When an employee leaves, review every place their access is recorded and compare it with what the doors and systems will still accept. Access falls into three groups. Some credentials are recorded and can be switched off, like key cards and smart lock codes. Some are recorded but physical, like metal keys. The rest is access nobody wrote down, like shared codes and unlogged copies.
Why the three groups need different handling
Key cards, fobs, smart lock codes, and app accounts all live in a system, so a change in that system ends them. A metal key listed in a log is different. Deleting the log entry does nothing to the lock, and the key keeps turning it until the key comes back or the cylinder changes. Unrecorded access is the hardest group, because there is no entry to delete at all.
Offboarding access is a reconciliation job. On one side is what was issued and written down. On the other is what the doors, readers, and apps will accept today. The gaps between the two are what need attention.
What to know before you start
Start with the person's role and the doors that role touched, from the main entrance to storage rooms and server closets. Then find where each kind of record lives:
- Key issue log: who signed for which key, and whether it came back.
- Master key schedule: the chart showing which keys open which locks, including keys cut to open a group of doors.
- Access control user list: the cards and fobs the readers will accept.
- Smart lock user codes: the codes and app users stored for each lock.
- Intercom or video entry accounts: who can answer, view, or unlock from a panel or phone.
- Shared codes and group PINs: keypad or alarm-style codes known to a team rather than one person.
These records are often kept by different people. An office manager may hold the key log, a property manager the master key schedule, and IT the app accounts. Shared codes often have no keeper at all. Learn who holds each record before treating any of them as complete.
Working through each credential in order
Take the credentials in a fixed order, so nothing gets switched off before you know what it was.
- Identify everything the person held or knew, from the records and by asking them directly.
- Compare that list against each record, noting what came back, what is still active, and what never appeared anywhere.
- Deactivate the electronic credentials: remove cards and fobs from the user list, delete smart lock codes, and close app or intercom accounts.
- Decide on hardware for anything a record change cannot reach.
Three questions settle what each item needs. First, can the credential be tied to one person? A card with its own user entry can be disabled alone, but a code shared by five people has to change for all of them. Second, could copies exist? A standard metal key that spent a weekend out of your hands is a key you cannot fully account for. Third, was a master key level involved? A master key opens several locks, so one unreturned master affects every door under it.
Rekeying means changing the pins inside a lock cylinder so old keys no longer turn it, while the lock stays on the door. Rekeying becomes the decision when a key cannot be traced. A key that came back and never left anyone's control is a different case, and your records are what let you tell the two apart.
The records people tend to miss
Shared codes are the usual gap, because they live in memory and on sticky notes. Ask which keypads, lockboxes, or alarm-style panels the person knew, and who else uses those codes.
Keys copied outside the log are another. Someone who needed a spare for a colleague may have had one cut without signing anything. The log cannot answer that question, so ask the people involved.
Vendors, contractors, and temporary staff often received cards or codes through the person who supervised them, and those credentials can outlast the manager's departure. Camera and video entry logins also tend to sit outside the main access control list, so check whether the person could still view feeds or unlock a door from an app.
What to hand the person making the changes
Whoever carries out the changes needs one packet. It should hold the employee's name and departure date, each item issued and whether it was returned, the doors and areas the person could open, the master key level of any key they held, the credential types involved, and a plain list of open unknowns.
The open unknowns matter most, because they show where a record change ends and a hardware decision begins. If the packet turns up unaccounted-for keys or shared codes, you can call Imperial Locksmith & Security at (917) 500-1145 about rekeying or access changes in Midtown Manhattan, elsewhere in Manhattan, or across the five boroughs.
Keeping the map current
Update the key log and the system user list together whenever something is issued or returned, and compare them against each other on a regular schedule rather than only when someone leaves. Then the next departure starts from a list that already matches the doors.
Frequently asked questions
What if the employee never returned a key and the key log is incomplete?
An unreturned key with an incomplete log cannot be traced, so treat it as possibly copied. Work out which locks that key operated, using the master key schedule if one exists, and plan a rekey for those cylinders. If nobody can say which locks it opened, record that uncertainty in the handover as an open unknown.
Is deactivating a key card enough, or can the card still be a problem?
Deactivating a key card stops it at the readers that the user list controls. The card can still matter if it also opens a door run by a separate system, or if the entry you removed was not that person's actual card number. Confirm the card number against the record and check for doors outside the main system.
Should a shared door code be changed when one person who knew it leaves?
A shared door code cannot be switched off for one person, because everyone enters the same code and the keypad cannot tell them apart. When someone who knew the code leaves, the code has to change for the whole group. That moment is also a good time to consider whether individual codes or cards would make future departures simpler.
Who in a small business should own the access record?
In a small business, the access record works best with one owner, usually whoever already handles onboarding and keys, such as the office manager. That person does not need to run every system, but should know where each record lives, who holds the other parts, and when it was last checked against the doors.