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01A master key system lets one key open many locks while each lock also has its own key that opens nothing else. It works by giving a pin chamber more than one shear point. That single idea, repeated across a building, is the whole of master keying, and it is also the whole of why a badly designed system is a security hole rather than a convenience.
- A master wafer creates a second shear point so two different keys open one lock.
- Every master wafer creates unintended combinations. Master as few chambers as possible.
- Design on a key bitting array before cutting, and reserve capacity for growth.
Covers The master wafer, Levels and the key bitting array, Documenting a system.
Read this topic →An interchangeable core is a cylinder that lifts out of its housing with a special control key, so a lock can be rekeyed in seconds without tools and without dismantling anything. In buildings with turnover it is the single most useful hardware decision a facility can make.
- Interchangeable cores have three shear lines, which is why they carry more pins and pick more easily.
- The control key removes every core in the building. Issue one and log every copy.
- Small format is the figure eight shape and is broadly cross compatible. Large format is not.
Covers How the control key works, Small format and large format, Running a core exchange program.
Read this topic →Commercial hardware is regulated in ways residential hardware is not. Fire codes, building codes and accessibility law all constrain what you may fit on a door. Getting this wrong exposes the building owner to liability and exposes you to worse. Learn the principles even though the exact adoption varies by jurisdiction.
- Exit doors must open in one motion with no key, no special knowledge and no tools.
- A fire rated door is rated as a whole assembly. Unrated substitutions void it.
- Look for the label on the hinge edge before modifying any commercial door.
Covers Free egress, Fire rated doors and their hardware, Accessibility.
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