If you secure units with manual padlocks or use key boxes, you have probably been sharing codes by hand: typing them into the unit name, sending them over WhatsApp or writing them in a booking note. That is slow, it is easy to get wrong and the customer never has a reliable place to find their code.
The Unit Access Code field fixes this. You store a code against each unit in Kinnovis Manager, then send it to the customer automatically in their welcome or move-in email. The customer can also see it in the customer portal and on their contract.
The feature works whether or not you use a digital access provider. You can run manual padlocks on your units and still keep a connected provider on your main doors. The two codes stay separate.
What you can do with Unit Access Codes:
Store a free-text code on any unit, including spaces and special characters
Send the code to customers automatically through email merge tags
View and copy codes from the facility map while you are on site
Show the code to customers in the customer portal
Show the code to customers on Signable contracts
Choose whether codes clear automatically when a customer moves out
⚠️ Important: This feature is off by default. An operator with the right permissions has to turn it on per location before any of the fields, settings or merge tags appear.
Step 1: Turn on the feature in location settings
Go to Location Settings and find the Unit Access Code setting. Switch it to ON.
Reminder: The Unit Access Code field and its merge tags only show once the feature is enabled for a location.
Once it is on, you can set a second option that controls what happens at move-out:
Code clearance on move-out: Yes clears the Unit Access Code automatically when a booking ends, so the next customer never receives an old code.
Code clearance on move-out: No keeps the code on the unit. You update it manually before the next move-in. This is the default.
Pick the option that matches how you work. If you reset padlocks between customers, automatic clearance saves you a step. If you reuse the same code, leave clearance off.
Step 2: Set a code on the unit
Open any unit and go to the unit detail view. You will see a new Unit Access Code field.
Type the code and save. A few things to know about the field:
It accepts any characters, including spaces and symbols, up to 255 characters. You can label a combined code so it reads clearly in emails, for example
Door: 4321 | Unit: 1234.It is not mandatory. You can leave it empty and add it later.
The date and time of the last change show next to the field, so you always know when the code was updated.
You can also set the code while creating a unit, in the unit create view.
When can a code be set?
The unit has to be free for the code to save:
Vacant or to check: the code saves straight away.
Currently rented with a move-out date scheduled: you cannot set a code yet. Kinnovis Manager shows a message telling you to set the code once the unit is vacant, at the move-out or at the move-in of the next renter.
⚠️ Important: If you change a code after a customer has already moved in, Kinnovis does not tell them. You need to let the customer know about the new code yourself.
Step 3: View and copy codes from the facility map
When you are walking the site, the facility map is the quickest place to check a code.
Open the unit panel on the facility map. The Unit Access Code shows in the panel, and you can copy it inline with one click. Changes made here save immediately.
Step 4: Add the code to your customer emails
This is where the manual work disappears. A merge tag drops the unit's code into the email automatically when it sends.
In the email template editor, add the [Unit Access Code (e.g. padlock)] merge tag to your template. It is available in one email triggers:
Move-In Date Email
The tag pulls the code stored on the unit at the moment the email sends. If no code is set on the unit, the tag fills in with contact operator for PIN code instead of sending a blank space. The merge tag only appears in the editor when the feature is turned on for that location.
Already using the [PIN Code] merge tag?
If you use a digital access provider, the old [PIN Code] merge tag has been renamed to [Access Provider PIN]. This keeps the provider code clearly separate from your new manual padlock code.
⚠️ Important: Check any email templates that used the old tag and confirm they still show the code you expect.
The two tags do different jobs: [Access Provider PIN] sends the code from your connected access provider, and [Unit Access Code (e.g. padlock)] sends the manual code you set on the unit.
Where else the code appears
Booking detail view
The Unit Access Code shows on the booking detail view, linked to the booked unit. It is hidden behind an eye icon by default, the same way access provider codes already display. Click to reveal, click again to hide.
An info note explains that the code is managed on the unit detail view. There is no regenerate or reroll option, because this is a code you set by hand rather than one generated by an integration.
If no code is set on the unit, the field shows an empty state.
Create booking and adjust booking
You can see and set the Unit Access Code while creating a booking, shown next to the relevant unit. You are not forced to set one.
If you leave it empty, Kinnovis shows a soft warning: No Unit Access Code set. If you send a welcome or move-in email using the Unit Access Code merge tag, the email will contain an empty value. Consider adding the code before move-in.
The same applies when you move a customer to a different unit through Adjust Booking. If the new unit has no code, you are prompted to set one. A code can only be set on a unit that is vacant.
Customer portal
Customers see their Unit Access Code in their booking overview in the customer portal, labelled Unit Access Code.
The code only appears once it has been set by you and once the move-in date has been reached. It is not shown for bookings that are still scheduled, and it is removed at move-out.
Signable contracts
A Unit Access Code merge tag is available for Signable contract templates, so the code can appear on the customer's contract in the same way access provider codes already do.
Using both a digital access provider and manual padlocks
Some operators run a connected access provider on their main doors and manual padlocks on the individual units. Kinnovis keeps the two codes completely separate so nobody is confused about which is which.
The Access Provider PIN is generated and managed by your integration. It keeps its existing behaviour, including reroll where the provider supports it.
The Unit Access Code is the manual code you set on the unit. It is never touched by access provider sync events, and it has no reroll.
Both codes display separately, each with its own label and its own show/hide toggle, across the unit detail view, the booking detail view, the facility map and the customer portal. If a unit only has one of the two codes, only that field shows.
If you only use manual padlocks and have no access provider connected, you will only ever see the Unit Access Code field.
Tracking code changes
Whenever the Unit Access Code is changed on a unit that has an active or scheduled booking, an event is logged on the booking timeline so you have an audit trail.
The event reads Manual access code updated by [user name]. If the code is cleared, it reads Manual access code removed by [user name]. The code value itself is never shown in the log, only that it changed and who changed it.
Changes to a unit with no active or scheduled booking are not logged, as there is no booking to log them against.
Notes to keep in mind
Codes do not update themselves on the padlock. Setting or changing a code in Kinnovis records it in the system. You still need to set the matching code on the physical padlock or key box.
Tell customers when a code changes mid-booking. Kinnovis does not notify a customer if you change their code after move-in.
Permissions match access provider codes. Viewing and editing the Unit Access Code uses the same permission setup as digital access provider codes. Admin and Franchise Admin roles can view and edit it.
Summary
Turn the feature on per location, set a code on each unit, then add the [Unit Access Code (e.g. padlock)] merge tag to your welcome or move-in email. The customer gets their code automatically and can find it again in the customer portal or on their contract. If you also use a digital access provider, both codes stay separate at every step.