Lost Keys

A missing key is a security event with a paperwork tail. It is not the same as a lock that failed in the door. ManjeProp needs to know what was lost, which doors it opened, and how many copies might still exist. Then a person decides whether to recut or to change the barrel.

Do not treat a lost set as a secret you will fix with a hardware-shop copy on Monday.

Say what left your hand

On Report a fault, category Access / gate / keys, write:

Property and room
What is missing: room key, front door, security gate, remote, tag
When you last had it
Whether it was labelled with the address (please say if it was)
Whether a housemate or guest might still have it
Whether you are locked out right now

If you are outside at night, phone +27 60 313 6961 as well. If the keys were stolen with a bag, or you think someone can find the house from a label, say that. That is closer to Security than to a careless Tuesday.

Do not photograph the remaining keys “so we can copy from the picture.” Do not post a picture of the bunch on a story as a lost-and-found.

What not to do while you wait

Do not hide a spare above the door. Do not lend the last house remote to a stranger who “knows a guy.” Do not change the cylinder yourself. Do not leave the door on the latch overnight because the key is gone.

If a labelled set was lost in a taxi, assume the address is in the world. Tell us. We would rather change a barrel than hope the taxi driver is tired.

Recut versus replace

Staff decide. A single unlabelled room key that died in a sports bag may be a recut if the rest of the set is accounted for. A front-door key with an address tag, or a remote that opens the vehicle gate for the whole house, often means a change. You do not get to choose based on the cost you prefer.

The incoming list is the count we start from. If you never signed for a second key, do not invent one. If you cut extras during the year, say how many. Honesty is cheaper than a cylinder we did not know was copied.

Cost and the deposit

Lost keys and remotes are the kind of cost the Rental Housing Act contemplates when a deposit is applied — with reasonable cost and with receipts. That is not a licence to invent a price. It is a reason to keep the locksmith invoice on the repair log.

Ordinary wear of a tired lock is not a lost-key charge. Keep the two ideas apart.

This is not a ruling on your specific invoice. If a figure looks invented, ask for the receipt.

Staff discipline

Update the key register the same day. Old keys for a changed barrel are scrap, not a drawer of maybes. Log the locksmith as a repair. Do not store the tenant’s identity number next to the key number. Unit and hook number are enough.

Do not confirm a new booking until you know whether the last occupant’s keys are back or the barrel is changing. A listing that is “available” while the only remote is missing is a false listing.

When a contractor needs access after a loss, meet them or use a lockbox code you will change. Do not put a permanent code in a ticket.

Remotes, tags and the whole gate

A room key lost on a sports field is one problem. A gate remote lost in a taxi is a house problem. Say which it is. If the remote is numbered, give the number. If you do not know, say how many remotes the incoming list gave the room.

Do not buy a random remote from a market and call the ticket closed. Unpaired remotes and extra copies are how the next loss becomes untraceable.

If the tag is on a lanyard with a student card, treat the card as your problem to cancel with the campus, and the tag as ours. Do not upload a photo of the card “so you can see the tag.”

Housemates

If your keys are safe and someone else’s are not, you still live behind the same front door. Cooperate with a cylinder change. Do not refuse a new key because you liked the old one. Do not keep a secret copy.

Parents paying for a room: if a child loses a remote, send the fault, do not send an ID scan. The cost conversation, if any, will use the locksmith invoice and the incoming count — not a scan of a smart ID.

A lost key is a count and a decision. Report it before the wrong person counts faster than we do.

Report a fault · +27 60 313 6961 · SAPS first if you are in danger. Future rooms: properties.