Commercial Key Control: Who Has Keys to Your Business
Updated: Aug 22
Business security is not just about whether the doors lock at night. One of the biggest questions is much simpler:
Who has keys to your business?
Employees leave. Managers change. Contractors finish projects. Cleaning companies change personnel. Keys get loaned out, copied, misplaced, or simply never returned.
Over time, a business owner may have no reliable way of knowing how many keys exist or who can still enter the building.
For businesses throughout Minneapolis and the Twin Cities, good key control can be just as important as the quality of the locks themselves.
What Is Commercial Key Control
Key control means having a system for determining who is authorized to have a key, which doors that key operates, and what happens when access is no longer needed.
For a very small business, that may be relatively simple. The owner and a few employees may each have a key.
As a business grows, however, things can become complicated quickly.
Managers may need access to every door. Employees may need access only to the front entrance and their work area. Maintenance personnel may need mechanical rooms and storage areas. Cleaning crews may require after-hours access. Contractors and vendors may occasionally need temporary access.
Without a plan, keys can gradually spread far beyond the people who actually need them.
Employee Turnover Is Where Key Control Often Breaks Down
One of the most common problems occurs when an employee leaves.
The company asks for the key back, the employee returns it, and everyone assumes the problem is solved.
But was another copy ever made?
With many conventional keys, there may be no practical way to know.
That doesn't mean every employee who leaves should be considered a security risk. It simply means the business has lost certainty about how many keys may exist.
Depending on the situation, rekeying the affected locks may be an inexpensive way to restore control. The existing hardware can often remain in place while the cylinders are changed so the previous keys no longer operate the locks.
When Rekeying Makes Sense
Replacing every lock is not always necessary.
If the existing commercial hardware is in good condition, rekeying can change which keys operate the locks without replacing the complete lock.
Businesses commonly consider rekeying when:
An employee or manager leaves without returning a key
Keys are lost or stolen
A business moves into a new location
A tenant changes
Contractors have had temporary access
Nobody knows how many copies of an existing key are circulating
The business wants to reorganize an existing key system
For businesses with several doors, this can also be a good opportunity to consider a master-key system.
Master-Key Systems Can Simplify Access
A properly designed master-key system allows different keys to operate different groups of doors.
For example, an employee's key might operate the main entrance and their department. A supervisor's key might operate several departments. A building manager or owner could have a master key providing broader access.
The advantage is not simply carrying fewer keys. A good master-key system establishes levels of access.
That can be particularly useful for office buildings, warehouses, apartment properties, schools, retail businesses, restaurants, medical offices, and facilities with multiple departments or restricted areas.
Master-key systems should be planned carefully. Giving too many people broad access defeats much of the reason for having the system in the first place.
Restricted Keys and High-Security Key Systems
Businesses that need greater control over key duplication may want to consider a restricted or high-security key system.
B-SAFE Lock & Key works with commercial hardware and key systems from manufacturers including Schlage, Sargent, Corbin Russwin, Yale, BEST, Medeco, and ASSA, along with many other commercial lock manufacturers.
Systems such as Schlage Primus, Medeco, and ASSA can provide a higher level of key control than ordinary hardware when properly designed and managed.
The purpose isn't simply to install a more expensive lock. The goal is to make unauthorized key duplication more difficult and give the business greater control over how keys are issued.
For some businesses, upgrading every door may not be necessary. Higher-security cylinders may be most valuable on exterior entrances, management offices, inventory rooms, records areas, or other sensitive locations.
Keep a Record of Issued Keys
Even a sophisticated lock system loses much of its value if nobody keeps track of the keys.
A basic key-control record should identify the person receiving the key, the key or identification number, the date it was issued, which areas it operates, and whether it was returned.
This becomes particularly important as employees change positions.
Someone who needed access to an inventory room three years ago may no longer need that access today.
Periodic review prevents old permissions from becoming permanent simply because nobody thought about them.
Contractors, Cleaning Crews and Vendors Need a Plan Too
Employees aren't the only people who may receive keys.
Cleaning companies, maintenance personnel, construction contractors, property managers, vendors, and outside service companies may occasionally need access.
Businesses should decide in advance how that access will be handled.
A contractor may need temporary access to one area without receiving a key that operates several unrelated doors. In other situations, electronic access may be more practical because a credential can later be removed without recovering a physical key.
The right approach depends on how frequently outside personnel need access and how sensitive the areas are.
Mechanical Keys or Electronic Access Control
Traditional keys aren't obsolete.
For many businesses, a quality commercial lock and a well-managed key system remain dependable, economical, and easy to maintain.
Electronic access control becomes attractive when access changes frequently.
Employees may enter using a card, key fob, keypad code, mobile credential, or another authorized method. When someone leaves the company, their credential can often be removed without changing the lock for everyone else.
Electronic access can also be useful when management wants different employees to have access at different times or to different areas.
Many businesses use both systems.
A building may have electronic access on its primary employee entrance while retaining mechanical keys on offices, storage rooms, utility areas, and as appropriate backup access.
There is no rule saying the entire building has to use one technology.
Don't Forget the Door Hardware
Key control only works when the rest of the door works properly.
A good cylinder cannot compensate for a door that sags, a latch that doesn't engage, a damaged strike, worn hinges, a failing closer, or commercial hardware that was never appropriate for the opening.
That's why B-SAFE looks at the complete door opening, not simply the cylinder.
Sometimes the correct solution is a rekey. Sometimes it is a new cylinder, lock repair, door adjustment, master-key system, high-security upgrade, or electronic access control.
The right answer depends on what is already there and what the business actually needs.
When Should a Business Review Its Key System
You don't necessarily need to wait until a key disappears.
Moving into a new building, changing management, remodeling, expanding into additional space, experiencing significant employee turnover, or discovering an old key that nobody recognizes are all good reasons to review the system.
One useful question is:
If someone handed you a key to your building today, could you tell exactly what it opens and who should have one?
If the answer is no, the key system may have outgrown the way it is being managed.
Commercial Key Control in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities
B-SAFE Lock & Key has served the Twin Cities since 1972. We help businesses evaluate existing commercial locks and develop practical solutions for rekeying, master-key systems, restricted and high-security keys, commercial lock repair and replacement, and electronic access control.
We work with businesses throughout Minneapolis, Downtown Minneapolis, North Minneapolis, Northeast Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Robbinsdale, Crystal, Golden Valley, Plymouth, Champlin, Anoka, Hopkins, Blaine, and surrounding Twin Cities communities.
Whether you have one commercial entrance or an entire building with multiple levels of access, the goal is the same: know who has access, control who gets access, and have a plan for changing that access when necessary.
B-SAFE Lock & Key
4757 Lyndale Ave North
Minneapolis MN 55430
763-900-8119
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