Manufacturers of High Security Locking Products  

                            Rock Solid Security Since 1959.

What is Key Control?

Q. What is "Key Control"?

A. Key Control in the most basic sense refers to maintaining control of the keys to your locking system. Control of the system means knowing who has the keys and when they had them.



Q. Why is it so important?

A. It is important because if you do not know who has your keys, you do not know who has access to what you were locking up in the first place. Key control is not only important when it comes to physical security. Key control, or lack thereof can have far reaching legal and personnel ramifications, particularly when sensitive documents, cash, or chain of command items come into play.



Q. I just bought locks for my system and they came with 2 keys per lock. How do I maintain control of those keys?

A. You don't. That is why Van Lock strongly recommends against this and as such offers and prices keys separately from locks. When purchasing the locks and keys it is advised that you order the minimum number of keys required to operate the system. For example, last year we set a customer up on a system that required 8,500 locks but only 95 keys. The bottom line is, never buy 2 keys per lock if the situation can be avoided.



Q. How can Van Lock help me to maintain key control?

A. There are many ways Van Lock will work with you to created better key control within your locking system
Keys are always sold separately from the locks.
Our keys are virtually handmade, making unauthorized duplication extremely difficult.
All key codes purchased from Van Lock are registered.
Pin/Password requirements can be established for key purchases.
Keys can be stamped with letters and numbers to meet your identification and classification requirements.
Van Lock offers products such as locking key rings and electronic key cabinets to assist in controlling keys.



Q. Do you have any other suggestions for easy key control?

A. At the bare minimum you should keep a journal of transactions for your keys. In this journal you should record the "lifespan" of your keys. When they were purchased, who they were issued to, when they were serviced, when they were replaced, when they were destroyed. If you need help in setting up such a system, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be pleased to pass along some of our key control knowledge.