As we’ve seen in the previous articles on efficient key management, and environmental impact of digital locks and mobile keys – physical administration of access is time consuming work. It is also costly.

Let’s break down some of the larger costs:

Travel time for external parties (such as maintenance workers)

Driving to and from a property managers office to pick up and return the keys to a property they are assigned to work at, takes time. In addition to waiting for the right keys to be signed out, time is often also spent in traffic and on finding parking. This time is often billed to the property manager. Research Unloc conducted in a Scandinavian urban area found that maintenance workers spent 40 additional minutes per job. The result of this was an annual cost of over 2800 euro per building.

Time spent by property managers employees on administering keys

Whenever anyone external needing access comes by an office to pick up the keys they need, it often requires an employee at that office to:

• Confirm that the external person (usually maintenance workers) is allowed to receive the keys.

• Find and hand over the correct keys.

• Receive the keys and put them back in their place once they are returned to the office.

• In some cases, chase and collect unreturned keys.

The result of this was an annual cost of about 260 euros per building.

Time spent by property managers employees on driving to properties to open doors

Employees at property management companies spend a significant amount of time driving out to properties to open doors for anyone external needing access. This is often maintenance workers who are there to perform work on a building. In many cases the property managers need to lock up after the worker, requiring them to wait on site until the work is done. The result of this was an annual cost of close to 1500 euro per building.

Our research found that as a whole, physical key administration and distribution cost more than 5000 euros — per building, per year.

Most companies have not mapped out the costs of administration and distribution of physical keys, simply because it is seen as a cost of doing business. But it doesn't have to be. With today’s technological advancements of digital locks and mobile keys, the costs can be eliminated altogether!

Do you want to learn more about how Unloc and mobile keys cut costs, while also increasing efficiency, flexibility and sustainability?

Get in touch with us now