Category: Locks and locksmiths

The lock goes unnoticed for most people. You go to the door, you turn the key, and you leave it be. However, it is the most exploited component of any building. A good lock prevents unwanted entries compared to a bad lock which permits unwanted entries.

The standards do a good job of servicing the British market. Locks that have passed the drill, pick, and forced entry tests are BS 3621 compliant, and most insurance companies require that standard for external door locks. The Sold Secure rating system is a simple way to assess locks from padlocks to bike locks, with ratings from bronze to diamond. However, most people, and even many businesses, are unaware of the standards and ratings of the locks on their doors until they are denied a claim.

Locksmithing has evolved too. The mainstream arrival of smart locks has created a new suite of challenges and opportunities, including questions about battery life, hacks, and WiFi dropouts. Businesses are looking for master key systems, where one key opens exactly what it should, and access can be revoked when someone leaves. Temporary security solutions have become a new category of serious offerings. This includes a more robust structure for padlocks. This section covers the smart lock marketplace with its offers and drawbacks, padlocks for garden sheds and shipping containers, key upgrades worth doing on an older property, the master key systems and the key control systems that counter the challenge of not knowing how many copies of a particular key have been made, and the standards surrounding the various commercial and residential lock offerings.