Office lockout help for Oakland businesses

Who can approve the entry?

A locksmith needs to know that the person asking for entry has the right to it. For a business, that usually means the owner, a manager named on the lease, or the property manager. Have a business card, a lease, a utility bill or a letter on company paper ready.

In a multi-tenant building, the property manager may have a master key. Call them first; it may save you a service call.

What the locksmith will look at

Commercial doors use different hardware from homes. Glass storefronts usually have narrow-stile deadlocks; office suites often have lever locks with mortise or interchangeable cylinders; back doors may have rim locks and panic bars. Knowing which you have helps the dispatcher send the right tools.

• Storefront deadlocks with a cylinder at the edge of the glass door
• Lever locks on office suites
• Rim locks and panic bars on rear exits
• Padlocks on roll-up doors and gates

After you are in

Ask why the lockout happened. A key snapped in the cylinder? A worn key? A door closer that pulled the door shut while a delivery was going out? Each has its own fix, and fixing it on the same visit saves a second call.

If keys were lost or a staff member left with one, rekey the cylinders right away. On a commercial door, that is usually a quick cylinder change.

Preventing the next one

Keep a spare key off site with a trusted manager. Label keys with a code rather than the door name. If several people need access, a master key system or a keypad lock on the staff entrance reduces the number of physical keys in circulation.

Check door closers too. A closer that slams the door can cause it to latch when someone just stepped out to take in a delivery.

Getting help

Call with the business address, the type of door and the name of the person who will meet the locksmith. See the commercial locksmith page for the work involved. Downtown offices are covered on the 94612 page.

Keys, codes and records

Small businesses often lose track of who has which key. Keep a simple record with the key number, the person's name, the date it was issued and the date it came back. When someone leaves, check the list and collect the key on their last day.

If a key is not returned, rekey the doors it opened. On a master key system, this may mean repinning several cylinders, so the key chart matters. Store it somewhere safe and separate from the keys.

• Number keys instead of labelling them with door names
• Stamp staff keys 'do not duplicate'
• Keep the master key with the owner only
• Review the key list every few months

When a keypad makes sense

For a staff entrance used by many people, a keypad or smart lock can be simpler than handing out keys. Codes can be changed when staff leave, and some models keep an audit log. Keep a mechanical key override, and keep the front door on a conventional cylinder for reliability.

A note for landlords and property managers

If you manage several commercial units, a lockout at one of them often lands on your phone. Keep a labelled set of master or tenant keys in a secure key box, and agree with tenants in writing who may authorize a locksmith. That avoids awkward calls at opening time.

When a tenant moves out, rekey before the next one moves in. It is the single most effective step for keeping a building's keys under control, and on standard commercial cylinders it is a routine job.

If the door was damaged while staff tried to get in, mention it; a bent latch or cracked strike is easier to fix on the same visit than later.