7 Signs Your Business Locks Need Attention

A business door opens hundreds of times a week, keys pass through more hands than at home, and staff come and go. Locks that were fine when the business opened quietly drift out of control. None of the signs below is dramatic on its own, but each one is a door that isn't as secure as you think.

1. Keys you can't account for

Former employees, a previous manager, a cleaning company, a contractor who needed access for a week. If you can't list everyone who holds a key today, assume some are out there.

The fix is rekeying the cylinders so the old keys stop working, handing new keys to the people who need them, and writing it down. There's more on that record below.

2. A door that doesn't latch or lock every time

A door that has to be pulled shut, pushed to lock or checked twice at closing is a door that will one day be left open. On storefront doors it's often the bolt not reaching fully into the frame, or a worn part inside the lock. Glass doors with narrow metal frames take hard use, and their locks wear faster than the ones at home.

Check it the same way as at home: does the lock work smoothly with the door open? If yes, it's alignment. If no, it's the lock. Our guide to a door that won't lock walks through it.

3. A cylinder that sticks, spins or wobbles

• A key that sticks or has to be jiggled is a worn key, a worn cylinder or dirt inside.
• A cylinder that turns in the door, or sits loose in its housing, is a security problem as well as an annoyance.
• A lock that only one person can work, with their own trick, is a lock that has already failed.

These are lock repair jobs, or replacement when the lock is past repair.

4. Signs of tampering

Fresh scratches around the keyhole, a bent door edge, pry marks near the strike or a cylinder that suddenly feels different are all worth taking seriously. Even if nobody got in, a lock that has been attacked may be weaker than it looks.

5. After a break-in or a lost key

After a break-in, the lock that was attacked needs repairing or replacing, and any keys that were inside should be treated as gone. After a lost key, especially one on a ring with the business name on it, rekey the doors it opened.

Then walk the building and check every door, not just the one that was used. A damaged lock on a back door is easy to miss, and neither job should wait for a quiet week.

6. Staff changes

When someone leaves on bad terms, or leaves without returning their key, rekeying is the only way to be sure. Even on good terms, a returned key may have been copied. Keeping keys stamped with a number, and a record of who holds each one, turns this into a small job instead of a guess.

• Collect keys on the last day, not after.
• Count them against the record.
• Rekey if the count comes up short.

7. Hardware that no longer suits the door

Locks that were right for an empty unit aren't always right for the business in it now. Signs it's time for new hardware:

• The lock is worn, sticking or has been repaired more than once.
• You'd like a keypad on a staff door, so codes can be changed when people leave.
• The lock doesn't match the door, like house hardware on a commercial door.

See commercial locksmith work and smart lock installation for what we fit.

Start a simple key record

A key record doesn't need software. One page is enough:

1. Give every key a number, stamped or tagged.
2. Write down which door or doors each key opens.
3. Write down who holds each numbered key and the date they got it.
4. When someone leaves, get the key back and cross it off, or rekey if you can't.
5. Keep the page somewhere safe, not in the same drawer as the spare keys.

With a record like that, the next staff change is a phone call and a short visit instead of a guess.