Warehouse Door Security: Locks, Access Control & Commercial Hardware
Updated: Aug 22
A warehouse door does a lot more than close off a building. Warehouse doors control employee access, protect inventory, secure loading and receiving areas, separate restricted spaces, and provide safe exits for employees.
Unlike a small office with only a few entrances, a warehouse or industrial building may have dozens of different door openings. Employee entrances, loading areas, shipping and receiving doors, offices, maintenance rooms, inventory rooms, and exterior personnel doors may all require different types of commercial door hardware.
B-SAFE Lock & Key has been helping secure commercial properties throughout Minneapolis and the Twin Cities since 1972. We service commercial locks, master key systems, high-security locks, exit devices, door closers, electric strikes, keypad locks, and electronic access-control hardware.
The key to good warehouse security isn't putting the strongest lock you can find on every door. It's choosing the right commercial hardware for the way each door is actually used.
Start With the Doors People Actually Use
When evaluating warehouse security, don't look only at the main entrance.
Some of the most important doors may be employee entrances, side doors, loading-area personnel doors, and interior doors separating the warehouse from offices, maintenance areas, tool rooms, or valuable inventory.
Walk through the building during normal operations and consider:
Who needs access through this door?
How frequently is the door used?
Should employees have keys, keypad codes, cards, or fobs?
Does the door close and latch properly on its own?
Is the existing lock appropriate for the amount of traffic?
Is this door part of a required exit route?
Are former employees or contractors still holding keys?
A warehouse may have excellent locks and still have poor security if doors are routinely propped open, don't latch correctly, or have keys that are no longer accounted for.
The Lock Is Only One Part of the Door
One mistake we see with commercial doors is concentrating entirely on the lock.
A quality lock cannot compensate for a sagging door, damaged frame, loose strike, worn hinge, or improperly adjusted door closer.
If a warehouse door isn't latching, replacing the lock isn't automatically the answer. The problem may be door alignment, hinges, the strike, the closer, or damage to the door or frame.
At B-SAFE Lock & Key, we look at the complete door opening before recommending hardware. Sometimes a commercial door needs a new lock. Other times an adjustment or repair is the better solution.
That's particularly important with high-use warehouse doors where forklifts, carts, pallets, weather, and thousands of opening cycles can take their toll.
Choose Commercial-Grade Hardware for High-Traffic Doors
Warehouse doors can receive considerably more use than residential or light-duty doors.
ANSI/BHMA Grade 1 hardware represents the highest performance grade and is commonly used for demanding commercial applications. Depending on the opening, Grade 1 commercial hardware may be appropriate for frequently used employee entrances, exterior doors, and other high-traffic areas.
Warehouse and commercial door hardware can include:
Commercial cylindrical lever locks
Mortise locks
Rim and mortise cylinders
Commercial deadbolts
High-security cylinders
Restricted key systems
Panic bars and exit devices
Door closers
Continuous hinges
Electric strikes
Electrified locks
Keypad locks
Card and key-fob access systems
B-SAFE services many of the major commercial hardware manufacturers commonly found throughout Twin Cities buildings, including Schlage, SARGENT, BEST, Corbin Russwin, Medeco, ASSA ABLOY, Von Duprin, LCN, Adams Rite, HES, Falcon, Dormakaba, Alarm Lock, Securitron, Detex, Hager, Norton, Ives, McKinney, Pemko, and others.
These are the kinds of names a maintenance technician, building engineer, or property manager may find stamped on a lock, faceplate, exit device, electric strike, or door closer when trying to identify existing commercial hardware.
Pay Attention to Exit Devices and Panic Hardware
Warehouse exit doors deserve special attention because security has to work together with safe egress.
Commercial panic and exit devices are available in several configurations, including rim, mortise, surface vertical rod, and concealed vertical rod exit devices.
Common commercial manufacturers include Von Duprin, SARGENT, Corbin Russwin, Falcon, Detex, and Dormakaba.
A malfunctioning exit device shouldn't simply be ignored because the door still opens. Loose hardware, poor alignment, damaged latches, worn components, or problems with the door closer can eventually result in a door that doesn't latch or an exit device that doesn't operate correctly.
Required exit and fire-rated doors also have specific requirements. Hardware should not simply be added to an exit door to make it "more secure" without considering safe egress and applicable building and fire requirements.
The goal is straightforward: keep the building secure while allowing people to exit safely when necessary.
Door Closers Matter More Than Most People Realize
A lock can't secure a door that never closes.
Commercial door closers are responsible for bringing a door back to the closed and latched position after someone passes through.
A closer that is leaking, improperly adjusted, damaged, or no longer strong enough to overcome weather, air pressure, or door resistance can leave an otherwise secure warehouse door partially open.
Common commercial closer manufacturers found throughout Twin Cities buildings include LCN, Norton, SARGENT, Hager, and Dormakaba.
If employees regularly have to pull a door shut behind them, something needs attention.
B-SAFE Lock & Key services and replaces commercial door closers and can also inspect the door, hinges, frame, latch, and locking hardware to determine what is actually causing the problem.
Control Your Warehouse Keys
One of the biggest warehouse security problems can be surprisingly simple:
Nobody knows how many keys are out there.
Over the years, keys may have been issued to employees, supervisors, temporary workers, vendors, contractors, maintenance personnel, and former management.
If keys are missing or employee access has changed, rekeying may be more practical than replacing otherwise good commercial hardware.
For larger facilities, a properly designed master key system can provide different levels of access. Management might have broader access while individual employees receive keys that operate only the doors necessary for their jobs.
For facilities requiring tighter key control, B-SAFE Lock & Key also works with restricted and high-security key systems, including systems from manufacturers such as Medeco, ASSA, and Schlage Primus.
Restricted key systems can provide much better control over who is authorized to obtain duplicate keys.
Electronic Access Control Can Solve the Lost-Key Problem
Warehouses with multiple shifts, numerous employees, or frequent employee turnover may benefit from electronic access control.
Instead of issuing traditional keys to everyone, selected entrances can use:
Key cards
Key fobs
Keypads
Electronic credentials
Electric strikes
Electrified locks
Electronic access control can make it easier to add or remove an employee's access without rekeying an entire facility every time staffing changes.
Different employees can also be given access to different doors or areas depending on their responsibilities.
Commercial products such as HES electric strikes, Alarm Lock electronic locks, Securitron components, and other professional access-control hardware can be incorporated into a properly designed commercial door system.
Electronic access does not eliminate the need for good mechanical hardware. The door still needs to be properly aligned, latch correctly, and close reliably.
Loading Areas and Side Doors Deserve Extra Attention
The front entrance isn't necessarily the weakest point in a warehouse.
Loading docks, employee parking entrances, trash areas, shipping and receiving areas, and side doors may receive far less attention while providing direct access into the facility.
These doors should be checked for:
Proper closing and latching
Damaged locks or exit hardware
Worn hinges
Loose or damaged strikes
Failed or leaking door closers
Unauthorized or unaccounted-for keys
Doors routinely being propped open
Interior doors between loading areas and offices, inventory storage, tool rooms, server rooms, or other restricted areas can provide an important second layer of security.
Don't Wait Until the Door Stops Working
Commercial doors usually give warning signs before they completely fail.
A lever starts sagging. A key becomes difficult to turn. The door begins rubbing. The closer starts leaking. The latch doesn't catch every time. Employees begin pulling or pushing the door shut manually.
Those are problems worth addressing before somebody arrives for work and discovers the building can't be properly opened or secured.
Minnesota weather makes preventative commercial door maintenance especially important. Temperature changes, snow, ice, moisture, road salt, and seasonal building movement can all affect exterior commercial doors throughout the year.
Regular inspection can identify worn hardware before a relatively small problem becomes an expensive emergency repair.
Why Twin Cities Businesses Choose B-SAFE Lock & Key
When you're choosing someone to work on the security of your warehouse or commercial building, knowing who you're dealing with matters.
B-SAFE Lock & Key has been serving the Twin Cities since 1972 and maintains a brick-and-mortar locksmith location in Minneapolis.
We're not simply a phone number routed to an unknown technician.
Our experience includes commercial locks, commercial rekeying, master key systems, high-security locks and keys, panic hardware, exit devices, door closers, electric strikes, keypad locks, electronic locking hardware, and access-control systems.
We work with business owners, property managers, maintenance departments, building engineers, commercial property owners, and facility managers throughout Minneapolis and the surrounding Twin Cities.
Whether you're dealing with one troublesome warehouse door or evaluating the security of an entire commercial facility, B-SAFE Lock & Key can inspect the existing hardware and help determine whether adjustment, repair, rekeying, upgrading, or replacement makes the most sense.
B-SAFE Lock & Key – Commercial Locksmith Services
B-SAFE Lock & Key
4757 Lyndale Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55430
Phone: 763-900-8119
Email: service@bsafelock.com
Website: bsafelock.com
Serving Minneapolis–St. Paul and surrounding areas since 1972.
Commercial locksmith service is available throughout Downtown Minneapolis, Uptown Minneapolis, North Minneapolis, Northeast Minneapolis, South Minneapolis, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Columbia Heights, Fridley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Golden Valley, St. Louis Park, Plymouth, Maple Grove, Roseville, New Brighton, Blaine, and surrounding Twin Cities communities.
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