The front door is not condo registration — and not a delivery handoff alone
Briefing your helper on what to do when a stranger comes to the door (Singapore) is the employer door-protocol brief for a live-in MDW: who may enter, how to use the peephole or intercom, how to tell a named delivery from an unknown visitor, when to call you or building security, and what never to say (especially that the household is alone or the employer is away). Condo security registration stays on #121. Food-delivery and takeaway handoff stays on #190. Mail or parcels at your address sits on #153. Scam calls or messages sit on #166. This page owns stranger-at-the-door protocol only.
General guidance only. Soft MOM: mom.gov.sg. SmartMaid.com.sg is a marketplace for helper search. Licensed EAs place MDWs. Building doors, intercoms, and visitor apps are not maid agencies — and SmartMaid does not run your estate security. Platform ≠ agency. No invented $. This is not legal advice and not a police lecture — soft household safety framing only.
Neighbouring hubs:
- Registering your helper with condo security (unique #121)
- Food delivery and takeaway orders (unique #190)
- Mail or parcels at your address (unique #153)
- When helper reports a suspected scam (unique #166)
- When you travel and your helper stays home (unique #134)
- Fire-drill basics for HDB and condo units (unique #37)
- Written house rules sheet (unique #32)
- Privacy boundaries for live-in helpers (unique #29)
- Phone and social media boundaries (unique #31)
- When co-employers disagree (unique #120)
- This article: employer door protocol when a stranger comes to the door
Step 1 — Name who may enter — before the next knock
Say aloud who may come inside without a fresh call to you (e.g. named family, your regular cleaner, a contractor you already booked that day) versus who must wait outside or at the lobby until you confirm. Name whether she may open for uniformed estate staff only after she sees a badge through the peephole or hears the estate intercom code you gave her. If co-employers disagree on “always open for Ah Ma vs never open alone,” align first (#120). Write the rule on the house-rules sheet (#32). Condo pass / security registration is a different brief (#121) — this step is who crosses your door threshold, not how she is listed at the guardhouse.
Step 2 — Peephole, intercom, and “never say the house is empty”
Walk the peephole, door chain (if any), and unit intercom or condo visitor app once together. Default soft rule: look or listen first; do not open wide for an unknown face. Script what she may say (“Please wait — I will check with my employer”) and what she must never volunteer: that you are overseas, at work late, or that she is alone with the children. Travel-week cover when you are away stays on #134 — this step only adds the doorline silence rule so a stranger at the door does not learn the household is empty. Soft privacy for her own rest and belongings remains #29; do not turn door safety into an all-night device check (#31).
Step 3 — Delivery vs unknown visitor (handoff off-ramps)
Named food delivery and takeaway handoff stays on #190: confirm the order, receive at the door or lobby as you briefed, no entry unless you said so. Mail and parcels at your address stay on #153. This page only adds: if the person at the door is not on your expected-delivery list, treat them as an unknown visitor — do not invite in “to wait,” do not accept a second parcel “for the neighbour downstairs” unless you named that exception, and call you before opening. If the visitor pressures her by phone or chat to “open now to verify,” route that pressure to the scam-report path (#166) — door protocol and scam protocol can stack, but each keeps its own page.
Step 4 — When to call employer vs building security
Name a simple escalate ladder: (1) call or message you first for unknown visitors; (2) call estate security / guardhouse if you do not answer and she feels unsafe, or if the person refuses to leave the landing; (3) do not invent police scripts on this page — soft household safety only. Condo helpers who already have a security pass still follow your door rules (#121 is registration, not a blank open-door pass). If she must leave the unit for a fire alarm or drill, that exit path stays on #37 — fire exit is not a reason to admit a stranger “who says he is checking the alarm.” Put “call me before opening to unknowns” and “never say employer is away” on the written house-rules sheet (#32).
Step 5 — Soft MOM, fair hours, and platform ≠ agency
Fair treatment and clear rest still apply when you brief door rules — do not turn “stranger at the door” into overnight unpaid lobby duty. Soft only on mom.gov.sg. Estate security rules and visitor-app terms are outside MOM MDW placement rules — do not mix the two. Platform ≠ agency: browsing helpers on SmartMaid is separate from your condo intercom or delivery apps; licensed EAs place MDWs; SmartMaid does not run door security. Food handoff remains #190; parcels #153; travel cover #134; scam pressure #166. No invented $. Not legal advice.
Soft MOM
Clear expectations, fair rest, and respectful communication still apply when you set door and visitor rules. Soft only on mom.gov.sg. Building-security and visitor-app commercial terms are not MOM placement rules — keep them separate.
Checklist
- Who may enter without a fresh call named aloud (family / booked contractor / nobody unknown)
- Peephole / intercom / door-chain walk-through done once together
- Never share that employer is away or that she is alone; travel-week detail off-ramp to #134
- Expected food delivery → #190; mail/parcels → #153; unknown at door stays on this page
- Escalate: call you first, then estate security if needed; no police/legal lecture on this page
- Condo security registration stays on #121; fire exit path stays on #37
- Rule on house-rules sheet (#32); co-employers aligned (#120); soft privacy #29; phone norms fair #31
- Platform ≠ agency; SmartMaid does not run door security; no invented $; not legal advice
Scripts
To helper (first briefing): When someone comes to the door, look through the peephole or use the intercom first. You may open for [named list]. For anyone else, keep the door closed, say you will check with me, and call or message me. Do not say I am away or that you are alone. Do not invite strangers in to wait.
To helper (unknown visitor): If you do not know them and I did not tell you to expect them, do not open. Call me. If I do not answer and they will not leave the landing, call estate security the way we practised.
To helper (delivery vs stranger): For food orders we briefed, follow the food-delivery handoff (#190). For parcels, follow the mail/parcel brief (#153). If it is not on today’s list, treat it as an unknown visitor and call me before opening.
To helper (pressure / scam path): If someone at the door — or a call while they wait — tells you to open now to “verify,” pay, or unlock something, stop and tell me (#166). Do not open.
To co-employer: One door protocol so she is not told “always let Ah Ma in” by one of us and “never open alone” by the other (#120). Condo registration stays on #121; this brief is stranger-at-the-door only.
Bottom line
Decide aloud who may enter, how peephole and intercom work, how expected deliveries differ from unknown visitors, when to call you or estate security, and that she must never share that the employer is away — keep condo registration, food-delivery handoff, mail/parcels, travel-week cover, fire drills, and scam reports on their own pages. Browse helpers on SmartMaid; place MDWs through a licensed EA under soft MOM rules. SmartMaid does not run door security. Soft household safety only — not legal advice.
