You have the keys to the flat, the furniture has arrived, and in the bottom of the wardrobe there is a small steel safe, locked. The sellers left it behind. Nobody mentioned a code.
Before anyone reaches for a drill, there is an order to go about it.
1. Ask the people who were there before you
- The sellers. Ring or email them through the agency. Most people remember a code or still have the override key in a drawer somewhere.
- The agency. Agencies that managed a flat for its owners sometimes kept a note of the safe code for guests.
- The previous tenants or the cleaner, if the flat was let.
Ask for the override key too. Many electronic safes have a small key hidden behind a cover on the front.
2. Try the power
If the keypad is dark, the batteries are flat; that does not mean the code is lost. Look for a battery cover on the front, or two small terminals under a cover where a 9-volt battery can be held against them. Then try any code you have been given.
3. The maker
Some makers can help the proven owner of a safe with a reset code or a replacement key, using the serial number. It needs the make, the model, the serial number (often on a label inside the door, which does not help when it is shut) and proof that the safe is yours. It can take weeks.
4. Having it opened
If none of that works, the safe is opened. Before anything is done you will be asked to show the flat is yours: the deeds or the purchase contract. The least damaging method that works is used first; drilling, if it comes to that, is done at one point and the lock is repaired or replaced afterwards.
Once open, is it worth keeping?
A safe that came with a flat was fixed by someone else. Check that it is actually bolted to the wall or floor and not just standing there. If you are going to rely on it, have it fixed properly. Changing the locks of a flat you have just bought is just as sensible: who else can open your door explains why, and a forced door or safe is covered on repairs after a break-in. For a flat that will stand empty in winter, read three homes in four stand empty.