Understanding Commercial Lever Function Options

As your “one-stop security shop,” we’ve long touted the importance of installing quality commercial lock hardware. The presence of strong locks can go a long way towards combatting crime at your property. We sell and install the best door security equipment on the market. However, properly securing your building goes deeper than simply installing heavy-duty hardware. In addition, we work with customers to choose locks that operate in the desired manner based on their security needs. We refer to the way in which a lock operates as its “function.” We often surprise people with the variety of functions offer to give them exactly the security they desire for each and every door in their business. In this post, we explain the many commercial lever function options we provide.

First, we’ll show you some lever options that don’t have keys at all. These locks provide no security, but still serve important purposes. Then, we’ll move on to keys that do provide security. These locking keys operate in a variety of manners, and we’ll review several locks in this category. Finally, we’ll also feature some unique locks that provide school security. These specialized locks serve an extremely important purpose, and provide security that you won’t find anywhere else. Now, let’s dive in with a look at a few types of non-locking lever options!

Non-Locking Lever Options

Commercial properties often require workers to pass through several doors on the way to their destinations. Of course, many of these doors should remain secured at least some of the time. However, interior doors often do not require this security. For doors that require no locks at all, we install levers that have no cylinder and, therefore, no locking mechanism. While simple, we still offer a couple different varieties of these levers. In this section, we’ll explain them, starting with the “passage” lever.

Passage Levers

Passage levers work great on doors that must close, but do not require key-based security. These levers allow you to keep a door closed when needed, but does not allow you to lock it. Because doors with passage levers “click” closed, these levers do keep doors from swinging open unexpectedly. Office doors belonging to non-management personnel often receive passage levers. Closet doors that do not guard particularly valuable equipment also provide popular spots for a passage lever. Any thin doors near open windows or heavy office traffic also make good landing spots, as the wind and bustle of these areas could cause doors without a latch to occasionally swing open. In areas of very little traffic and activity, we often install “dummy” levers, described below.

Dummy Levers

Unlike passage levers, dummy levers have no latch at all. Therefore, they allow you to operate a door with no resistance whatsoever. Many doors with dummy levers have a lever on the “pull” side of the door. The “push” side of the door may have a push plate on it rather than a lever. This allows people moving equipment to open the door with their body weight from that side. We install dummy levers on any door that should “swing” rather than latch close. Therefore, heavy double doors in hallways make great installation locations for dummy levers. Closets with double doors also make a good landing spot for a set of dummy levers. Now, let’s move on to some commercial lever function options that provide you some true security.

Locking Lever Functions

Obviously, locking levers make up the majority of the levers we install in businesses. Locks provide the security that our customers desire and help keep the wrong people out of parts of your business — or out of your business altogether. However, as you’ll see here, locking levers are hardly a “one-size-fits-all” product. Different applications require different types of security. In fact, most businesses receive a combination of the types of levers described in this section. Let’s begin with a look at the most popular type of locking lever function.

Entrance Levers

When customers ask us to install a “locking lever,” they usually want an “entrance function” lever. The most basic of locking lever functions, entrance function levers allow you to lock the lever from the inside with a small turn piece on the lever or from the outside with a key. When locked, users can still use a key to operate the lever from the outside. Once unlocked, the door remains unlocked until someone uses either the turn piece or a key to re-lock it.

Due to fire safety regulations, users can ALWAYS operate these levers from the inside. At this point, the turn piece will generally spin into the “unlocked” position if someone had locked the door. This helps prevent users from locking themselves out of rooms. Exterior doors and secure offices that do not need to remain permanently locked make great applications for entrance function levers. Let’s look at a lever function that takes this security concept one step further.

Storeroom Levers

Like the previous function described, storeroom function levers always operate freely from the inside. However, unlike with entrance function locks, users CANNOT lock or unlock these levers from the inside. Additionally, unlocking the door from the outside only unlocks the door for one use. This means that users always need a key to operate these locks from the outside. For this reason, customers occasionally call storeroom function levers “always locked” levers. This can provide great security for doors that deserve extra security that do not receive a lot of traffic. For example, little-used supply closets, rooms with valuable inventory, and doors to the most important offices of a building often receive this type of lever. Now, we’ll look at a lever function that combines features from both entrance and storeroom functions.

Office Levers

While not the most popular type of lock, office function levers do provide a unique set of features. These levers resemble entrance levers in that they are keyed on the outside and have a turn piece on the inside. However, operating the lock with a key on the outside does not unlock the door for the next user. In that sense, the lever acts similarly to a storeroom function lever. Unlike with storeroom function levers, however, users can unlock the door by using the turn piece on the inside if they wish. This can add convenience in certain circumstances.

For example, business owners can unlock their offices during times of heavy traffic. That makes these levers useful in high-security areas that occasionally see enough traffic to leave the doors unlocked. On the flipside, this feature allows users to accidentally leave office function levers unlocked. Business owners should weigh the pros and cons of these levers to determine what function best fits their needs. Now let’s examine a unique type of locking lever that does not require a key at all.

Privacy Levers

Privacy function levers allow users to lock them from one side, but do not work with a key at all. Users can lock these doors from the inside using either a turn piece or a small button on the inside of the lock. Once opened from the inside, the lever unlocks again. Additionally, a hole in the outside of the lever generally lets users unlock the lever using a long pin or unwound paper clip. This allows workers to unlock the door from the outside in the case of an emergency. Bathroom doors make up the most popular applications for privacy function levers. At this point, we’ve looked at fairly routine lever functions for both locking and non-locking doors. Let’s wrap up by looking at a couple commercial lever function options aimed at securing schools.

School Security Levers

Perhaps no area of commercial lock security receives more attention than school security. After all, violent incidents in schools have risen sharply in the past several years. As Security Magazine recently pointed out, updating security hardware should sit near the top of any school district’s “to-do” list in order to combat this threat. In this section, we’ll look at the two most popular types of levers that we install in classrooms in order to provide the best security possible. Let’s start with a look at the most common of these two, the classroom function lever.

Classroom Levers

Classroom function levers provide a couple types of security. For starters, users can unlock these doors with a key and leave them unlocked, similarly to an entrance function lever. This gives them the security of any keyed lever. However, these levers do not have a button or turn of any kind on the inside. Therefore, someone inside the classroom cannot lock the lever from the inside at all. This keeps students from potentially locking teachers out of the classroom as a prank if teachers enter the hallway for a short amount of time. While this represents an unlikely scenario, it also presents a true security issue if it happens. For this reason, many schools install these types of levers to secure their classrooms.

While useful, classroom security levers do provide a threat in the case of a security emergency. Because users can only lock these levers from the outside, teachers cannot shut the door and then lock it. In the case of an active shooter or any situation where exposure to the hallway could present danger, this obviously creates an undesirable situation. Let’s now see how lock manufacturers address this issue.

Classroom Security Levers

Classroom security levers, sometimes called “Columbine locks,” do require a key to lock and unlock the door at all times, just like a standard classroom function lever.  However, classroom security levers also have cylinders on the inside of the lock itself. This lets you lock these doors with a key without putting yourself in harm’s way. Additionally, the fact that you need a key to operate these doors also prevents the student lockout scenario we described earlier. For added security, these levers also generally have an indicator on the inside to help users quickly determine the door’s locking status, and to help them lock the door if needed. You can see this indicator in the pictured classroom security lever. The unique security this function provides makes it one of the most sought-after high-security lever functions in the school security market.

Choosing the Right Commercial Lever Function Options