How Archstone Replaced Outdated Badging with Smart Access Control and Real-Time Safety Oversight

Archstone has built its reputation across New York by taking on complex, mixed-use builds – often from the ground up, always under pressure. For Michael Drumm, Head of Safety, the real challenge wasn’t just managing crews or ticking compliance boxes. It was maintaining airtight DOB compliance, protecting site safety, and knowing-without doubt-who was on-site, what they were certified to do, and whether the records would stand up when it counted.


“We needed a system that was more secure than a swipe card,” Drumm said. “People were passing cards around. You scan once, hand it off, scan again. We had no way of knowing who was really on-site.”


In 2021, Archstone began rolling out BiltOn. What started as a fix for access control quickly embedded itself into site workflows—and four years on, it’s part of how Archstone operates.


Accurate Records, Trusted Access


BiltOn’s facial recognition system provides consistent visibility across active sites. “You know who’s on-site and when,” Drumm said. “It’s reliable. That’s what matters.”


For Archstone, that consistency supports everything from scheduling to compliance. “When trades rotate and timelines shift, you need records that don’t fall apart under pressure.”


Reducing Paper, Reclaiming Time


What started with better gate control expanded quickly. “We kept adopting new features as they came out,” Drumm explained. “Pre-shifts, safety logs, orientations—it all moved into the platform.”


That shift gave field teams time back. “Supers used to spend their mornings buried in admin. Now, the workers do their own onboarding through a QR code before they arrive. Our guys just check and go.”


Even better, those records aren’t going anywhere. “The number one thing that keeps me up at night is recordkeeping,” Drumm said. “On sites without BiltOn, we scan to hard drives. If that scanner’s down, or someone misfiles something, it’s lost. But with BiltOn, everything’s in one place—digitally tracked, instantly searchable.”


No Fuss, No Learning Curve


Tech adoption often stumbles on the human side. Not this time. “We’ve got older supers who still like doing things on paper,” Drumm said. “But BiltOn made it easy. Their team came out, trained us in person, gave us cheat sheets, the lot.”


And the rollout didn’t add friction. “When we’ve got a new ‘out-of-the-ground’ job, we just call them. Next day, the turnstile shows up, the face scanners get powered up, and we’re live. No drama.”


Procore Integration, Streamlined Compliance


With most of Archstone’s day-to-day operations already running through Procore, integration mattered. “As they built in Procore syncing, it made our lives easier,” Drumm said. “Pre-shifts, orientations, headcounts—it all shows up where we need it. And the more they pipe through, the less double entry we deal with.”


That clarity helps beyond the site. “When insurance comes to do a walk, I show them the platform. They love it. No binders. No guessing. Just a clean, searchable record.”


Project Flexibility, Night-Shift Access, and Cleaner Fit-Outs


While BiltOn started as a tool for large-scale builds, Archstone now uses it across interior fit-outs too. “We skip the turnstiles for those, but the access control, the recordkeeping—it’s still a time-saver.”


Even the quirks of NYC construction play well. “When architects show up at 10pm, our supers get a ping on their phone and can open the gate from bed,” Drumm said. “They think that’s pretty slick.”


Built In, Not Bolted On


Four years in, BiltOn isn’t treated as a vendor anymore—it’s infrastructure. “It’s part of how we work. They build the stuff we need before we even know we need it,” Drumm said. “They move fast. We trust them.”


That trust has been earned through responsiveness and real partnership. When Archstone suggests a feature or raises a friction point, BiltOn listens. “They’re agile. They’ve got that founder mindset. And that’s rare.”


Archstone continues to expand its use of BiltOn across NYC builds, with new phases already in motion. For a firm juggling multiple job types, shifting crews, and high compliance expectations, the platform hasn’t just delivered savings. It’s delivered certainty.