Office Move Checklist for Dallas: Locks, Keys & Access Control

I just finished a job for a marketing firm relocating from a 4-person suite in Deep Ellum to a 22-person office in Legacy West. They had three weeks to move. Their facility coordinator called me on day 14 in a mild panic — the lease said tenant was responsible for all interior locks and access control, and they hadn't priced any of it. We pulled it together, but it was tight, and 30% more expensive than it would have been with proper planning.

Here's the checklist I wish every Dallas company had before signing the lease — broken down by what to handle 6 weeks out, 2 weeks out, and on move-in day.

6 Weeks Before Move-In

This is when you set yourself up to not be scrambling later. Most landlords give you tenant improvement (TI) allowance or a buildout window — use it.

Get a real walkthrough with your locksmith

Have a commercial locksmith walk the new space with your facility manager and the building rep. We're looking at:

• How many exterior tenant doors you control vs. building common doors
• Existing lock condition and what conveys with the lease
• Suite-to-suite interior doors that need keying
• Server room, file room, executive office, and supply closet (these always need separate access)
• Existing access control panels — do they stay? Is the system serviceable?
• Door closers, panic hardware, ADA compliance on egress doors

A walkthrough costs see our Pricing page in Dallas and saves enormous money down the line. Plan around what's actually there, not what you assume is there.

Decide on access control architecture

Three main options for a Dallas office:

• Mechanical master key system only. Cheapest. Works fine for offices under 15–20 people with low turnover. Total install cost: see our Pricing page depending on door count. We cover this in detail on our master key system page.
• Cloud-based access control (Brivo, Kisi, Openpath, Verkada). Most popular for Dallas offices 15–100 people. Per-door hardware see our Pricing page; monthly subscription see our Pricing page per door. Phone-based credentials, instant revocation, audit logs.
• Enterprise access control (S2, Genetec, Lenel). Larger offices, multi-site. $2,500+ per door, project-based pricing. Usually overkill unless you have 100+ employees or compliance requirements.

For most Dallas offices in the 15–60 employee range, cloud-based access control is the right answer. It scales, it's easy to manage from a phone, and you don't need to re-cut keys every time someone leaves.

Get quotes in writing for hardware

Don't assume the building's preferred vendor is the cheapest — they often aren't. Get at least two quotes for:

• New cylinders or rekey of existing locks
• Master key system design (CK / MK / GMK levels)
• Access control panels, readers, credentials
• Door reinforcement (strike plates, hinge screws, closers)
• Any panic hardware required by code on egress doors

2 Weeks Before Move-In

Now you're firming up details and scheduling actual install work.

Finalize the master key hierarchy

Even if you're going cloud-access on exteriors, you'll likely have mechanical locks on interior doors (offices, file rooms, supply closets). Decide who gets what:

• Change Key (CK): opens only one specific door. Most employees get one of these to their personal office.
• Master Key (MK): opens a department's worth of doors. Department heads typically.
• Grand Master Key (GMK): opens everything mechanical. Usually held by 2–3 people: facility manager, owner/CEO, IT lead.

Write the matrix down. Get sign-off from leadership before the keys are cut. Re-doing a master key system after the fact is expensive — typically see our Pricing page to redesign and re-pin.

Order credentials

For cloud access control, decide on physical fobs/cards vs. mobile credentials:

• Mobile (phone-based): see our Pricing page per user per month, no card to lose, instant provisioning
• Key fob: see our Pricing page each, no monthly cost, easy for non-tech-savvy users
• ID badge with built-in credential: see our Pricing page each, doubles as employee ID

For most Dallas offices we install, we go 80% mobile, 20% physical fobs for visitors and contractors.

Schedule the install for before move-in day

Hardware install on a fully populated office is painful for everyone. Get us in during the buildout phase or the weekend before move-in. A typical 6-door commercial install with cloud access takes 6–10 hours of on-site work — easier on a Saturday than during business hours Tuesday.

Move-In Day & Week One

Day 1: Verify everything works

Before the team arrives:

• Walk every door with your facility lead and the locksmith
• Test every credential against every door it should and shouldn't open
• Confirm audit logs are recording properly
• Make sure egress hardware (panic bars, magnetic locks) releases on power loss and fire alarm — this is a Dallas fire code requirement
• Document the master key matrix and store it somewhere secure

Week 1: Provision real users and audit

Get every employee credentialed. Issue change keys with sign-off. Audit who has what — this single step prevents 90% of access issues six months later.

Within 30 days: Schedule a security review

Once people have been using the space for a month, we come back and look at:

• Credentials issued vs. people actually present
• Doors being propped open (a sign hardware needs adjustment)
• Tailgating patterns (a sign you need a turnstile or vestibule)
• Any complaints from staff about door operation

A Real Dallas Office Move I Worked

Last fall, a fintech company moved from 8,000 sqft in Uptown to 14,000 sqft in Legacy West. 38 employees, 12 interior doors, 4 exterior tenant doors, a server room, and a SCIF (secure compartmented information facility) for one regulated workflow.

Total scope:

• Cloud access control on 4 exteriors + server room: 5 readers, $7,200 hardware + $230/month
• Master key system on 11 interior doors: $1,650 install
• High-security ASSA Abloy cylinder on the SCIF: $485 installed
• 38 mobile credentials provisioned + 8 fobs for visitors: included with subscription
• Door reinforcement on 4 exterior tenant doors: $640
• Total project: $9,975 + $230/month recurring

We did it across two weekends during the buildout phase. Move-in day was uneventful — the way it should be.

Common Mistakes I See on Dallas Office Moves

• Not budgeting for it. Owners assume the landlord covers it. The landlord usually doesn't.
• Using a residential locksmith for a commercial job. Different hardware, different code requirements, different scale. Always use a commercial locksmith for office work.
• Cheap key cylinders on important doors. Saving $40 on a server room cylinder is not where you should economize.
• No master key matrix written down. Two years later nobody remembers who has what.
• Forgetting egress code requirements. Dallas fire code requires free egress on all exit doors regardless of access control. Get this wrong and you fail inspection.
• Provisioning everyone as admin in the access platform. Audit logs become useless. Limit admin to 2–3 people.

Quick Cost Reference for Dallas Office Lock & Access Projects

| Project type | Typical Dallas range | |---|---| | Rekey 6-door office | see our Pricing page | | Master key system, 8–12 doors | see our Pricing page | | Cloud access control, 4 doors | see our Pricing page + monthly | | Cloud access control, 10 doors | see our Pricing page + monthly | | Server room hardening | see our Pricing page per door | | Panic hardware on egress doors | see our Pricing page per door |

Final Thought

Office moves are stressful enough without the locks and access being a last-minute scramble. Get a real walkthrough six weeks out, lock in your access architecture early, and use the buildout phase to get hardware installed before the team arrives. Your move-in day should be about people unpacking — not techs drilling cylinders.

If you're planning an office move anywhere in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, or Legacy West, we do free pre-move walkthroughs. The earlier we're involved, the smoother (and cheaper) it goes.