What it costs, and why
We quote per project. Rather than leave you guessing what that means, here is exactly what moves the number, what the quotation includes, and roughly where to set a budget line.
Quick answer: how Latchwork prices
Latchwork quotes lockers and storage cabinets per project rather than from a rate card, because the price is driven by compartment count, steel gauge, finish, which lock tier you choose, and how difficult the site is to install in — and those vary enough that a published figure would be wrong for most enquiries. As a broad guide, keyed steel lockers start in the low hundreds of Singapore dollars per compartment installed; standalone battery keypad or card locks add a modest cost per compartment and carry no recurring fee at all; connected smart access adds more per compartment plus an annual platform subscription per bank, and is the tier that pays for itself where locker fees are charged. Retrofitting either keyless tier onto lockers you already own is substantially cheaper than replacement. Under the managed model there is no capital cost to the site at all — Latchwork funds and operates everything and pays the site a monthly rental or revenue share. Standard lead time is six to eight weeks including sea freight and installation.
The six things that move the price
In rough order of impact. If you tell us where you land on the first two, we can usually give you a useful range the same day.
Compartment count, not cabinet count
A 24-door bank costs more than a 4-door bank of identical outside dimensions, because it has six times the doors, latches, hinges and locks. Cost tracks compartments far more closely than it tracks floor area, which is why "how many lockers do you need" is the first question rather than "how big is the room".
Which lock tier you choose
A cam lock, a battery keypad lock and a connected electronic latch sit at three clearly different price points, and the last also adds an annual platform subscription per bank. Moving up a tier is the single biggest lever you control. It is worth it in a members' locker room where fees are charged, and usually is not on a store cupboard.
Standard size or made to order
Standard tooling is the cheapest route by a clear margin. A custom width or a bespoke internal layout adds fabrication time and cost, and a fully bespoke housing adds prototyping. Where a standard size will do, we will say so even though the custom version is a larger order for us.
Finish
Standard greys and off-whites are cheapest because they are always running. A custom colour needs its own powder-coat run, which is a fixed setup cost spread across your quantity — so a colour is cheap on a large order and disproportionately expensive on a small one. Wood-effect heat-transfer finishes cost more again.
Getting it into the room
A ground-floor room with a loading bay is straightforward. A basement changing room reached by one small lift, or an installation restricted to hours after closing, adds labour and sometimes forces knock-down construction instead of welded. This is the line item most often underestimated by suppliers quoting from a drawing.
Power at the bank
One socket per bank is all we need, and most rooms already have one within reach. Where they do not, an electrician's work is required and it is your cost — we will flag it at survey rather than let it surface as a variation later.
What each lock tier costs you
The steel is roughly the same at every tier. What changes is the lock, and — at the top — a recurring fee. Stated as bands rather than figures, because the real number moves with compartment count.
Keyed
Lowest per compartment
A cam lock with two keys, a padlock hasp, a coin-return lock or a mechanical combination dial. No power, no batteries, no network, no subscription and nothing to go obsolete. For a great many cabinets this is not a compromise — it is the correct specification, and we quote it without trying to talk you upward.
- Recurring cost
- None. Replacement keys and cylinders as they occur.
- The hidden cost
- Staff time. Key registers, cut keys, deposits and bolt cutters are rarely costed, and at high churn they exceed the saving.
Digital
Mid — hardware only, no recurring fee
A battery-powered lock fitted to each door with its own keypad, RFID reader or fingerprint sensor. It runs entirely offline: nothing is connected to anything, there is no controller, no socket and no monthly fee. This is the tier most sites underestimate, and for day-use rooms and student lockers it is very often the sweet spot.
- Recurring cost
- None. A set of batteries per lock, roughly yearly.
- The hidden cost
- Reprogramming by hand. Reassigning hundreds of compartments means walking the room, door by door.
Connected
Highest — hardware per compartment plus an annual subscription per bank
Electronic latches wired to a controller at the end of the bank, running on the Latchwork platform. Users open by QR scan, PIN, existing access card or a staff remote release. What you are buying is not the unlocking — that is the easy part — but assignment management, automatic fee collection, timed release, access rules per bank and a log of every opening.
- Recurring cost
- Annual platform subscription per bank, not per compartment.
- The hidden cost
- The subscription itself, which only makes sense where it displaces work or collects revenue you are currently losing.
The comparison that matters is over five years, not at purchase. How to tell which tier you need →
What the quotation covers
Stated both ways round, because the exclusions are where quotations get compared unfairly and where variations come from later.
Included as standard
- Site survey, specification and a dimensioned layout drawing
- Manufacture, sea freight, delivery to site and installation
- Levelling, floor or wall fixing, and anti-tip fixings where needed
- Access hardware fitting, platform setup and door numbering
- Staff training on the dashboard, and printed user instructions for the bank
- Warranty on the cabinets and the access hardware
- Removal and disposal of your old lockers, where you ask for it
Not included
- Electrical work where no socket is within reach of the bank
- Builder's work — making good walls, floor levelling, forming recesses
- Any lift or hoist hire needed beyond normal access
- Alterations after manufacture has started, where tooling has been committed
Anything in this column that applies to your site gets flagged in writing at survey, with an estimate, so it is a decision rather than a surprise.
Capital cost, or none at all
We sell both, so there is no reason for us to push you toward the wrong one.
Supply & install
You own the lockers
We specify, supply, deliver and install the cabinets, fit the access hardware, and license you the platform on an annual subscription per bank. The asset is yours, capitalised with the rest of the fit-out, and any locker fees you charge are entirely your revenue.
You pay for
- The capital cost of the cabinets and access hardware
- An annual platform subscription per bank
- Floor space and one 3-pin socket per bank
- Day-to-day administration through the dashboard
The trade-off: It costs money up front, and lockers are a capital item that has to be approved. In exchange the cost per locker over five years is lower than any managed arrangement, and the revenue is all yours.
Managed lockers
We fund, install and operate
We pay for the cabinets, install them, insure them, service them, and handle every user query and payment. You provide the space and a socket. You receive a monthly rental, or a share of the locker revenue generated at your site, and there is no capital outlay at all.
You pay for
- Floor space for the bank
- One standard 3-pin 230 V socket
- Nothing else — no manpower, no keys, no stock, no maintenance
The trade-off: You do not own the asset, and we take the locker revenue in exchange for carrying the cost and the work. Over many years, buying is cheaper. Over the first year, this costs you nothing and can be stopped.
Pricing FAQ
Why not publish a price list?
Because it would be wrong for most people reading it, and we would end up withdrawing it at survey — which wastes your time and costs us credibility. A 24-compartment bank in standard grey with cam locks and a 24-compartment bank in a custom colour on connected access differ by a large multiple. What we can do quickly is give an indicative figure from a photo of the wall, the compartment count and which lock tier you are considering, and we will tell you the range up front rather than making you sit through a visit first.
Roughly what should we budget?
For planning purposes: keyed steel lockers start in the low hundreds of Singapore dollars per compartment installed, and rise with gauge, finish and compartment size. Battery keypad locks add a modest per-compartment cost and no recurring fee. Connected access adds more per compartment plus an annual platform subscription per bank. A lock retrofit onto existing lockers is a fraction of full replacement at either keyless tier, because you keep the steel. Treat these as order-of-magnitude figures for a budget line, not a quotation — the survey is what turns them into a number you can commit to.
Is it cheaper to start keyed and upgrade later, or to go connected now?
If you are reasonably sure you will end up connected within a year or two, going straight there is cheaper — you pay for one lock and one installation visit instead of two. If you are genuinely unsure, start lower. The cut-outs are compatible, an upgrade can be done bank by bank, and the cost of the first set of locks is small next to the cabinets. What we would advise against is buying connected access for a room that has not yet shown it needs it: the subscription runs whether or not anyone is using the features.
Do keypad locks really have no recurring cost?
No subscription, no connectivity fee, nothing billed by us. The ongoing cost is batteries — a set per lock, roughly annually, replaced by your own staff in a few minutes — and eventually a failed lock or two, which we supply as spares. That is genuinely the whole picture, and it is why the digital tier is the right answer more often than a supplier selling a platform would like to admit.
Is the platform subscription per compartment or per bank?
Per bank, on an annual cycle. Charging per compartment would penalise exactly the high-density banks that most need managing, which is the wrong incentive. The subscription covers the connectivity, the dashboard, platform updates and support.
What happens to our lockers if we stop paying the subscription?
The cabinets are yours and remain yours. Without the subscription the connected features stop, and you fall back on the mechanical master override to open compartments — which is functional but is not a locker system, so we would rather discuss what is not working than have you get there. Where a site genuinely wants off the platform, the usual answer is to fit standalone keypad locks into the same doors and carry on without a recurring fee. We do not brick hardware you have paid for.
Do you take deposits, and what are the payment terms?
A deposit on order with the balance on completion of installation is the usual arrangement, since manufacture starts on order and the steel is made to your specification. Terms for MCSTs, schools and larger organisations can follow your own procurement process — tell us what your finance team requires and we will work to it.
Is there a minimum order?
No formal minimum, but small orders carry a disproportionate share of the freight and installation cost, so the price per compartment on two cabinets looks poor next to twenty. If you only need one or two units we will tell you honestly whether waiting to combine it with other works, or buying locally off the shelf, would serve you better.
Does the managed model really cost the site nothing?
For the hardware, installation, insurance and support, yes — there is no capital cost and no maintenance cost, and the site is paid a monthly rental or revenue share. The trade-off, stated plainly: we take the locker revenue, and over five years or more buying outright is cheaper for you. The managed model wins when capital approval is the obstacle or when you want to trial it first.
How firm is the six to eight week lead time?
It is our honest planning figure for standard sizes and finishes, and it includes sea freight, which is the variable part. Custom colours and sizes add to it. If your date is genuinely immovable — a clubhouse reopening, a term start — tell us at the enquiry so we can plan backwards from it, or tell you early that it will not be met.