Walk any yard, site or back-of-house corridor and count the padlocks: gates, shipping containers, fuel cages, tool chests, electrical panels, trailer doors. Each lock is cheap enough that nobody records it, and each one secures something that is not. The result is a fleet of identical brass bodies, a drawer of mystery keys, and a bolt-cutter purchase every time the two get separated. A padlock register fixes that mismatch, and this guide shows what goes in it.
What you will learn
- Where padlocks actually go
- Build the padlock register
- Keys, combinations and keyed-alike groups
- Labelling locks that live outdoors
- Assign every lock to a place or person
- Tools that make this easier
- FAQ
Where padlocks actually go
Padlocks rarely get stolen. They get separated from their keys, and then they get destroyed:
- The key walks, the lock stays. A contractor leaves with the only key on their van keyring, and the gate lock becomes scrap that still works perfectly.
- The lock moves, the record does not. A lock borrowed from the north gate for a temporary container never comes back, and both locations now have a mystery.
- Identical bodies, anonymous keys. Six same-model locks and a tin of similar keys means trying every cylinder - so someone buys a seventh lock instead.
- Combinations retire with people. The one person who knew the fuel cage code leaves, and the code leaves with them.
- Cut-offs go unrecorded. The lock gets bolt-cut in an emergency, nobody updates anything, and the register - if there is one - quietly stops matching the yard.
Every one of these is a record problem, not a hardware problem. The hardware was fine until the information about it disappeared.
Build the padlock register
One row per lock, with the keys tracked as their own linked items rather than a note in a margin:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Lock ID | Turns “a brass padlock” into PL-031 - the code everything else hangs off |
| Type | Keyed, keyed-alike, combination or shutter lock - decides what else you must record |
| Key number / keyed-alike group | Reunites a found key with its lock without trying forty cylinders |
| Combination reference | Where the code is held and when it last changed - never the code itself on the lock |
| Location and what it secures | ”North gate, fuel cage” - the field that turns an audit into a walk-round |
| Status | In service, spare, key lost, cut off, retired - cut-offs recorded, not discovered |
| Purchase date and grade | Outdoor locks corrode; age and grade tell you what to replace before it seizes |
| Last verified | When someone last confirmed the lock is where the register claims |
Keys, combinations and keyed-alike groups
A padlock register that ignores keys is half a register. Track each key (or key set) against its lock, with its own holder when issued, so “where is the key to PL-031” is a lookup. Keys that live in a key safe or lockbox should say so in the record.
Keyed-alike groups deserve special care. One key opening every lock on a site is genuinely convenient - and it means one lost key compromises the whole group. Record the group on every lock and key that belongs to it, so the day a key disappears you can list every affected gate and cage in seconds rather than walking the site with a torch.
Combinations follow one rule: the register records that a code exists, where it is held and when it last changed - the code itself stays somewhere restricted. Change it whenever anyone who knew it leaves, and log the date.
Labelling locks that live outdoors
Padlocks are a hostile labelling surface: small, curved, rained on and dragged across hasps. In rough order of durability:
- Engrave or stamp the lock ID on the body. Survives anything the lock survives.
- Use a laminated QR tag on the shackle or a wrap-around asset label where the lock lives under some shelter - scanning beats squinting at stamped digits in the rain.
- Label the hasp, cage or container instead when the lock itself is too small or too exposed; the lock’s record then lives with the thing it secures.
- Skip plain paper labels. Outdoors they are a one-winter purchase.
Tip: label the matching keys at the same sitting, with the same ID plus a key suffix (PL-031-K1). An identified lock with anonymous keys recreates the original problem within a year.
Assign every lock to a place or person
Every padlock should have exactly one of two things against it: a home location (the gate or container it secures) or a named holder (the contractor or crew member it was issued to). Temporary issues - a lock lent to a subcontractor for a site cabin - work best as recorded check-outs with a due date, so the lock appears on an overdue list instead of in next year’s shrug. Keep a small counted spares pool with its own status, and record a cut-off or a lost key the same day it happens. The register only stays honest if status changes cost less effort than ignoring them.
Tools that make this easier
The padlock tab is the least-loved sheet in any site spreadsheet: filled in at purchase, silent through every swap, loan and cut-off, and impossible to update from a muddy gateway. Spreadsheets fail at asset tracking precisely because they depend on someone editing a file later, and “later” never comes back from the yard.
An asset management tool like AMPthilly keeps each lock as a record with custom fields for key number, keyed-alike group and combination reference, a status, a location and attached photos. Issues to contractors are check-outs with due dates, returns capture condition, and QR labels print in batches and open the right record when scanned with an ordinary phone camera in the browser - standing at the gate, not back at a desk. The free plan covers 3 users and 25 assets, enough to register a typical site’s locks before spending anything.
FAQ
How do you keep track of padlocks? Permanent ID on every lock, a register row with type, key or combination reference and location, keys tracked as linked items, and a walk-round verification once or twice a year.
Should padlock combinations be written down? Record the type, the last-changed date and where the code is held - keep the code itself restricted, never on the lock, and change it when knowers leave.
What is a keyed-alike padlock system, and how do you track it? All locks in the group share one key. Record the group on every lock and key so a single lost key instantly lists everything it compromises.
How do you label a padlock? Engrave the body where possible; add a laminated QR tag on the shackle in sheltered spots; label the hasp or container when the lock is too exposed.
How often should padlocks be audited? A full walk-round once or twice a year, plus a check at every site closure or contractor handback - confirming location, smooth operation and accounted-for keys.
The takeaway
Padlocks disappear because they are too cheap to track and too important to ignore. Register every lock with its keys, groups and codes, engrave an ID it cannot shed, give each one a home or a holder, and walk the fleet on a schedule. The lock is the cheapest part of the system - the register is what keeps the expensive things behind it actually locked.