Why door, lock and window security is specified
The dead bolt on a rental is described by dimension, not by type. Civil Code 1941.3 has the landlord install and maintain an operable dead bolt lock on each main swinging entry door, with a bolt that extends a minimum of thirteen-sixteenths of an inch beyond the edge of the strike. Bolts already in place that throw at least half an inch comply, so a survey measures rather than assumes.
One class of lock is replaced on a trigger rather than on a date. A dead lock operated from inside by a thumb-turn is replaced the first time after 1 July 1998 that the lock requires repair or replacement, which means the moment a service call reaches it. That is why a lock call on older stock is treated as a replacement decision and not only as an adjustment.
Windows carry their own rule, and it is written by exception. The same section calls for operable window security or locking devices on windows that are designed to be opened, and then takes several out of scope: louvered windows, casement windows, and windows more than twelve feet vertically or six feet horizontally from the ground, a roof or any other platform. A survey therefore works opening by opening, recording which windows are in and which are out, because a blanket answer for a building would be wrong in both directions.
Doors into common areas are the fourth item, and broken ones are more than a security matter. In a multifamily development the exterior doors that give access to common areas take locking mechanisms complying with applicable codes. A door or window that is broken is also faulty weather protection under Health and Safety Code 17920.3, so the same opening can sit on two lists at once.
What doors, locks and window security includes
Every main swinging entry door and every window designed to be opened is listed and looked at: what is fitted, whether it operates, and on a dead bolt what the throw measures. Windows that the statute excludes are recorded as excluded, so the list explains itself later without a second visit.
Occupied units take written notice with the date, the approximate time and the purpose; vacant units and common-area doors are arranged directly with the manager.
Bolts adjusted, strikes and jambs repaired, and locks replaced where the throw, the door or the frame will not take an adjustment.
Where a thumb-turn dead lock has come up for repair or replacement, it is changed out rather than serviced and left in place.
Locking devices fitted, freed or replaced on the openings that carry them, with sashes and stops made to close properly.
Exterior doors into common areas checked and their locking mechanisms brought back into operation, keying arranged with the manager, and each opening photographed with what was fitted.
Liability on a lock follows notice. The duty is to install and maintain the hardware, and a landlord is liable where a violation is not corrected within a reasonable time after being told of it. The date the report arrived is therefore part of the lock record.
Where lock work is needed
Apartment complexes
Unit entry doors plus the exterior doors into lobbies, laundries, mail areas and stair cores, which are the common-area openings the statute names.
Duplexes and small blocks
Two or three doors to a building, often with original hardware that has never been measured against the bolt throw.
Single-family rentals
Front, rear and side entry doors, with sliding and sash windows that have to close and lock before a tenancy starts.
Older rental housing
Pre-1970s stock, where thumb-turn dead locks and painted-in sashes are the two items a survey finds most often.
Association property
Gates, clubhouse doors and pool enclosures, where the association holds the opening and the owner holds the unit door.
Hotels and motels
Room doors and back-of-house entrances worked room by room, around what is occupied.
Questions about doors, locks and window security
A minimum of thirteen-sixteenths of an inch beyond the edge of the strike on each main swinging entry door. A bolt already installed that extends at least half an inch satisfies the requirement, which is why the throw is measured on survey rather than judged by the look of the lock.
The first time after 1 July 1998 that the lock requires repair or replacement. In practice the service call that brings a crew to the door is the event that triggers it.
Those designed to be opened, with louvered and casement windows excluded, along with windows more than twelve feet vertically or six feet horizontally from the ground, a roof or another platform.
The landlord is liable only where the violation is not corrected within a reasonable time after being notified of it, so the report and its date matter as much as the hardware.
These requirements are written for dwellings. On a commercial suite the lease decides who holds the door hardware, and the work is scoped from that instead.
Doors, locks and window security by city
Lock and window security work is requested through the commercial property maintenance page for your city, which covers the rental stock there.
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