Master Key Systems in San Francisco

A master key system is a hierarchy in metal. Each tenant's key opens their own door and nothing else; a master opens a floor, a wing or the whole building; and sometimes a grand master sits above that for an owner or a managing agent. Designed properly it removes a drawer full of keys and replaces it with one that is worth protecting. Designed carelessly it produces keys that open doors nobody intended, which is worse than no system at all.

That is why it is never quoted over the phone. Every door gets walked and counted first: what hardware is on it, whether the cylinders can take the pinning, who needs to reach it, and which doors must stay outside the system entirely — a server room, a landlord's store, a shared meter cupboard. The walk-through does not commit you to anything, and it is the only way a figure can be honest.

The pinning is then cut to that chart rather than to a catalogue, and the chart is written down and given to you. Keys are stamped and issued against a list, so in a year there is a record of who holds what. Restricted keyways are worth discussing for a building where key control actually matters, since an ordinary blank can be cut at any shop and a restricted one cannot.

Cost is quoted as one figure after the walk-through, because the honest inputs are the number of doors, the number of levels and the state of the hardware. Existing cylinders in good order are repinned rather than replaced wherever possible, which is usually the largest saving available. Where a door needs new hardware, that appears in the figure as its own line rather than as a surprise.