Most business owners spend a lot of time designing a security plan for their building. Burglar and fire alarm systems take a lot of thought and preparation to design and install effectively. The same goes for intercom systems, panic buttons, and other security measures. However, the same owners often place very little thought in selecting their commercial lock equipment. Unfortunately, this can lead to issues on multiple fronts. First and foremost, business owners must follow strict legal guidelines when installing locks. Choosing the wrong locking hardware can lead to major legal issues! Moreover, our industry offers lock hardware that varies tremendously in both quality and performance. Failing to add high-security locks or plan your lock installation carefully can lead you to subpar results. Today, we aim to help you with choosing the right locks for your business.
First, we’ll show you the guidelines you must follow to make sure you install locks that follow local and national legal guidelines. Obviously, this stands as an incredibly important step when selecting locking hardware. From there, we’ll detail how locks get “graded” due to effectiveness to help you select locks that do the job that you need them to. Then, we’ll shift our focus to some ideas for creating a key control system that maintains the effectiveness of your locks. Finally, we’ll show you how using an access control system can make your locks more effective than ever. Let’s dive in by making sure that you choose lock equipment that will avoid legal issues down the road!
The International Building Code, or IBC, creates many of the legal guidelines that businesses must follow when installing locks.
Following Legal Guidelines When Choosing Lock Hardware
Many business owners install locks with no thought to their legality. Of course, most people are unaware of the laws and codes that govern commercial lock hardware in the first place. The Americans with Disabilities Act (“or ADA”) of 1990 helped create many of these guidelines. Congressed passed this law in order to ensure universal access to commercial buildings. The requirements put in place under this law include minimum guidelines for door openings. They also include specifications on how quickly doors can close. Commercial levers must also meet ADA requirements for handicapped usage. Therefore, using doorknobs instead of levers in almost any commercial application fails to meet these guidelines. This surprises many business owners who have doorknobs installed, only to be told to swap them our for ADA-compliant levers.
Additionally, the International Building Code (or “IBC”) also help inform hardware requirements. Many of these guidelines come directly from the early ADA requirements. For example, most exterior doors in commercial buildings require the capability for exiting with a single motion. This means that rather than installing levers on exterior doors, business owners should install crash bars or push paddles on these doors for easy operation.
Furthermore, different types of businesses may require different types of hardware than others. The International Building Code classifies buildings based on intended use, maximum capacity, and other factors. Knowing what type of business classification you have will help determine what you require for door hardware and security measures. Working with a professional locksmith company such as ourselves can also ensure that you choose the proper equipment. Once you determine what types of equipment you need, let’s look at choosing the right locks for your business from a security perspective.
Selecting the Proper Grade of Lock
Many of our commercial customers find themselves overwhelmed at the amount of lock products on the market. Furthermore, similar-looking products come at wildly differing price points. While confusing, a lot of this has to do with the quality of lock you purchase. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) have created a 3-level testing system for lock hardware. Allegion, one of the biggest global providers of security products, provides this helpful guide to door hardware testing. Lock manufacturers often seek out ANSI/BHMA certification for their product lines.
Hardware that meets the strictest criteria receives Grade 1 ANSI/BHMA certification. Grade 2 hardware is less robust than Grade 1. Grade 3 locks are still ANSI/BHMA certified, but we do not recommend them for commercial use. We often find inferior levers installed in high-traffic or high-importance areas of commercial buildings. Exterior doors, high-traffic doors, and doors that have valuable equipment behind them all deserve Grade 1 hardware. These locks will provide added security and longevity. Light-use interior doors may provide a good application for grade 2 lock equipment. In addition to choosing the right grade of locks, you should also create a plan for controlling your keys. Let’s look this aspect of choosing the right locks for your business now.
Creating a Plan for Key Control
As we pointed out in our Security Measures to Improve Employee Safety, even the best mechanical locks are no match for a burglar with the right key. We have a few options for addressing this issue. We can help you create a “master key” system for any major brand of lock. A master key system allows you to control which keys open which doors. For example, you may want to grant an employee front door access only. You may also wish for another employee to have a key that opens every office except for your own. Finally, you’ll likely want to carry one key that opens every door on site. A master key system allows for this time of customization.
Unfortunately, a regular master key system does not help track where keys go, or who makes copies of which key. This means that a janitor who copies a master key could hand that key to anybody else without you knowing. We offer complete key control solutions for those wishing to track and control copies of commercial keys. Elite lock companies, such as our preferred manufacturer Medeco, provide this service.
When we install a Medeco master key system, we also create a list of employees authorized to make key copies. When Medeco customers ask us for a new key, we check their ID against the authorized personnel list. We also individually number each key we make and who we hand it to. Therefore, if a key goes missing we can track who initially took the key, and when. This level of security makes key control a very popular choice for business owners. Let’s look at one last high-security option to consider when choosing the right locks for your business.
Activating access control card readers, such as this one made by AMAG, can now create an instant video alert to let you track access to your property.
Taking Advantage of Access Control Technology
Access control systems represent one of the most effective means of controlling and tracking access to your property. Access control systems utilize electronic locking hardware to operate specific doors within a business. Rather than using a key at these doors, users approach a keypad or a credential reader and present either a code or a physical credential such as a card, a fob, or even their cellphone. Users who present an approved credential will then be able to open the door after the reader interacts with the door’s electronics to unlock it. Business owners can allow each credential to open only certain doors at specific times. This proves especially useful when securing larger businesses!
In addition to controlling access to certain doors, access control systems include software that tracks access as well. Every time an employee approaches an access door, it creates a time-stamped event that you can view on a computer by logging in to your access control system. This allows you to easily track employee activity within your business. Furthermore, it allows you to see if anyone tries to enter doors in your business that they should not attempt to enter. For example, if employees without the necessary permission attempt to use their credentials to enter your business during a time that you do not want them to do so, the system will both deny access and “flag” this event. At that point, you will know which employee attempted this breach. The security and flexibility offered by these systems make them an extremely effective means of limiting access to your business.
Putting it All Together and Choosing the Right Locks for Your Business
We hope that this post has given you some insight into how we can help you with choosing the right locks for your business. As always, if you have any questions about the material here, we encourage you to contact us. When our business opened 38 years back, we started out strictly as locksmiths before expanding our offerings to include electronic security measures such as burglar alarms, surveillance equipment, and access control systems. Throughout this entire time, we have maintained our locksmith offerings to help customers secure their properties in every way possible. This gives us a unique ability to help you take a multi-layered approach in locking down your own business. Together, we can create a complete plan for lock and door hardware that keeps your property, and everyone on it, as safe and secure as possible!