Each door keeps its own key, and the owner or manager carries one key that opens all of them. We plan the key chart with you, then pin each lock and cut the keys to match it.
What it is: With a master key system, one key opens many locks while each door still has a key of its own. The price depends on how many doors you have, how many key levels you need, and whether your current locks can be repinned. We quote after counting the doors.
Most systems have two or three levels. The change key opens one door, such as a single office or apartment. The master key opens a group of doors, like everything on the second floor. The grand master opens every lock in the building.
Start with a list of who needs to open what. A cleaning crew might need every office but not the server room. A maintenance tech might need every apartment but not the manager's office. That list becomes the key chart.
Keep the levels as few as the building allows. Each extra level adds more pieces inside every lock, and each piece is one more way for the wrong key to turn it. A small office with one owner key rarely needs more than two levels.
Store the finished chart somewhere locked. It is the record for every future rekey and every door added later. If it gets lost, the next rekey or added door means working the pins out from the locks themselves.
A lost master means every lock it opens needs rekeying. A lost grand master means the whole building does. So hand out as few masters as the work allows, and keep a sign-out sheet for the ones you do issue.
If a single change key goes missing, only that one door needs work. The rest of the system can stay as it is.
A Do Not Duplicate stamp is only a request, and many key counters copy those keys anyway. With a restricted keyway, the key blanks are not sold at hardware stores, which makes unauthorized copies much harder to get. Ask about it before the locks are pinned, since it usually means new cylinders.
Locks from one brand that share one keyway can usually be repinned into a new system. A building with mixed brands usually needs some new cylinders so every lock takes the same keyway. Worn cylinders that already stick are better replaced, since added master wafers will not fix them.
Exit doors with panic bars can be keyed into the same system, and we cover that hardware on our panic bar and door closer page.
Each lock gets extra small pin pieces, so it has two or more correct pin heights. The door's own key lines up one set. The master key lines up another. That is how one master can open many doors while each door keeps a key that opens only that door.
Every lock has to be repinned, and master pinning uses more parts and time than a plain rekey, which usually runs $20 to $40 a cylinder before the service call. We count the doors before we quote.
A master key opens one group of doors, like one floor or one department. A grand master opens every group in the building. Some large sites add one more level above that.
Usually. With the key chart, a new lock can be pinned to fit the system. Without the chart, we work out the pin layout from the existing locks and keys, which takes longer.
