Communal Buildings – Millennium Locksmiths

Communal buildings need protection, like any other building, but their lock requirements are different. Our locksmiths provide professional services, providing external & internal lock security for communal buildings which include:

• Schools, colleges, universities & adult learning centres
• Government offices and buildings
• Hospitals, clinics and consulting rooms
• Doctor’s Surgeries & Dental Surgeries
• Libraries
• Churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious buildings
• Military buildings and personnel accommodation
• Transport buildings
• Housing Associations
• Community centres
• Sporting clubs and changing rooms
• Leisure centres and sporting venues
• Housing and refuge centres
• Crematoria, funeral rooms & morgues

This is a comprehensive, but not exclusive list of the types of buildings we work in and includes many sites that require appropriate respect for culture, religion and security whilst we work. Places of worship are interesting to work in and we guarantee that we take the utmost respect when we’re working in your building.  Our locksmiths work to secure your doors quickly & professionally with minimal disruption to normal activities. When we arrive on site, we listen to your problems and use our expertise and experience to advise on the best solution to your lock problem.

These days it is increasingly common for buildings to accommodate a multitude of users in order to be financially viable eg halls and churches regularly host playgroups, clubs and exhibitions in addition to their traditional gatherings. However, this can result in logistical problems with multiple sets of keys circulating or users having to arrange to share a limited number of keys. This can make the building vulnerable so we would always recommend having a Registered Key – this means that only authorised people can obtain duplicate keys. We recently did some work for a church following a break-in. They were shocked to realise that they didn’t know exactly how many keys there were or who held them – no-one had kept a list. With a registered key, they pre-ordered a number of keys which were then issued to named individuals. Additional duplicates can be ordered, but only by an authorised individual and can only be cut by the lock manufacturer.

Restricting Access:

One feature of communal buildings is that not all users require access to the whole building so the owner may wish to restrict who goes where either for added security or privacy. This can be done with a master key suite. By identifying areas utilised by particular groups you can limit where they can go eg front door, toilets and kitchen only, front door, toilets, kitchen and specific storage area, garage only. The owner would have a master key which opens all locks (see diagram)

Just because a building is cited as “communal” doesn’t mean that every room in the building should be communal. There will always be a need to have some parts of a building with limited access. This is a common requirement for a lot of the communal building locksmith jobs we do and we have undertaken complex master key systems such as a rehabilitation unit where there were clinical areas, management offices, kitchens, laundry and drug cupboards or an apartment building needing individual door keys but shared access to the main front door and the bin store.

It’s also important to choose the right type of lock for communal buildings some areas will need traditional lock and key security whilst others might be better suited to number coded locks wherein the event of a security breach only the code has to be altered, instead of changing the lock. These are often used in changing room type facilities or security gates. We have fitted some of these to a military establishment.

Sadly, communal buildings are often a target for vandalism & crime. A lot of the jobs we’re doing are the result of a break-in or attempts at breaking in, which ends up ruining several locks. We see this regardless of the type of building, from schools to churches to community centres. Wherever we’re called to, we make sure we carry out each job with the same level of service we apply to all of our jobs. We pride ourselves on the professional locksmith service we offer and believe that our reviews endorse this.

If you’re the manager or owner a communal building and need a professional locksmith service, give Millennium a call! Our local locksmiths are available to advise you on the best locks to use for your communal building, giving you the best lock system you can get for your premises and its users. We’re available for any locksmith enquiries on 07966 233092. You can also check out our website for additional information on Communal Building Locksmiths.