As we point out in last week’s post on Choosing the Right Locks for Your Business, very few business owners spend an ample amount of time creating an effective plan for securing their doors. This can greatly harm the security of your business. After all, locks provide the first line of defense in keeping the wrong people out of your building. 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 functions we provide.
First, we’ll detail a couple types of levers that don’t have locks on them. While not the most common levers, these levers do have their place. From there, we’ll show you some levers that do have locks on them. You can operate few of these lever types operate with keys. The last lever we’ll look at, however, does not, and generally needs to be operated from inside a room to unlock. We offer a wide variety of locking levers for different purposes, so understanding your options can help you select the ones that work best for you. Now, let’s dive in with a look at levers that provide door operation without providing extra security.
Commercial Lever Functions without Locks
In some cases, you may need a lever for functionality rather than security. Levers that do not require a key to operate are known as “passage” levers, as they always provide free passage. While these levers provide no security, they also provide the best price point of all the lever functions described in this post. Let’s look at your options for installing passage levers, and where you might install them.
Dummy Levers
“Dummy levers” do not have a latch on the end of them. Therefore, they allow you to pull a door open 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, 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.
Passage levers, such as this decorative model by Schlage, latch doors closed without allowing users to lock them.
Passage Levers
Unlike dummy levers, passage levers do have a latch attached to them. This allows you to fully close a door, but does not allow you to lock it. Because doors with passage levers “click” closed, these lever do ensure that doors stay closed when needed. 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. Now that we’ve looked at a couple lever functions that do not lock, let’s examine your options for areas that do require “lock and key” security.
Locking Commercial Lever Functions
More often than not, commercial applications call for more than one type of locking lever. Exterior doors, storage doors from rooms that house important equipment, and office doors often require some sort of lock. However, the type of lever functions utilized can still vary quite a bit from one door to the next. Let’s look at some different strategies available for installing levers on doors that require some kind of lock.
Entrance Function
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. When locked, users can still use a key to operate the lever from the outside, and doing so will unlock the door 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 Function
Storeroom function levers take the security of entrance function levers one step further. 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 function locks, such as this Yale model, generally lock with the push of a button located on the inside of the lever.
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.
Choosing the Right Commercial Lever Functions for Your Business
We hope that this post helps you select the commercial lever functions that suit you best. Make sure to check out our post next week. We will take a close look at school security, and as part of that discussion we’ll also look at a couple specialty lever functions for those applications! For now, we encourage you to contact us with any questions this post may raise for you. When we opened our doors 38 years ago, we started out as locksmiths. Over time, we evolved and took on the entire scope of electronic security as well. However, we still provide the full range of locksmith and door hardware installation services that we have always offered. We’d love to work with you to help boost your “first line of defense” by installing the right locks at your property. Together, we can help you create a complete plan for installing locks that gives you the security and user experience that you desire!