Strata Locksmith Adelaide.
Common-area access, master key systems and controlled duplication for strata and community title properties. The defining challenge is not the hardware: it is that dozens of legitimate people need access to the same doors.
Everyone is entitled, and nobody is in charge of the keys.
In a commercial building, one organisation controls access and can enforce a policy. In a strata scheme the people holding keys are owners, tenants, agents, committee members, cleaners, gardeners and trades, none of whom answer to a single manager, and most of whom have an entirely legitimate reason to be there.
The predictable outcome
Over a few years the number of common-area keys in circulation becomes unknowable. Owners cut spares for tenants, tenants cut spares for partners, trades keep one for convenience, and nothing is recorded. Eventually the committee realises anyone could have a key to the main entry and nobody can say who.
At that point the only reset is rekeying the common areas and reissuing to every lot: expensive, disruptive, and it starts drifting again from the day it is finished unless something structural changes.
What changes it
Restricted keying on common property. If common-area keys cannot be copied without authorisation, the drift stops. Owners request keys through the manager or committee and the count stays known.
A master structure. Residents get one key for their lot and the common entries they need. Committee and building management carry a higher-level key. Trades get scoped access rather than a key to everything.
Electronic access on the busiest doors. Where turnover is high, a fob that can be cancelled beats a key that must be chased.
One key per resident
Their own lot plus the common doors they are entitled to, and nothing beyond that.
Controlled copies
Duplication through an authorised process, so the register stays accurate.
Cancellable fobs
On high-turnover entries, so a departure is an admin task not a rekey.
Documented
A register the committee can hand to the next manager intact.
Getting a strata job approved and done.
The work is usually straightforward. Authorisation and coordination are what take the time.
Strata and community title obligations in South Australia depend on the scheme, its by-laws and the current legislation. Use this as a working summary for briefing a job, and confirm authorisation and cost allocation through your strata manager or the scheme's rules before committing.
Shared doors, many legitimate keyholders.
Entries, car parks, bin rooms and amenities all need controlled access for people who genuinely belong there. That is the entire strata problem in one photograph.
Committee and manager questions.
Tell us the number of lots and which common doors are involved, and a realistic quote follows.
Request a quoteAn owner has lost a common-area key. Do we rekey?
It depends on the circumstances and how many keys the lost one opened. A key lost inside the building is a different risk from one lost with an address tag attached. If this is a recurring conversation, it is the clearest possible signal that the scheme would be better served by a restricted or electronic system.
Can residents keep their existing lot keys?
Often yes. Common property and individual lot doors can be handled separately, so a common-area rekey need not disturb anyone's front door key. Where the scheme wants one key covering both, that is a master key design and needs owner agreement.
How do we handle trades and cleaners?
Give them the narrowest access that lets them do the job: a key covering the areas they work in rather than everything. On electronic systems this is better still, since access can be limited to particular days and hours and cancelled the moment the contract ends.
Is fob access worth it for a small building?
It depends on turnover more than size. A small block of long-term owner-occupiers may do perfectly well with a restricted key system. A small block that is mostly short-term rentals will benefit from fobs immediately, because cancelling one costs nothing.
Can you supply extra keys directly to owners?
Only within whatever authorisation process the scheme sets. For a restricted system that is the point of it: requests are checked against the authorised list, which normally means the strata manager or committee approves them. That protects the scheme, including from a request that is not what it appears to be.
What about the car park roller door?
Usually a remote or fob rather than a key, and the same control problem applies: old remotes keep working long after someone has moved out. Most controllers allow individual remotes to be deleted, which is worth setting up properly rather than reprogramming the whole building each time.
What strata schemes use.
The combination that solves the shared-access problem properly.
Master key systems
Structure access across lots, common areas and management levels.
02Restricted key systems
Stop uncontrolled copying, which is the root cause in most schemes.
03Access control
Cancellable fobs on the entries with the most turnover.
04CCTV installation
Common-area coverage for entries, car parks and bin areas.
Tell us what you need secured.
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