The Eva team
Your AI general manager
Managing client keys and access securely is one of those unglamorous systems that protects your whole business. The moment you hold keys or door codes for someone's home, you are holding their trust and your liability in the same hand. A lost key, a misused code, or a vague 'who had access?' can end a client relationship and invite a lawsuit. Here is how to handle access like a professional.
Prefer the methods that remove physical keys
Every physical key you hold is a risk you carry. Wherever you can, steer clients toward access methods that leave no key in your pocket. They are safer for everyone and far easier to manage across a growing team.
- Smart locks and keypad codes are ideal: you can issue a unique code and change it anytime without collecting anything.
- A client-owned lockbox at the home keeps the key on site, not circulating with your crew.
- Garage codes and building fobs work, but treat them with the same logging discipline as keys.
- Reserve held physical keys for clients who truly have no other option.
Keep a key log that answers 'who has access?'
If you cannot instantly say which cleaner holds which key or code for which home, you have a problem waiting to happen. A simple, current key log is the backbone of secure access. It should be exact and updated every time access changes hands.
- Record every key and code: which home, which client, and who currently holds it.
- Log every hand-off, when a key moves between cleaners or returns to you, with date and name.
- Never label a key with the client's address; use a code that only your log can decode.
- Audit the log on a set schedule so a missing key is caught in days, not months.
Limit who holds access in the first place
The fewer hands a key passes through, the lower your risk. Tight access policies are not about distrust; they are about not asking your team to carry liability they do not need to. Keep the circle small and the rules clear.
- Assign each client a consistent team so fewer people ever need that home's access.
- Hand out access on a need-to-have basis only, and pull it back the moment a cleaner leaves or changes routes.
- Change door codes when a team member departs, exactly as you would re-key after a lost key.
- Vet and background-check cleaners before they ever hold access to client homes.
Have a plan for the lost key
It will happen eventually. The difference between a minor incident and a crisis is whether you have a calm, ready plan. Clients forgive a problem handled well; they do not forgive being kept in the dark.
- Tell the client promptly and honestly, the same day you know.
- Offer to cover re-keying or a lock change, and mean it; it protects the relationship and limits your exposure.
- Document what happened and when, so your insurer and the client both have a clear record.
- Use the incident to tighten the process so it is less likely to recur.
Put access terms in writing and insure for it
Access should never be a casual verbal arrangement. Spell it out in your client agreement, and make sure your insurance covers the realities of holding keys and entering homes. This is the boring paperwork that saves you when something goes wrong.
Let Eva keep access organized as you scale
Access management lives or dies on good records and clear communication, which is exactly what gets messy as teams grow. Eva, your AI general manager, keeps each client's details and access notes tied to the job in your client records, assigns consistent teams so fewer people need access, and handles the scheduling and client messaging around entry so nothing is improvised at the door. With GPS tracking, you also know which crew arrived and when. You can start free and let Eva keep access tidy and accountable.