing instructions all over again. Finally, record the practical details somewhere safe: model name, purchase date, serial number, retailer contact and warranty term. A photo of the invoice and warranty card saved to your phone takes thirty seconds and saves an hour in year two.

At minimum you should leave with a tax invoice, a warranty document and the product manual — and you should check you have all three before the installer drives off. The invoice is the important one.

It should show the retailer's name and UEN, the date, the exact model installed, the serial number where applicable, the price with GST clearly indicated, and what the price includes, such as installation. The warranty document may be a card, a printed slip or a digital record, and it should state the coverage period, what it covers, and how to make a claim.

If the term differs between the lock body and specific components, that should be visible. Certificates apply in specific situations rather than universally.

If you bought a fire-rated door as part of the job, ask for the relevant certification for the door-and-lock assembly, since certification is system-level under Singapore Standard SS 332 and applies to the tested combination. Ask which certification body issued the Certificate of Conformity: SCDF-accredited certification bodies publish searchable product directories, so you can look it up rather than take it on trust.

Photograph everything and store it with your renovation records. If any document is missing, request it in writing the same week; chasing paperwork two years later, when you actually need it, is far harder.

For most Singapore retailers, registration is either automatic or a short form — and with AN Digital Lock, your purchase and installation records are held with us, so the invoice is usually the document that matters. Some brands additionally offer their own online registration, which is worth completing if it is offered, as it links the serial number to you rather than to a receipt you might lose.

Hafele for example, allows you to register your warranty online to attain additional 1 year warranty so take note of the different warranty clause for every different brand we offer. Coverage typically extends to manufacturing defects and component failure under normal household use: the motor, circuit board, fingerprint sensor, keypad and internal mechanism failing on their own.

It generally also covers workmanship on the installation itself, which is one of the practical advantages of having the retailer who sold you the lock also fit it. AN Digital Lock provides warranty of up to three years depending on the model, so the exact term attached to your lock depends on the brand and model you chose.

That is a genuine variable, not a formality — confirm your specific term at the point of purchase and check it appears on your paperwork. Practical takeaway: within a week of installation, photograph the invoice and warranty card, note the model, serial number and expiry date in your phone, and confirm with AN on +65 6966 6788 what your model's term is if the document does not state it plainly.

Warranties cover the product failing on its own — not the things that happen to it. Across brands, the common exclusions are consistent enough to plan around, even though the precise wording varies.

Batteries are almost always excluded, since they are consumables. So is accidental damage: dropping, impact, knocks during renovation, and scratches or dents to the panels.

Water damage from direct rain exposure, hosing down a corridor or high humidity beyond the product's rating is generally excluded, which is why exterior gate locks need a model rated for the position. Damage from attempted forced entry or vandalism is a matter for insurance, not warranty.

Unauthorised repair or modification is a reliable way to void coverage, as is self-installation or installation by a third party — one more argument for having the seller fit the lock. Power surges, use of non-approved parts or batteries, and normal cosmetic wear such as fading finishes typically fall outside too.

Software issues arising from a phone, router or home network rather than the lock itself are usually not the lock's warranty problem either. Rather than assuming, ask the exclusions clause on your actual warranty document and read it once.

Then take the one preventive step that matters most: replace the batteries on schedule with the recommended type, since battery-related damage is both common and avoidable.

The difference is who you actually chase when something breaks — and in Singapore, that usually decides how quickly it gets fixed. A manufacturer warranty is issued by the brand and covers the product itself against defects, wherever it was sold.

A retailer warranty is a commitment from the shop that sold and installed it, and it typically covers the installation workmanship as well as acting as your first point of contact for product faults. Why it matters: a manufacturer-only arrangement can mean shipping the unit or waiting on a regional service centre, and if the fault turns out to be installation-related rather than a product defect, each party can point at the other.

When the same company sells, installs and services the lock, that gap closes — there is no argument about whether the mortise was cut wrongly or the board failed, because one party owns both. AN Digital Lock is an authorised Kaadas retailer, which means brand-backed product support runs alongside the retailer's own after-sales service rather than instead of it.

Buying through unauthorised channels or parallel imports is where warranty claims most often unravel. Ask one question before buying: "if this lock fails in month 20, who do I call, and does that person fix it or forward it?" The answer tells you what the warranty is really worth.

Call or message the retailer who installed the lock, and lead with the details that let them diagnose before dispatching. For AN Digital Lock, that is +65 6966 6788, enquiry@andigitallock.com, or WhatsApp, and the three showrooms at Paya Lebar, Sembawang and Jurong are open daily from 11am to 8pm.

Have four things ready when you make contact: the lock model, your approximate purchase or installation date, a clear description of the symptom, and what you have already tried. A short video of the fault happening is genuinely the most useful thing you can send, because many issues are diagnosed from it immediately and some are resolved on the call without a visit at all.

Be specific about the symptom rather than the conclusion. "The motor runs but the bolt does not retract" gets a faster answer than "the lock is broken".

Mention whether it happens on all unlocking methods or just one, whether the door is open or closed when it occurs, and whether you have recently changed the batteries. Practical takeaway: before you call, replace the batteries with a fresh set of the recommended type and try again. A large share of reported faults are battery-related, and ruling it out first saves everyone a trip.

Honest answer: response times vary by different retailer, by day of the week and by how urgent the situation genuinely is, and no responsible supplier should promise a fixed figure without knowing your circumstances. Treat any published guarantee with mild scepticism and ask what happens when it is not met.

What is normal practice in Singapore is that genuine lockouts get triaged ahead of routine faults, that many are resolved over the phone or by video call rather than in person, and that response is faster during business hours than late at night. AN Digital Lock's showrooms are open daily from 11am to 8pm, which is when you are most likely to reach someone quickly — but for your own model and situation, confirm expectations directly through out hotline at +65 6966 6788 rather than relying on a general statement.

The more useful move is to make a lockout unlikely in the first place. Keep the mechanical override key somewhere accessible but not inside the flat — with a trusted neighbour, a family member nearby, or in your car.

Keep a spare card or fob in your wallet. Know where the emergency power terminal is and keep a suitable power bank and cable at hand.

Ask your retailer one question when you buy: "what is your process when a customer is locked out after hours?" A clear process matters more than a promised number. AN Digital Lock promise to deliver the best service standards by catering to 24 hours technical support.

In the event of lockout emergency, we work closely with our dedicated professional locksmith team who can assist our customers around the clock. When it comes to non-emergency cases, usually we will get back within 24 hours.

Example when you want to register your fingerprint but you lost your manual, we will contact you soonest possible to guide you through on the process.

Usually yes, and that is normal — but the amounts and structure differ enough between retailers that you should ask rather than assume. Once warranty coverage lapses, a service visit is a commercial job, and most companies charge for the technician's time, for any replacement parts, or both.

What varies is how it is structured. Some retailers charge a call-out or inspection fee that is waived or credited if you proceed with the repair.

Some quote per job. Parts are almost always billed separately from labour.

Simple matters — a settings question, a fingerprint that has stopped reading, a battery query — are often handled free over the phone or WhatsApp regardless of warranty status, because it costs the retailer nothing and keeps the relationship. AN Digital Lock provides dedicated after-sales support and warranty of up to three years depending on model, but for out-of-warranty charges on your specific lock, ask directly on +65 6966 6788 — quoting a figure here would only mislead you.

Two questions worth asking before you buy, not after: "what does an out-of-warranty service visit typically involve in terms of charges?" and "are replacement parts for this model readily available in Singapore?" The second question often matters more than the first, because a cheap visit is no help if the part takes months to arrive.

Discontinuation does not usually mean the end of support, but it does change the timeline. Manufacturers commonly hold spares for a period after a model retires, and established brands with a Singapore distribution presence tend to hold local stock of the parts that fail most often — sensors, keypads, motors and battery covers.

Retailers who have sold a model in volume often keep a small buffer of their own. The realistic outcomes are three.

Best case, the part is in stock locally and the repair is routine. Middle case, it has to be ordered in and you wait weeks rather than days.

Worst case, the part is genuinely unavailable and the sensible route is replacement — often with a current model that reuses the same cut-out, which keeps the job simple and the door untouched. This is one of the strongest practical arguments for buying an established brand from an authorised retailer rather than an obscure model at a keen price.

AN Digital Lock has operated since 2013 and is an authorised retailer for Kaadas , Hafele , Solity, Zigbang, Igloohome , Aqara, Ezviz, Philips Digital Locks, which is the kind of continuity that matters in year six, not year one. Before you buy, ask how long the model has been on the market and whether spares are held locally. A model launched last month and a model three years into its run carry different kinds of risk.

Usually yes, provided the new door will take it — but check compatibility before you unscrew anything. A digital lock is not tied to a particular address, and moving one is a normal request.

Whether it is worth doing depends on three things: the condition of the lock, the fit on the new door, and the age of the model. Fit is the practical constraint.

The new door's thickness, material and existing cut-out must suit the lock, and a mortise lock moved between doors of different thickness may need a different spindle or strike arrangement. If your old flat had a fire-rated main door and the new one does too, or vice versa, the assembly question changes as well.

A metal gate lock is generally easier to relocate than a main door lock, but gate designs differ enough that it is not guaranteed. Weigh the economics honestly.

If the lock is four or five years old, the cost of removal, transport, refitting and possible replacement parts can approach the cost of a current model with a fresh warranty — and the old door you are leaving behind will need a lock anyway. Send photos of the new door edge and gate to your us before moving day and ask whether your existing model will transfer cleanly. AN handles relocation enquiries through the same after-sales line.

Book the lock as one of the last items, and give the installer a door that is finished, dry and accessible. The sequence that works is straightforward: door and frame installed and set, carpentry and painting complete, floor protection still down, and only then the lock.

Fitting a lock onto a door that is still to be painted means either masking around a new lock or removing it again — both are avoidable. Coordination is the part people underestimate.

Tell your interior designer or main contractor the installation date as soon as you have it, and ask them to confirm the painter's completion date rather than his intention. Confirm on the day before that the door is dry, the flat has access, the corridor is clear enough to work in and someone will be there.

If you are also having a metal gate or a new main door supplied, those carry lead times of their own and must be scheduled ahead of the lock, not alongside it. Keep the flat secure in the meantime with the original or a temporary conventional lock, so the digital lock is not sitting through the dusty phase.

One practical rule: build in a buffer of a few days between "painting done" and "lock installed". Renovation dates slip, and a lock appointment is far easier to move forward than to move back.

When you schedule the lock installation, to avoid having other deliveries on the same day as AN Digital Lock will be working on your entrance. Place our installation after the deliveries are settled in. That will save everyone’s time and installer can focus and complete their job without interruptions.

Where you can, yes — and for a fire-rated main door it is the safer route by a clear margin. The reason is accountability.

When one company supplies and fits the door, the gate and the lock, there is nobody to point at if the latch does not engage, the gate lock fouls the frame, or the door swings out of square. Split the job across three suppliers and every fault becomes a negotiation.

The fire-rated case is the strongest. Certification for a fire-rated door is system-level: under Singapore Standard SS 332, the door and lock must be tested together as a complete assembly, and the certificate for that assembly is issued by an SCDF-accredited certification body — that is the document to ask for.

A lock described as fire-rated on its own is not sufficient. Buying the door and lock from one supplier allows the mortise to be factory-cut into the door before it reaches your flat, which avoids on-site drilling into the door's core — improper drilling can create a path for smoke and fire.

Confirm the certification documents for the specific assembly you are buying rather than taking a general assurance. AN Digital Lock supplies wooden doors, metal gates and locks together, which makes single-source fitting practical.

If you do split suppliers, at minimum have the same company supply the fire-rated door and its lock, and ask to see the certification covering that combination.