To find yourself locked out of your business means losing a whole day’s work. You may not get into the office, there could be customers waiting, or you may miss important meetings. Business lockout services provide fast and effective solutions for all offices, retail shops, warehouses, restaurants, medical institutions, and other commercial properties.

Causes of Commercial Lockouts

There can be numerous causes of a commercial lockout. Keys may be lost, broken, stolen or stuck inside the building. Electronic locks can malfunction, the code on the keypad may not work, or you can twist the key without getting the lock off.

In any case, a professional commercial locksmith can analyze the problem and unlock the door without causing any harm to the lock and the door itself.

Reasons for Commercial Lockouts

Lost or misplaced keys are one of the most common causes why people ask for lockout services. Keys may have been left somewhere during travels, forgotten by an employee in the office, etc.

Key breaking is yet another situation where companies need lockout services. Commercial locks go through heavy duty work on a daily basis, which basically weakening the keys and cause their breaking.

Another possible reason is mechanical failure. Parts of the lock, door closers, latches or exit hardware may be broken or incorrectly adjusted. In case of electronic locks, drained batteries, faulty wiring, programming problems, or lost access rights may prevent entering the property.

Non Destructive Entry Methods

Usually, a professional locksmith starts with the most non destructive method of entering. Depending on the kind and the state of the lock, he may use special tools to manipulate the lock, extract the broken key, fix the latch or open the door without damaging the hardware.

Drilling or lock replacement are performed only if the lock is damaged too much, highly secure or impossible to open using other methods. Before carrying out some action that affects the lock, a professional locksmith should inform the customer about his options.

Non destructive lockout can save businesses money which would be spent on the replacement of the lock, as well as reduce the period of time needed to return the operations to normal.

Electronic Access Systems

Modern commercial properties may contain such locks as keypad locks, card readers, magnetic locks, electric strikes, and other intelligent access control devices. To solve a problem with these locks, it is necessary to have a locksmith who knows how to deal with mechanical and electronic door hardware.

There could be something wrong with the credential, power source, locking device, control panel or door adjustment. A commercial locksmith can examine the system and find out what kind of problems can be solved with reprogramming, battery changing, hardware adjusting or fixing of the parts.

If an electronic door is forced to open, it can damage the expensive equipment and lead to security risks.

What to Do If a Key Is Lost or Stolen

Entering the building may solve the immediate problem of the lockout, but it doesn’t mean solving the security risk. If a key from a business has been lost or stolen, the property owner should think about changing the locks.

Rekeying is changing the configuration of the lock in such a way that the lost key cannot open it anymore. This method is cheaper than changing the locks, as well as quicker. At the same time, the locksmith will make a new key and add it to the master key set.

In case of an electronic system, cards, fobs or access codes should be disabled as soon as possible.

Emergency Commercial Lockout Service

Commercial lockouts may occur in the early morning, at midnight, on weekends and holidays. Those businesses which work outside regular hours may need the access to emergency locksmith service.

It is necessary to provide the locksmith with the address of the business, kind of the door and lock, and information about the problem. Authorization proof may be required to open the door to prevent any unauthorized access.

Restore Access and Protect Yourself from Further Problems

After entering the office, the locksmith will examine the lock and give advice how to prevent similar lockouts in future. It may include replacement of the worn out keys, lubrication of the lock, repair of the latch, creation of the duplicate keys, installation of the keyless system or development of a controlled key management policy.

Fast commercial lockout service allows preventing any delays and protecting business from further problems.