Who has the key to number 14?
The customer is at work, so they left a key. The painter who had it on Monday is on a different job today, and the painter going to number 14 is waiting outside. The alarm code is in a text on someone else's phone. On another job, the customer is away and the house is empty, and the office cannot say which painter still has the back door key from last week.
Decorators work in empty homes a lot: customers at work, landlords' properties between tenants, houses being done up before a move.
Why keys and codes get lost
Keys are physical and move between people; codes are information that moves by text. Neither is recorded, and both are needed urgently on the morning of a job.
- Keys are passed between painters without a record.
- Keys are not labelled, or labelled with the customer's address.
- Alarm and key safe codes are sent by text and kept on phones.
- Nobody checks keys are returned when a job ends.
- Customers are not told who has their keys.
What a lost key costs
A painter stuck outside is a lost morning. A lost key may mean paying for locks to be changed, and a serious loss of trust. Codes on painters' phones, kept after the job, are a security risk for the customer and for you. And customers who cannot find out who has their keys are right to be uneasy.
Empty properties add a further layer. A landlord or a customer who has moved out is trusting you with a building nobody else is watching. If a door is left unlocked, or a key goes missing while the house is empty, the consequences are much more serious than on a job where the customer is home every evening.
The key log we build
- Each key or set is put on a fob with a code number, never an address. The log links the number to the job.
- Painters check keys in and out by scanning the fob on their phone, so the log shows who holds each key.
- Alarm codes, key safe codes and entry instructions are stored encrypted and shown only to painters assigned to that job, only while the job is live.
- When a job ends, the painter is prompted to return keys, and the office sees any not returned.
- Customers can be told who has their keys and when they were returned.
- Every check-in, check-out and code view is logged.
| Item | How it is handled |
|---|---|
| Physical keys | Numbered fob, checked in and out |
| Key safe codes | Encrypted, shown to assigned painter only |
| Alarm codes | Encrypted, hidden after the job |
| Access notes | On the job, visible to the team |
| Returns | Prompted at job end |
Mornings without the key hunt
The painter going to number 14 knows they need to collect the key from the unit or from a colleague, and the log shows where it is. Codes appear on their phone when they are on the job and disappear afterwards. Keys come back when jobs end. And customers get a straight answer when they ask who has their keys.
Are your keys and codes under control?
- Painters have been stuck outside waiting for a key.
- Keys are labelled with addresses.
- Codes are kept in text messages.
- You have had to pay for locks to be changed.
- You cannot say who holds a particular customer's key.