The first time a locksmith sees your building can’t be after a break-in. Get to know a locksmith before you need one, and work with them to develop a strategy that understands and protects your assets, whether people or information.
Start With The Shell, Then Work Inward
The external perimeter of a commercial building is your first line of defence. But, are your gates, bollards, and external entry points being evaluated for aesthetics or sturdiness? Approximately 35% of commercial burglary incidents involving hardware or lock failures were due to forced entry (Australian Institute of Criminology), but all too often the weak spot is the easiest to identify: the physical lock or door.
When the perimeter entry points are evaluated, the layout of the inside of your building becomes equally important. High-value zones (server rooms, executive offices, archive storage, etc.) should be put behind a secondary entry layer. This zoning approach means that a breach at the front door doesn’t automatically give access to the heart of your operation. The perimeter deters would-be thieves. The internal zones slow down and hopefully contain the thief who felt they needed to press further.
Why Restricted Keying Changes The Risk Profile
The vulnerability of traditional commercial key systems is due to the fact that an exact copy of the key can be made at any hardware kiosk without the keyholder’s permission or even their knowledge. The business you manage may have been using the same keying system for the past 30 years and not had a single issue, but the sad truth is that you would have no way of knowing. This leaves a key system vulnerable to former employees, contractors, or anyone else who had access to it for a short period of time. A stray key that isn’t considered lost.
In contrast, restricted keyway systems put a complete stop to this. The profile of the keyway is patented. That means retailers aren’t allowed to carry the blanks needed to machine a key, even if they wanted to. Without the requisite blank, the only way to authorize a duplication is through the keyholder of record. This ensures that the person’s permission is always secured first and a paper trail is created. Naturally, all of this is only as effective as the quality of the initial setup, which is why the lock installations Perth businesses and residents choose can make all the difference. If the cleanliness contract was switched to another business all a manager would have to do would be to let the custodial staff go and rekey the building. A very simple solution.
The Audit Trail That Physical Keys Can’t Give You
A key pass card or fob can be deactivated immediately, as can a phone app. Whether someone lost a key or is no longer allowed entry, the response is the same: press a button, and create a new entry in the log.
Onboarding new employees, temporary staff, or visitors is also easier with access control systems. Rekeying valuables is not the answer. Instead, program a temporary access code for their visit, or issue them a temporary card. The system can even be set to only give that credential access during certain hours – the duration of a shift, for example, or only during approved visiting hours.
Compliance, Egress, And The Hardware No One Checks
Security improvements must be carefully balanced to maintain safety. For example, if egress is impeded during a panic situation, your liability costs can dramatically increase. This is most commonly ignored during installation, where the wrong screws can make easy access for maintenance turn into a nightmare for security.
It’s not as simple as a lock being fire-rated either. Fire doors must be self-closing and latching every time. It is acceptable to use an electrified lock on a fire door, provided it fails open on a power loss. Many locks don’t come with the fail-secure feature standard, so for property managers, it’s safer to assume the installer has chosen a lock that remains locked unless power is applied.
It is also necessary for your system to release all locks in a power loss, and for this specific safety system, running on emergency backup power, to still secure and protect your premises. Some systems do this by default, others require partial re-wiring or installing auto-door closers. Since that adds cost, the conversation often doesn’t come up until after install.
Maintenance Is Part Of The System, Not An Afterthought
More often than not, people are not aware of how often commercial door hardware fails because the number of usages cannot be compared to residential environments. For instance, a door closer used in a busy retail store or office can cycle several hundred times per day. Seals wear out. Springs get looser. Alignment goes off. A lock may have passed the initial test of time upon installation but start to leave your door exposed a year and a half later, and no one is the wiser.
When you have bi-annual maintenance checks set up for your high-traffic entryways this is all caught before issues can become points of entry. A professional commercial locksmith directs your attention to wear issues, re-aligns strike plates, tests the resistance of the cylinder and alerts you to hardware coming close to end of cycle life. Physical security isn’t a single installation. It’s a system that must be managed, monitored, and adjusted as a business and its associated risks grow.
