Business
Keys are a staffing problem before they are a hardware problem.
Most commercial lock work we get called for is not a broken lock. It is a business that has lost track of who holds a key, discovered the week somebody leaves.
What we do for businesses
Access
Master key systems
One key for the manager, one for the floor, one for the supply cabinet. Designed as a system, so a lost key costs one cylinder and not the building.
Electronic
Access control
Codes, fobs and phones instead of keys. Revoking somebody takes thirty seconds and leaves a record.
Egress
Panic bars & exit devices
Hardware that lets people out instantly and keeps people out from the street. Fitted to code, not improvised.
Now
Office or shop lockout
Storefronts, roll gates, offices and back doors, opened without damage.
Two rules that catch premises out
You cannot lock people in to keep people out
A door people exit through must open from inside without a key, without special knowledge, in one motion.
A double-cylinder deadbolt on a staff exit. A padlock on a rear door during trading. A key-operated bolt on a fire exit. All of these turn up constantly, and all of them are the wrong answer.
The right one is exit hardware that is secure from outside and free from inside. We will not fit the wrong one, even if asked.
Master keying is not always allowed
San Francisco's Building Code states that exterior and main entrance door locks shall not be on any master key system. The Postal Service's own manual likewise instructs that apartment managers must not master-key mailboxes.
If you are planning a system for a building, these shape the design before the first cylinder is ordered.
San Francisco Building Code ch. 10A §1005A.3; USPS Postal Operations Manual §632.625(a). Read from official sources. The full chapter text was not retrievable in one piece, so only the provisions we read directly are quoted.
Words you will hear
If you are handing over or taking over a space
You cannot audit keys you did not issue, and the previous occupant's locksmith cut as many as they were asked for. It is an hour's work, and it is the only moment you can honestly say you know who can get in.
Need someone now?
A person answers, at any hour, in English or Spanish. If it is not urgent, we will hold a day and a time for you instead.
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