Nightjar wrote:
On 31/07/2013 22:27, Tim Watts wrote:
On Wednesday 31 July 2013 22:09 Nightjar wrote in uk.d-i-y:

On 31/07/2013 21:51, charles wrote:
In article , The Medway Handyman
...
They might well be security keys. If they have a 'very' long
number stamped on them, only the locksmith who supplied the locks
can cut keys, only with the written authority of the owner.

I understood that it was ruled an infringement of free trade to
make that condition. Certainly I have had no difficulty in
obtaining duplicates of apparently "secure keys" from a repautable
locksmith.

I was under the impression that refers to restricted profile keys,
rather than high security keys.

Colin Bignell

There's alot to be said for card keys or dongle keys - you can
program the lock to renounce all previous keys and effectively have
multiple keys that have their own ID (so any single one can be
removed from the system). Also makes the handling of "master keys"
infinitely flexible.

I can see the advantage of card keys where there is a high turnover
rate, such as in an hotel. The industrial estate I used to have my
factories on has contactless key fobs for the night security gates.
Their turnover is not as great and they can charge a hefty deposit for
the fobs.

For flats, I would have thought that the best option was a good
quality electronic key pad system, as I had on an office I used to
rent. Each tenant had their own code, which opened both their office
door and the common door (which could also be released by door
phone). The landlord's agent had to approve each code, so that there
were no easy to guess codes, and programmed them into the system. The
multiplicity of codes meant that none of the keys on the common door
pad would show signs of more use than others.

The flats I have worked on have a remote fob and a keypad for the main gates
(if applicable) and the for the communal doors. The actual door to each flat
has a "normal" key.

--
Adam