Lock Functions Explained: Passage, Privacy, Entrance, Office, Storeroom, Classroom
, by United Doors and Locks, 4 min reading time
Function is what the lock does, not how it is built. Passage, privacy, entrance, storeroom and classroom, with the ANSI numbers and where each belongs.
Two locks can be identical in grade, finish, and appearance and behave completely differently. What separates them is the function: which side locks, what unlocks it, and what happens when somebody inside needs to get out in a hurry. Function names are opaque to anyone who is not a specifier, and picking the wrong one is how a storeroom ends up lockable from the inside by a passing member of the public.
The functions, in order of complexity
Passage — ANSI F75
Both levers always free. No cylinder, no button, no lock at all. It is a latch with handles, used where a door needs to stay shut but never needs to be secured: corridors, closets that hold nothing of value, dividing doors. If somebody asks for a lock on a door like this, ask what they intend to lock it against.
Privacy — ANSI F76
A push button or thumbturn on the inside locks the outside lever. There is no key — instead there is an emergency release on the outside, usually a small slot you turn with a coin or a tool, so the door can be opened from outside if someone inside is in trouble. Restrooms, changing rooms, single-occupancy medical rooms. The J-76-F privacy lever lock is a typical example.
Privacy is not security. The emergency release exists precisely so that it can be defeated, and that is a feature.
Entrance / Office — ANSI F82 or F109
Key from outside; a button or thumbturn inside locks and unlocks the outside lever. Somebody inside can secure the door without a key and leave it secured behind them. Private offices, staff rooms, tenant suite entrances.
The catch is that anybody inside can lock the door, including someone who should not. That is the reason not to use it on a storeroom.
Storeroom — ANSI F86
The outside lever is always locked and cannot be unlocked from inside. A key retracts the latch to enter. The inside lever is always free, so egress is never restricted.
This is the most useful commercial function and the most under-specified. It suits every space where entry should always require a key: mechanical and electrical rooms, IT closets, stockrooms, chemical storage. Because there is no button to leave in the wrong position, the door cannot be accidentally left unlocked. The 10XG04-LL heavy duty storeroom lockset and the ALX80B SFIC storeroom lever lock are both this function; the LC1200 Series offers it as a Grade 1 option.
Classroom — ANSI F84
A key from the outside locks and unlocks the outside lever, and it stays in whichever state the key left it. There is no button inside. The inside lever is always free.
The logic is institutional: only a keyholder decides whether the room is open, and a student cannot lock a teacher out or lock themselves in. Classrooms, laboratories, treatment rooms. See the 10XG37-LL classroom lockset or the J-84-F classroom lever lock.
Classroom security / intruder
A keyed cylinder on both sides, so a teacher can lock the outside lever from inside the room without opening the door. It exists for lockdown procedures, where the older classroom function forced somebody to step into the corridor to lock the door. The 10XG38-LL classroom security intruder lockset is this function. Many school districts now specify it as standard, and some jurisdictions require it.
Institutional / Asylum — ANSI F87
Keyed both sides, both levers locked. Nobody passes without a key in either direction. This restricts egress, so it is only permitted where codes allow it — secure mental health units, holding areas, certain utility spaces. Never fit it to a door on an egress path. The 10XG17-LL utility, asylum or institutional lockset is the specification.
A quick reference
| Function | ANSI | Outside | Inside | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passage | F75 | Always free | Always free | Corridors, closets |
| Privacy | F76 | Emergency release | Button locks | Restrooms |
| Entrance / Office | F82 | Key | Button locks | Offices |
| Storeroom | F86 | Always locked, key enters | Always free | Plant, stock, IT |
| Classroom | F84 | Key locks and unlocks | Always free | Classrooms, labs |
| Classroom security | — | Key | Key locks outside | Lockdown-capable rooms |
| Institutional | F87 | Key | Key | Restricted areas only |
The rule that overrides all of it
Egress comes first. With the single, narrowly permitted exception of institutional function, the inside lever must always release the latch in one motion without a key. If a function you are considering would trap someone inside a room, it is the wrong function unless a code official has specifically approved it for that opening.
Before you order
Write the function against every line on the schedule, not just the grade and finish. Function is not a field change on most locks — a storeroom lock cannot be converted to classroom by adjusting it — so a function error means reordering the lock.
Send us the room names and who needs to get in and out of each and we will mark the functions against them.