What is tailgating at a condo, and how do you stop it? Tailgating is when someone without access follows an authorised person through a gate, door or car park barrier before it closes. It is the most common way strangers get into Singapore condos. You stop it with a mix of resident habits, better gate and barrier design, alerts to the guardhouse, CCTV, and a visitor system that gives genuine guests their own way in so nobody needs to follow anyone.
Tailgating rarely feels like a security breach. A resident holds the lobby door for someone carrying groceries. A car follows closely behind a resident’s car under the barrier. A delivery rider slips through the side gate as someone walks out. Each moment feels polite or harmless. But together, they make access cards, barriers and guardhouses much less effective.
Why tailgating happens
- Politeness: holding the door is a normal courtesy, and challenging a stranger feels awkward.
- Slow gates: doors and barriers that stay open too long give time for a second person or car to follow.
- Inconvenient visitor process: if registering at the guardhouse is slow, visitors and riders look for a shortcut.
- Busy guards: one officer handling calls, deliveries and cars cannot watch every door.
- No feedback: if nobody knows tailgating happened, nothing changes.
Where tailgating happens most in condos
Common tailgating points and fixes
| Location |
How it happens |
Practical fix |
| Car park barrier |
A second car follows closely before the arm lowers |
Faster barrier closing, vehicle loop detection, LPR logging |
| Pedestrian side gate |
Someone walks in as a resident walks out |
Self-closing gates, door-held-open alerts, CCTV |
| Block lobby door |
Residents hold the door for strangers |
Resident awareness, door alarms, smart door stations |
| Basement lift lobby |
Strangers enter from the car park after a car tailgates |
Access control at lift lobbies, limited lift access |
| Service and loading gates |
Gates left open during deliveries or moves |
Time-limited contractor passes, guard checks, alerts |
What residents can do
Residents are the first line of defence. A few simple habits make a big difference:
- Let doors close behind you. It is fine to be polite, but let visitors use the intercom or their own pass.
- Pre-register your guests. When your visitors have their own QR pass or registered plate, they do not need to follow you in.
- Do not lend your access card. Cards are tied to your unit, and misuse appears in the logs under your name.
- Wait for the barrier to close. If a car is following too closely, pause and let the guard deal with it.
- Report patterns. If you notice the same door being propped open or a stranger following residents, tell the guardhouse or managing agent.
What guards and managing agents can do
- Monitor door alarms: door-held-open and forced-door alerts should reach the guardhouse in real time.
- Review footage after alerts: a quick check on CCTV shows whether the alert was harmless or a tailgate.
- Patrol known weak points: include side gates and lift lobbies in guard tour routes.
- Brief residents regularly: short reminders in the app or on noticeboards keep tailgating front of mind.
- Fix the visitor bottleneck: a faster guardhouse process removes the main reason people tailgate.
Technology that reduces tailgating
Licence plate recognition at the barrier
LPR cameras read each vehicle’s plate and open the barrier only for allowed vehicles. Every entry is logged with a photo and time stamp, so a car that slipped in behind another can be identified later. myCondo integrates with LPR cameras from partners such as Dahua Technology and Hikvision. The Dahua ITC413-PW4D, for example, has built-in relays to control the barrier directly and can hold allowlists of up to 110,000 plates, while Hikvision’s DeepinView ANPR cameras can also flag vehicles without a readable plate.
Smart door stations at lobbies and gates
Door stations that recognise residents’ faces, QR passes or cards let each person open the door for themselves. The Akuvox X915S supports face recognition with anti-spoofing, QR, PIN, Bluetooth and RFID cards, and stores up to 20,000 faces. When every resident and guest has their own credential, there is less reason for anyone to hold the door.
Door alarms and alerts
Access control systems can send an alert when a door is held open for too long or opened without a valid credential. Routed to the guardhouse screen, these alerts turn tailgating from an invisible habit into something guards can act on.
CCTV linked to access events
When access events and video are linked, guards can jump straight to the footage of a specific door at a specific time. Video platforms such as Milestone XProtect, which supports more than 16,500 devices, and Hikvision recorders make this practical for most condos.
The visitor system is your best anti-tailgating tool
Most tailgating is not malicious. It happens because getting in the proper way is slow or confusing. When residents can invite guests in an app, guests get a QR pass or plate registration, and riders get a short-term pass to the right lobby, everyone has a legitimate way in. That removes most of the pressure to follow someone through a door.
myCondo combines visitor pre-registration, QR passes, LPR and door station integration in one platform, so each visitor has their own credential and every entry is logged.
A 30-day anti-tailgating plan for MCSTs
- Week 1: map every entry point and note which have alarms, cameras and self-closing hardware.
- Week 2: review a week of door alarms and CCTV at the busiest points to see where tailgating happens.
- Week 3: fix quick wins: door closers, barrier timing, signage and resident reminders.
- Week 4: plan longer-term upgrades, such as LPR, smart door stations and digital visitor passes, for council approval.
Frequently asked questions
Is tailgating really a security risk in a condo?
Yes. It is one of the most common ways uninvited people get into residential estates, and it bypasses access cards, barriers and guard checks.
Should residents challenge strangers who follow them in?
Residents should not put themselves at risk. Letting the door close and informing the guardhouse is enough.
Can LPR stop a car from following another under the barrier?
LPR logs every plate, and combined with correct barrier timing and vehicle detection, it makes tailgating much harder and easier to trace.
Do door alarms annoy residents?
Alerts can go to the guardhouse rather than sounding loudly, so they inform guards without disturbing residents.
What is the cheapest first step?
Resident awareness and fixing door closers and barrier timing cost little and often reduce tailgating noticeably.
Stop tailgating at your estate
Our team can review your gates, doors and barriers and recommend practical improvements, from quick fixes to integrated LPR and door station upgrades.
WhatsApp or call: +65 8812 3888
Email: [email protected]
Address: 8 Ubi Road 2, #07-13 Zervex, Singapore 408538
Related reading: Delivery Riders and Condo Security and QR Code Visitor Passes in Condos
