
If an employee is ever let go, rekeying (changing the locks to work with a new key) for security purposes will only need to be done at the level that the individual had a key. You can keep doors locked in off hours and be assured that no one that shouldn’t have access to a specific door has access to it. Security: Master key systems restrict access for individuals to only those doors that the individual should have access to. If you have multiple locations you simply add another level to the key system (one key for each office, one key for each department, one key that works the entire building and one key that works every building). Master keying can even go a step further. The third level.Įxample of a Master Key System Using Color Coding to Show Who Has Access to a Particular Door Sr Staff or Owners have a key that works every door in every department.Department heads have a key that works every office in the department.Office staff have keys to just their individual doors, that is the first level.The above is an example of a three-level master-key system. Going further down the chain of command, office staff can then have a key that works only their individual offices.

However, the senior staff or owner’s key will still open each door within the legal department because the locks are master keyed and work with two different keys. Even though the legal department head’s key works every key in the legal department, it won’t work any door lock outside of the legal department. Let’s take a legal department as an example. Then, moving down in seniority, department heads can have one key that works every door in just their department. They carry one key and can access everything. In a master key system, senior staff can have one key that operated every lock in the company: every deadbolt, every door, every padlock, every storage location, everything.

What ends up happening is that staff with offices are told not to lock their doors, and this introduces a major security risk for your business, because anyone can now go anywhere without needing a key. The more senior you are, the more you have access to, the bigger your key ring gets! If you need to gain entry to one specific office when a manager is away, a ton of time is wasted tracking down the right key. In the end, your businesses senior staff may have twenty, thirty, or even more keys they need to keep track of to get into any one door. Locks are installed, door hardware is changed, and keys are lost. Meaning your cleaning crew and/or managers may have to carry a huge key ring for all the office doors or store them in a key cabinet someplace.Īdditionally, over the course of your business’s growth, facilities are added and managers come and go. When the locks were originally installed, the lock cylinders usually work from just a single key. You may want the director of that division to have a key that works every office door within the division, but you may only want individual team members to have keys to their own office. A regular rekey, where one key works every lock, is a typical residential lock service, but master keying if more common in locks of businesses.Īn ideal example of this would be for a group of office doors within your commercial building that house a particular division.
