Handover Key and Access Record Checklist

Walk every external door with the keys you have been given and open each one, rather than accepting a bundle and assuming it is complete.

A key that turns in the hand looks like a key that works, and only the door itself settles the question.

Write down how many keys exist for each lock and how many you have physically received, and note where the two figures do not agree.

The gap between issued and returned is the whole point of the exercise, and it is invisible without both figures.

Note any lock for which you hold only one key, since a single key is a problem waiting for the moment it is mislaid.

Ask a qualified locksmith about obtaining additional keys rather than assuming any key can simply be copied.

Try each key from both sides where a door can be locked from inside and outside, since one direction often behaves differently from the other.

Doors that lock happily from outside and stick from inside are common and are noticed at the least convenient moment.

Record which key belongs to which door in a way you will still understand later, without writing the door name onto the key itself.

A labelled key that is lost tells the finder exactly where to go, which is the outcome the record is meant to avoid.

Ask what happened to the keys that came with the property before the work started, and record the answer rather than assuming.

Original keys are the set most likely to have been distributed early in a project and forgotten entirely.

Ask how many keys were issued during the project and to whom, and record the answer rather than assuming that all of them came back.

Keys issued at the start of a long project are handled by people who left it long before the end.

Note whether a key was left in a box, under something or with a neighbour during the works, and ask whether that arrangement has ended.

Informal arrangements are made quickly, work well and are almost never formally closed down.

Ask whether any key was copied during the project, who authorised it and where the copies are now.

Copies made for convenience during works rarely appear on any list, because no list was being kept.

Record which trades held access and whether each has confirmed that they no longer hold a key or a device.

Confirmation from each party is worth having in writing, because a general assurance covers nobody in particular.

Ask what happened to any key that could not be returned, and record the explanation in writing rather than accepting it verbally.

An unreturned key is a matter to raise with a qualified locksmith and with your insurer, since what follows depends on the lock and on your policy.

Note any key safe or lock box fitted for the works and ask whether it has been removed or its code changed since the site closed.

Ask the installer or a qualified locksmith to deal with a key safe rather than removing or reprogramming it yourself.

List every code in use at the property and ask which of them were set during the works and by whom.

Codes chosen on site are often obvious, shared widely and never changed once the works have finished.

Ask which codes you are able to change yourself and which need the installer, and record which is which against each device.

Ask the installer to change anything you are unsure about rather than attempting it and locking yourself out.

Note how many fobs, cards or remote devices exist and how many you actually hold, since these are frequently never counted at all.

Devices are ordered in batches and handed out casually, so the total is rarely known by anybody.

Ask whether each device is programmed to a particular user and how one is removed from the system if it is lost.

Ask the installer how a lost device is removed rather than assuming it can be dealt with when the need arises.

Record what happens to electronic access if power is lost, and how the property would be entered in those circumstances.

Ask the installer what happens on power loss rather than testing it yourself and discovering the answer the hard way.

Ask whether any access is linked to an application or an online account, and establish whose account it currently sits under.

Access tied to somebody else's account is a common outcome of a project and is awkward to transfer once they have moved on.

Ask which locks were changed during the works and which are the ones the property started with, and record both lists.

Knowing which locks are original tells you which ones nobody on the project has ever had a key to.

Note where a lock has been added to a door that did not previously have one, and ask what it was added for.

Locks added during works usually address a temporary problem and may not suit how the door is used afterwards.

Ask what happened to the old lock and the old keys wherever a lock was replaced during the project.

Old keys left in circulation are only a concern if the lock they fit is still in a door somewhere on the property.

Record whether any locks were set up to work from a common key and which doors are included in that arrangement.

A common key is convenient and means a single lost key affects more doors than the owner may realise.

Ask what your insurer expects of the locks on this property, and confirm the answer with them directly rather than accepting it on site.

Insurance requirements for locks vary by policy and must be confirmed with your insurer rather than assumed from a site conversation.

Note any door where the lock has been fitted but the door does not close or align properly, and raise it before it is in daily use.

A door that does not close properly may be a fitting matter or something else entirely; ask a qualified professional to look at it.

Walk every opening window, note which have a key, where those keys are kept and whether any are missing from the set.

Window keys are small, identical and distributed around a property, which makes them the first thing to go astray.

Note gates, side passages and anything securing a boundary, including any padlock fitted for the works and who holds its key.

Padlocks fitted for site access are frequently left in place with keys held by people who have finished the job.

Record access to outbuildings, garages, sheds and bin stores, since these are handed over last if they are handed over at all.

Outbuildings are used for storage during works and are the last thing anybody thinks about at the end of them.

Ask about meter cupboards, service cabinets and any locked panel installed during the work, and whether a key exists for each.

A locked service panel with no key is discovered at exactly the moment somebody urgently needs to open it.

Note anything fitted with a restrictor or a limiting device, how it is released and who is intended to be able to release it.

Ask a qualified professional how a restrictor is intended to work rather than removing or defeating it yourself.

Record anything that locks but has no key at all, since these tend to come to light at the least convenient moment.

Writing the list now converts an emergency later into an errand you can deal with calmly.

List everybody who could still enter the property, including people whose involvement ended early in the project and were never mentioned again.

Access granted at the beginning of a project outlives the reason it was granted, and nobody revisits it.

Ask whether access was passed between trades, since a key issued to one party often ends up in the pocket of another.

Informal transfers are the reason a key list and a reality check rarely produce the same answer.

Note anybody outside the project who holds access, such as a neighbour or a relative, and confirm whether that is still intended.

Arrangements made for convenience during works are rarely reviewed once the household has moved back in.

Ask for written confirmation that all issued keys and devices have been returned or disabled, listing them rather than confirming in general terms.

A general confirmation is agreeable and unverifiable, whereas an itemised one shows immediately what is unaccounted for.

Decide what you will do where access cannot be confirmed as closed, and record both the decision and the reasoning behind it.

Where access cannot be accounted for, discuss the options with a qualified locksmith and your insurer before deciding it is unimportant.

Record the point at which you consider access to have passed to you, since this matters if a question about the property arises later.

The moment responsibility transferred is obvious to everybody on the day and to nobody at all afterwards.

Keep the access record separately from the keys themselves, since the two together are the combination you would least like to lose.

Separating them means a single loss is more likely to be an inconvenience than something more serious.

Label keys with a reference that means something to you and nothing to anybody else, and keep the translation in the record.

The labelling system is what makes a bundle usable, and it does not need to be legible to a stranger.

Decide who in the household holds a copy of the record and where it is kept, so that access does not depend on one person being available.

Records held by a single person fail at exactly the moment that person is unreachable.

Avoid recording codes in the same place as the description of what they open, since the pairing is the part worth protecting.

Either half on its own is close to useless, which is the point of keeping them apart.

Note where a spare set is held and by whom, and confirm that the person concerned still expects to be holding it.

Spare sets are often left with somebody a long time ago who has since moved, forgotten or passed them on.

Update the record whenever a lock, code or device changes, since an out of date access record is more misleading than no record at all.

A record trusted and wrong causes worse decisions than a gap everybody knows about.