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One key for the manager. One for each door.
A master system is a design, not a product. Done properly a lost key costs you one cylinder. Done badly it costs you every lock in the building.
What a master system actually is
Every lock in the system takes two keys: its own change key, and a master key that opens it along with the others in its group. Larger buildings add a grand master above that.
The design is the whole job
The pinning chart that makes this work is where the value and the risk both sit. A chart drawn carelessly produces cross keying, where a key opens a lock it was never meant to and nobody notices for a year. It also produces systems with no room left, so the day you add a suite you have to start again.
We design with headroom, we write the chart down, and we give you a copy. If you ever change locksmith, that document is what stops the new one telling you to replace everything.
Key control, which is the part that fails
The weak point of every master system is not the cylinders. It is the twelve people who have had a master key over seven years and the two nobody can name.
- Restricted blanks. A patented keyway means a tenant cannot have a master cut at a kiosk. This is the single most useful thing you can buy.
- A signed key register. Who holds what, since when. Boring, and the only thing that works.
- Keyed-alike groups where masters are not needed. Not every door needs to be in the system.
Words you will hear
Two doors that must not be on your master system
Front doors in San Francisco
San Francisco's own Building Code, chapter 10A on security requirements, states at section 1005A.3 that "Exterior and main entrance door locks shall not be on any master key system." If somebody has offered you one key for every front door in a San Francisco building, that is the provision to put in front of them.
Mailboxes, anywhere
The USPS Postal Operations Manual states at section 632.625 that for apartment house receptacles, "Masterkeying is not permitted." It is a common arrangement and it is not an allowed one.
And one that should be
South San Francisco and San Mateo both require, in their own codes, that apartment laundry rooms stay locked with locks that unit keys will open, while separately requiring that no two units share a key. That is a two level scheme, and it is exactly what a properly designed master system delivers.
San Francisco Building Code ch. 10A §1005A.3; USPS Postal Operations Manual §632.625; SSFMC §15.48.050; San Mateo Municipal Code §23.54.070.
When it is worth it, and when it is not
Worth it: a building with more than a handful of doors, staff turnover, several tenants, shared plant rooms, or anybody who needs to reach every door in a hurry.
Not worth it: a house. A small office with four doors and three staff is better served by keying the doors alike, which costs almost nothing and has none of the complexity.
We will tell you which one you are, including when the answer is the cheap one.
Questions
We already have a system and the chart is lost.
Common. We can read the existing cylinders and rebuild the chart, or design a fresh system over the top. Rebuilding is usually cheaper and we will tell you if it is not.
A master key went missing. Does everything have to be replaced?
Not if the system was designed with headroom. We rotate the system to a new master level and recut keys. If it was built with no room, the options are narrower, and that is why we build them the way we do.
Can a tenant get a master cut at a kiosk?
With an ordinary blank, yes, trivially. With a restricted keyway, no. That is what you are paying for.
How long does a system take?
Design and quote in a day or two for a normal building. Fitting depends on the door count and we schedule it around your hours.
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.
Or leave your details and we will call you.