Bidding Plus: Why Intelligent Buildings Projects Prefer Maintenance-Free Locks

In the bidding of intelligent buildings, details determine success or failure - the evaluation experts are quietly tilting the score sheet to “full-cycle value”. In the bidding of a commercial complex project, the A program was surpassed by the B program (maintenance-free passive locks, full-cycle cost reduction of 40%) due to the selection of traditional electronic locks (annual operation and maintenance cost estimate of 800,000 yuan); in a Class A office building project, the locking program of “20 years of zero-maintenance” directly contributes to 15% of the technical score. ......

This article analyzes how maintenance-free locks have become the “bidding hard currency” of intelligent buildings, helping you accurately hit the pain points of the evaluation and seize the opportunity to add points.

Traditional locks: “invisible deductions” in bidding and tendering

1. Operation and maintenance cost black hole, pulling down the cost-effective score

· The average annual maintenance cost of traditional electronic locks accounts for 30%-50% of the purchase price (e.g., 1,000 locks annual battery replacement costs more than 200,000 yuan), and intelligent building projects generally require “20 years of full life-cycle services”, long-term operation and maintenance budget overruns directly lead to the commercial points deduction.

· real case: a Malaysian smart city project, because of the traditional locks 3 years battery replacement budget exceeded expectations, the review questioned “lack of cost control capabilities”, and ultimately lost the election.

2. Reliability risk, become a technical score hard

· Circuit failures, battery leakage and other problems account for 60% of security failures in intelligent buildings, leading to the failure of “system stability” indicators (e.g. LEED certification requires equipment failure rate <5%).

· The tender of a German Industry 4.0 Park explicitly states that “proof of 10 years of trouble-free operation of locks must be provided”, and traditional locks are directly excluded because they cannot meet this requirement.

3. Intelligent disconnect, lost innovation points

· traditional mechanical locks / battery locks can not be connected to the building management system (BMS), and intelligent buildings require “interoperability of data between devices”, which alone may lose 10% of the technical innovation points.

Maintenance-free locks of the three “bidding must kill technology”

1. Full-cycle cost advantage, the business score is stable high score

0 maintenance cost: Take passive electronic locks as an example, no battery, no line design, 20 years of operation and maintenance costs close to zero, compared with traditional locks to save 60%-80% expenditure (see the table below).

Cost Items	Traditional electronic locks (1000, 20 years)	Maintenance-free passive locks (1000 units, 20 years)	Spread Impact
Purchase Cost	$150,000	180,000 (slightly higher initially)	Business Score - 5
O&M Costs	$300,000	$0	Business Score + 15 points
Total Score Comparison	-	Net Savings $300,000, Difference + 10 points	Directly affects the probability of winning the bid

Extra points for green energy saving: Battery-free design meets the requirements of LEED, WELL and other international certifications for “sustainable materials”. For example, the U.S. Smart Buildings Council (USGBC) specifies: “Maintenance-free equipment earns an additional 2 points from the Materials and Resources (MR) board”.

2. Hardcore reliability, technical score crushing rivals

· industrial-grade durability: IP66 protection (anti-high-pressure water jet) + resistance to temperature difference from -25℃ to +65℃, passing 200,000 times of opening and closing test, meeting the “harsh environmental adaptability” index of intelligent buildings (such as China GB/T 34018-2017 intelligent building standard).

· Intelligent and seamless access: supports BMS system docking, real-time uploading of locking records and authority status, helps realize “security visualization management”, meets the requirements of ISO 27001 information security management system, and scores at least +5 points for technical innovation.

3. 10,000 locks and one key management, hitting the pain point of the project

· Intelligent buildings need to manage 3000+ equipment rooms / lockers on average, and the traditional program needs 200+ keys, while the maintenance-free locks “one key to open + APP authority management”:

· improves O&M efficiency by 70% (authority adjustment from “manual key change” to “cell phone second authorization”);

· meets GDPR data privacy requirements (traceability of operation logs, compliant with EU Digital Construction Act), compliance score + 3 points.

“Invisible plus points” in the eyes of bid evaluation experts

1. Reducing the difficulty of management by Party A and winning the favor of owners

In the bidding of a super Grade A office building in Shanghai, ·, the solution of “property owners can unify the management of all equipment room locks through cell phones” was directly recommended by the owner's representative as “the best user experience solution” because it “reduces the workload of key management by 90%”.

2. Shorten the construction cycle, help the progress of points

Maintenance-free locks are compatible with traditional mechanical lock holes, and the installation time is compressed from 2 hours to 10 minutes, shortening the construction cycle of 1,000 locks from 20 days to 3 days, which meets the requirement of “fast delivery” of intelligent buildings, resulting in a progress score of +5 points.

3. Brand endorsement effect

· through CE, UL, GB/T 37978 and other domestic and international certification of the product, can prove the maturity of the technology, such as China's “Intelligent Building Design Standards” GB 50314-2015 clearly: “the use of international certified products can be prioritized”, brand score + 3 points.

Bidding practice: how to package the advantages of maintenance-free locks?

1. Accurate benchmarking with scoring tables

· set up a separate chapter on “Total Life Cycle Cost Analysis” in the technical bid, and quantified the advantages with a comparison table;

· highlights “0 O&M budget” in the commercial bid, and attaches a “20-year cost commitment letter” to eliminate Party A's worries.

2. Case testimony to strengthen persuasive power

· Cite the benchmark project: “Beijing Daxing International Airport Intelligent Cargo Area adopts maintenance-free locks, realizes 0 failure in 3 years, and is awarded ‘China Intelligent Building Excellent Case’;

· Provide test reports: Attach the “200,000 times trouble-free operation test report” and “IP66 protection level certification” issued by a third-party organization, and points can be added directly at the evaluation site.

3. Differentiated value-added services

· promises “5-year warranty + lifelong technical support”, comparing with 2-year warranty of traditional suppliers, the service score is +5 points;

· provides “Customized Management System Docking Solution”, which is adapted to Party A's existing BMS platform, and the compatibility score is +3 points.

Intelligent building locks selection of 3 iron law

1. Complete certification: Priority is given to products that have passed GB/T 2423 (China), EN 1634 (EU), UL 1034 (USA) and other target market standards;

2. Traceable data: Require suppliers to provide the actual project failure rate, maintenance costs and other data, refusing to “theoretical value” talk;

3. Localized service: choose the brand that has spare parts warehouse and technical team in the project location, such as Southeast Asia projects give priority to suppliers with service center in Malaysia.

In intelligent building bidding, choosing maintenance-free locks is not only a product selection, but also a precise positioning of “full-cycle value”. When the evaluation experts see the key words “30% cost reduction”, “20 years 0 maintenance”, “seamless connection with BMS system”, the plus points have been locked quietly -- click the link below, let the maintenance-free locks become your “secret weapon” to win the bid!

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