The enforcement of a Madison ordinance requiring landlords to install guarded latches on doors of multi-unit apartment buildings begins in July, causing the landlords and locksmiths in the city to team up as the deadline approaches.

Steve Beckmann, manager of J&K Lock and Security Professionals on Park Street, said business has “definitely increased” since the ordinance was passed.

“Everyone is scrambling,” Beckmann said. “I think it’s going fairly smoothly.”

According to Beckmann, some of the newer buildings in Madison were not originally constructed in compliance with the new ordinance. One landlord in particular owns 15 buildings that have to install new security locks, he added.

Dave Koenig, a partner in Capital Lock on Regent Street, said there have been lots of inquiries regarding the new ordinance.

“We do lots of business with people in the apartment-rental business anyway, so we constantly see activity there, but we definitely have seen more activity because of the requirement,” Koenig said.

The ordinance would also require locks on all common-room doors, such as laundry rooms or basements, and the installation of doorbells, intercoms or buzzers to notify residents of visitors.

The ordinance was initiated after a University of Wisconsin student was sexually assaulted in the basement of her unlocked apartment building last summer.

City Housing Inspection Supervisor George Hank said there have been many property owners who have contacted locksmiths since the beginning of January, soon after the ordinance was passed in December 2004. Locksmiths have been very busy since then, Hank added.

“It’s feasibly not possible to get them all done,” Beckmann said, adding his business has more than 30 buildings in line for new locking systems.

J&K Lock and Security Professionals will complete two to three buildings every week, Beckmann said, and it will take three to four months to complete the installation of locks for all of their customers.

Although all the changes in the locking systems may not be completed in time, Hank said it could take years after the July deadline before all the buildings are inspected. When buildings in the isthmus area are inspected for compliance of the minimal housing code, there will also be a check for the lock ordinance, he said.

Hank said buildings north of West Washington Avenue and buildings west from North Carroll Street are currently being inspected.

“We’ll soon be out of that area … before this ordinance comes into effect, and we wouldn’t be back into that area for probably five years.”

If inspectors visit an apartment building for any reason — for example, if a tenant expresses a problem with heating — the lock ordinance will be checked, Hank said.

“When we are in a building for any complaint issue or if a tenant calls and says, ‘I don’t have locks on my doors,’ we will be happy to come and look at them,” Hank said.

If it is discovered that buildings are not in compliance with the new ordinance, they will be issued an official notice, according to Hank. Housing inspectors will check with locksmiths to estimate a reasonable time needed to install new locks, he added.