Battery-free mechanical keypad locks for suitable commercial, institutional and specialty doors.
Product and selection guidance
Simplex families provide mechanical code entry without software, credentials or batteries. Select series by cylindrical, mortise, exit trim, narrow stile, deadbolt or specialty preparation; user-code capacity is limited compared with electronic access. Plan code-change control, mechanical override, fire/egress and door thickness.
- Simplex 1000/L1000/5000 and current family selection
- Cylindrical, mortise, exit and narrow-stile preparation
- Code control, override cylinder and user turnover
- No audit trail versus electronic access requirements
- Door preparation, life safety and accessibility
- Current availability, subscription and lifecycle support
- Administrator, credential and emergency override policy
- Training, documentation and preventive maintenance
Request a site-specific review
Supported from Charlotte headquarters and local client offices serving Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.
Official manufacturer references
How to compare and specify this product family
For Kaba Simplex Mechanical Pushbutton Locks, the right model and architecture depend on the site, existing infrastructure and operating policy. A proposal should clearly document the following electronic lock and door-hardware system decisions before equipment is ordered:
- Opening type, handing, frame and door condition
- Fire rating, egress, accessibility and code constraints
- Fail-safe or fail-secure operation and emergency release
- Credential, reader and controller compatibility
- Battery, wireless gateway and offline behavior
- Mechanical key override, maintenance and lifecycle support
Installation, testing and handoff
Each opening is surveyed as a complete assembly. We verify the door, frame, handing, existing prep, latching, closer, egress hardware, power path and the required emergency behavior before specifying a lock. Installation includes alignment and mechanical correction within scope, cable and power testing, credential enrollment, door-state and request-to-exit tests, and failure-mode verification. The owner receives opening schedules, administrator guidance and maintenance requirements; private credential data and certificate details are not published.
Frequently asked questions
Questions we hear about Kaba Simplex pushbutton locks, from series selection and door prep to code turnover and override keying.
Does a Simplex lock need power, batteries or a network drop?
None of the three. Simplex families provide mechanical code entry without software, credentials or batteries, so the opening needs no cable pull, no power supply and no head end equipment. The tradeoff is that user code capacity is limited compared with electronic access, so the code list has to be planned around a limited set of codes rather than a full staff directory.
Which Simplex series should we put on this door?
Series choice follows the door preparation first: cylindrical, mortise, exit trim, narrow stile, deadbolt or specialty, together with door thickness and handing. The proposal records the Simplex 1000, L1000 or 5000 selection against that prep. Because the family lineup changes, we confirm the current series and finish against dormakaba’s published pushbutton lock pages before ordering.
An employee who knows the code just left. What do we do?
Change the code at the lock itself, because there is no software or credential database to revoke from. That is why code control, override cylinder and user turnover belong in a written policy naming who may change codes, how the new code is distributed and what events force a change. Openings with heavy staff churn are better candidates for electronic access.
Someone forgot the code and the door has to open. Is there a way in?
Yes, through the mechanical override cylinder specified with the lock. Decide during design whether that cylinder is keyed into the building master system or held separately, and name who keeps the key. Record the answer with the emergency override policy so the override path is known to facilities before it is needed at two in the morning.
Will we know who opened the door and when?
No. A Simplex opening produces no audit trail, so there is no event record, no time stamp and no user identity to report on. If the opening needs history for an investigation, an insurer or an internal policy, that opening belongs on electronic access instead, and the proposal should say which doors fall on each side of that line.
Can Simplex doors sit on the same site as our card access doors?
They can, as a documented split rather than a connection. A Simplex opening does not report to an access platform, so the opening schedule lists which doors run on codes and which need credential, reader and controller compatibility with the electronic system. Keeping that split explicit stops the mechanical doors from being assumed into the badge revocation process.
Official Kaba / dormakaba software, firmware and support
Official manufacturer resources. We link out rather than host firmware.
Before updating: confirm model, hardware revision, current version, entitlement and rollback plan, and schedule monitored or life-safety-adjacent systems with the administrator.