Master key systems in Northland
One key that opens everything, and individual keys that open only what each person needs. Designed before it is installed.
A master key system replaces a ring of fourteen keys with one - and at the same time makes sure the cleaner does not have the same access as the manager.
It is one of the oldest ideas in locksmithing and still one of the most useful. Each lock accepts more than one key: the individual key for that door, and a master key that opens every door in the group. Build several levels of that and you have a system that mirrors how an organisation actually works.
A worked example
Take a small Northland business with a shop, an office, a store room and a yard gate:
- The owner carries one key that opens all four.
- The shop staff key opens the shop and the store room, but not the office.
- The cleaner's key opens the shop and the office, but not the store room where the stock is.
- The yard contractor's key opens the gate and nothing else.
Nobody carries keys they should not have, and nobody is locked out of a door they need. When the contractor finishes, one cylinder is changed rather than the whole building.
Design it first. This is the part that matters.
The single most common problem we are called to fix is a master key system that was installed without being planned. It works on the day and then the business changes - a new room, a new role, a door that now needs different access - and there is no room in the design to accommodate it. The fix at that point is often to start again.
So we do it the other way round. We sit down with your floor plan, work out who needs what, and deliberately leave headroom for doors and roles you do not have yet. The drawing takes an hour or two. It saves a great deal more than that.
Master keying and restricted keys belong together. A master key system is only as controlled as its keys. If any of them can be copied at a kiosk, the hierarchy is decorative. Most systems we install are cut on a restricted profile for that reason.
Keyed alike: the domestic version
Most homes do not need a hierarchy - they need the opposite of a key ring. Keyed alike means the front door, back door, garage and sleepout all take the same key. It is quick, it is inexpensive, and it is one of the things people most often say they wish they had done years ago. Ask us about it on any residential job.
Documentation
Every system we install is documented - which key opens which door, who holds what, and how to extend it. That document is yours. It is what makes the system survivable when the person who commissioned it moves on, and its absence is why so many older systems become a mystery.
Master key services
- Master key system design
- Multi-level hierarchies
- Grand master systems
- Installation and cylinder supply
- Extending an existing system
- Rebuilding an undocumented system
- Keyed-alike for homes
- Restricted profile master systems
- Key registers and documentation
- Schools, offices, retail and industrial sites
- Body corporate common areas
- Cylinder rekeying within a system
Related
Talk to a locksmith
Tell us what you need and you will know what it costs before we start.
One key, not fourteen
The manager carries one. Everybody else carries exactly what their role needs.
Room to grow
Designed with headroom for doors and roles you do not have yet, so it can be extended.
Get in touch
Tell us what has happened
We will tell you what the job needs and what it costs before anyone sets out.
Mobile across all of Northland, from Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Paihia and Russell down to Whangarei, Ruakaka, One Tree Point and Marsden Cove - see all 55 areas we cover.
Questions
Common questions
Can my existing locks be master keyed?
Sometimes. It depends on the brand, the type and the condition of the cylinders. We will look at what you have and tell you what can be reused and what needs replacing, rather than assuming either.
How small is too small for a master key system?
Two or three doors is often enough to be worth it, particularly if different people need different access. Below that, keying alike is usually the better answer.
What if a master key is lost?
It is the serious one, because it opens everything. Depending on the system, the response ranges from rekeying the affected group to reissuing at that level. It is also the strongest argument for restricted keys - a lost master that cannot be copied is a much smaller problem.
Can you take over a system somebody else installed?
Usually, yes. If it is documented, easily. If it is not, we will work out what is actually in the doors first and tell you honestly whether extending it or replacing it is the better value.
Do you provide a key register?
Yes, and it is yours. A system nobody can read is a system that gets replaced far too early.
Locked out, or want it sorted properly?
One call reaches a mobile locksmith in Northland who will tell you what it costs before any work starts.
0800 243 503