TopLock is a full service Body Corporate locksmith and offers a premium tailor made package of services for Body Corporate service companies. We are mindful of the issues and concerns that often plague body corporates and we are prepared to modify this package to suit individual requirements.
Serving Brisbane’s Business Community
A Body Corporate must adequately maintain all of the Common Property in a good condition – this is a clear and unavoidable responsibility under the Act. Of course the definition of what is an adequate and proper maintenance and standard is somewhat subjective. However, we understand how your Administration Funds and Sinking Funds differ, from this we are able to schedule minor service work and repairs through to those larger projects and where required we can amortise costs over several smaller jobs for you at no additional cost, as funds permit.
Our locksmiths all hold current Security Providers Licenses and Construction Cards, and are already inducted with CM3, FiveD, Sassi, Community Select, Colonial First State, Kmart, Woolworths, Rapid Induct, Knight Frank and more. We will also undertake any site specific inductions as required.
Compliance with site safety, noise, electrical equipment safety certifications and PPE equipment regulations are core to our people; we want to ensure their safety as well as the safety of your assets and people.
Have some questions about security? The following information and links may assist.
Let’s start with some key terms and definitions:
What is a fire door? It is an integral part of fire protection in buildings and are part of the fire barrier system. It is the entire door system comprising of door leaf, doorframe and associated hardware such as closers, handles, locks, vision panels and air grills that make up the fire door. They are used for containing the movement of hot gases, smoke and fire and for the safe movement of people in the event of a fire.
What is a required exit? It is a common door to the building exterior and must be able to be unlocked with one downward motion on the door handle, so no key is required. Doors to individual sole occupancy units are not classified as exit doors.
How to stop common entry locks failing
More often than not the problem starts with the keys. Standard Lockwood keys (as shown below) are made from soft brass, and are not designed to be used on common entry doors. Over time the keys wear down causing the lock to become difficult to operate, and will eventually fail. A common misconception is that replicating a new key from the worn key will fix the issue, where this is actually more likely to make the problem worse.
The second most common problem causing premature lock failure is keys being poorly duplicated. Machines used to duplicate standard keys will not produce an exact duplicate. Each time a standard key is duplicated it varies slightly from the original. After being duplicated 2-3 times, the difference is enough to start causing premature wear to the internal lock components.
Both issues above are significantly magnified in a multiple occupancy facility where different key holders keys will have worn by different amounts and duplication of keys is totally under the control of key holders.
How to overcome these problems?
Installing a restricted key system to common entry doors is the most cost effective way to reduce premature failure of common entry doors. Toplocks restricted keys are made from nickel silver (as shown below) and do not wear down like standard brass keys, prolonging the life of the key and lock.
All Toplock restricted keys have unique stampings on the head of the key which determines it’s unique cutting code stored on a secure database. When more keys are required, instead of duplicating a worn key, the original cutting code is used to cut the key. This operation is performed by a computer operated machine which eliminates human error and produces perfect keys every time!
Common Entry/Exit Door Requirements
The following information is copied from the Master Locksmith web site and is a summarised version to save you a lot of wading through other web sites.
AS 1428 & Section D2.21 Compliance
Updated: 15/11/2013
AS 1428 and Section D2.21 of the National Construction Code sets out the exit door and fire door lock regulations.
Please refer to the summary below or download the D2.21 Operation of a Latch attachment.
BCA 2013 – D2.21 Operation of a Latch (PDF – 80KB)
- The egress opening action of a lock must be a single handed downward lever action. A pushing action is also allowed, and is preferred
- Only one lock per door
- Internal knobs or turn snibs are not permitted
- Key locking is not permitted on the inside of the door
- Locks must be fitted at a height of between 900mm and 1100mm from the floor level. Maximum height of a door handle is therefore 1.1 meters. (see Figure 36)
- Fire Doors must only be fitted with door hardware fire rated in accordance with AS1905.1
- Fire Door locks must be self-latching. Hold open features are not permitted
- Non-complaint deadlocks, multiple locks, locking bolts, padlocks, knob type handles or pad-bolt type fittings are not permitted to be used
- ‘D’ type handles are required by AS 1428.1. The shape provides support and prevents hands from slipping off.
- ‘D’ type handles must be provided on sliding doors
- Clearance between the handle and back plate or door face at the centre grip section of the handle must not be less than 35mm and not more than 45mm
- A minimum of 800mm is required on door way openings
** There has been a change (as of May 1, 2013) in relation to the height of a a “single hand pushing action on a single device” which has increased from 900 – 1,100 to 900 – 1,200. This is set out in Sec D2.21 Operation of Latch. This refers to push-bars, crash bars, etc. (Not lever handles).
AS 1428.1-2009
Figure 36: DOOR LEVER HEIGHT
AS 1428.1-2009
Figure 35(A): EXAMPLE OF ACCEPTABLE DOOR HARDWARE FOR HINGED DOORS
Fire Door Compliance Requirements
Fire doors must be automatically self closing and with no hindrances to this function. Subsequently, the following are compliance requirements:
- Security chains or latches are non-compliant as either can prevent the door from self closing.
- Only approved locksets may be used, this includes dead latches, but does not include deadbolts. The images below show deadlatches and deadbolts.
- Automatic door closers must be fitted and operational such that the door closes completely.
Why are deadbolts non-compliant? As shown in the image below, the barrel of the deadbolt can be fixed in a locked position, in which case the door will not fully close. The deadbolt must be removed and in certain circumstances the door can be patched and still be compliant.
A dead latch (as shown below) on the other hand cannot be fixed in the locked position and therefore will always self close.
