Ask any general contractor or security installer who has worked on an access controlled door opening and you will hear the same story. The hollow metal fabricator did not prep the frame correctly. The electrician has only one conduit drop to each frame location. The network cable contractor arrives with no access to the door position switches that are a surprise to everyone. Nobody agrees on whose problem it is, and the job grinds to a halt while everyone points fingers, delaying closeout and owner move in. It happens on nearly every job. It does not have to.
The Job Site Nobody Wants to Be On
Access controlled door openings involve more trades than almost any other element in a building. The hollow metal contractor, the door hardware supplier, the electrician, the low-voltage contractor, and the security integrator all converge on the same door opening. Ironically, hollow metal frames are virtually the same across the industry, yet there are no standards for how wires should be installed in them. In today’s world, how is this possible?
With no standard process and no single trade taking ownership, the same problems repeat themselves on every job. Back boxes missing or installed in the wrong location. No wire pathway covered in the bid documents. Missing preps. Each trade arrives expecting the previous one to have figured it out, and none of them did. Contractors get into this business because they enjoy building. This is not construction…this is combat, and it wears on you.
Why the Scopes Keep Colliding
The root of the problem is that hollow metal door frames were designed over 120 years ago and were never contemplated to have wires inside them. There are still no industry standards today for how to do it properly. That gap leaves every trade on the job to improvise, and improvisation at the intersection of multiple scopes is a reliable recipe for conflict.
The result is delays, change orders, and rework that cost every sub time and money. And because no single trade owns the problem, no single trade feels responsible for solving it. The arguing is not just frustrating. It is expensive.
What a Clean Separation of Scopes Actually Looks Like
The solution is not better communication or more detailed RFIs. The solution is a process where each trade can do their work independently, without waiting on or working around another.
The frame fabricator preps the frame at the shop. The installer runs wires through a clear, protected pathway. The security contractor terminates at the device. No surprises. No conflicts. No one redoing the work of a previous installer. This is how every other part of construction works. Access control should be no different.
A clean separation of scopes does not just reduce conflict. It makes the work itself more straightforward and more satisfying for everyone involved.
How Frame Frog Makes It Possible
Frame Frog is a wire management solution that installs inside hollow metal door frames, creating the protected pathway that makes clean scope separation a reality. The frame fabricator installs Frame Frog at the shop, so when the frame arrives on site the pathway is already there. Because the pathway is fully connected within the frame, the electrician only needs to drop one conduit from above ceiling to any Frog of his choosing, creating a fully accessible pathway to every device. The low-voltage contractor can now run their wires to every device at any time, even late in the project. The security integrator terminates at the device. Each trade does their work independently, in the right sequence, without conflict.
The Frame Frog SHORT and Frame Frog LONG are designed to accommodate the full range of access control devices found on a door frame, and Frame Frog Kits package everything needed for a complete frame pathway in a single box, making procurement and distribution at the shop straightforward. For general contractors looking to streamline the process on their projects, more information is available on the For General Contractors page. Security and low-voltage contractors can find relevant guidance on the For Installers page.
Better Process Means Better Work
When the workflow is clean, every trade on the job can focus on their work, efficiently performing the way it was planned. The frame gets prepped correctly. The wires go in cleanly. The devices terminate without surprises. The job closes out on time.
Frame Frog does not just solve a wiring problem. It gives every trade on the job a process that actually works, so the arguments, delays, and change orders that have plagued access control installations for decades stop being the default outcome.
Every job does not have to be this way. Contact the Frame Frog team or request a demo to see how it works on your next project.