
You want your manager to open all of the doors, your shift lead to open the front door, receiving door, and merchandise case, and your other employees to only open the merchandise case. Say your store has four main locks: the front door, receiving door, office door, and merchandise case. Let’s start with a basic setup – a Master and Sub-Master system. To understand what these levels are, let’s look at an example. You will always have a master and sub-master, but depending on how you want your system set up you may/may not have a grand or great grand master. There are four possible levels to a master key system.

Pretty neat huh? How are master key systems set up? This way, you can have different pinning combinations for different levels, but the extra shear line(s) can allow a number of different keys to work the lock. These wafers create an additional shear line that allows the master key to turn in all of the locks. A master system takes a standard pinning one step further and uses “master wafers” or “spacers” in each chamber. Wait – what’s a key system level, and how does this whole “master key system” idea work? First off, you need to understand how cylindrical locks work. Plain and simple, a master system works like any regular system, but it allows you to have different levels of access to each lock. If not, you may want to consider a master key system. Here are a couple more to ponder- Do you want all of your employees to have access to the front door? Do you want your after-hours delivery company to have access to your cash office?
#Grand master key series
We’ve discussed about a million things you should consider during this key system mega series and we’re not done yet. Furthermore, it provides all the necessary support to locksmithing and hardware professionals so they can serve their customers whenever they ask for master key products.I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but key systems can be a bear to tackle on your own. In this regard, it should be remembered that IFAM offers a comprehensive master keying service for all its products. This is a very common master keying system for work centres, schools, hospitals, etc.įuture blog entries will discuss how master keying plans are created (also known as lock plans) and how the cylinders, padlocks, rim locks and their keys are technically prepared to operate under these hierarchical systems. At a higher level, there is a “grand master” key that can be used to open all the doors in the building. In these systems, two or more groups of users can have keys that open their own doors as well as master keys that open all the other doors in their group. With a single key, each resident can open the door to their lobby, their home and the common areas, such as the garages, gardens, etc. This type of system can be used when there are several residential blocks sharing certain common areas. Lobby Master Keying Systems for Multi-block Residential Complexes with Shared Spaces On a case-by-case basis, this might also include the locks in the doors to people’s homes, storerooms, etc.ģ.

Each user has access to the permitted communal doors using their key. This is the standard master keying system used in residential blocks. This type of master keying system can often be found in office blocks and small companies. All other keys in the system can open locks at the same level of access or lower, and there are also other keys that are only able to open one specific lock.Ī simple master key system consists of various doors that can be opened by each user with their corresponding key, as well as one master key that can open all the doors. The locks and keys in such a system are customised according to a mastering plan, which creates one or several keys capable of opening all the locks in the system – referred to as master keys. This first entry will differentiate between the four main mastering plans that exist, beginning with the simplest hierarchy systems and leading on to the more complex systems that exist today.īefore delving further into this topic, let us remember that a mastering system consists of a hierarchised system of access to a building or installation. This post is the first in a series in our blog that we will dedicate to the subject of key and lock mastering. You have simply witnessed a master key at work. Neither is it just a way to make things easier for themselves but also one that compromises their lock security. Perhaps you’ve seen someone you know open the door to their house with the same key they use to open their lobby door.
