Concierges in Red Road do not have copies of individual or master keys in order to gain access to flats occupied by tenants. They are not allowed under any circumstances to enter a flat without the presence of the tenant. Keys to flats belong solely to tenants. They are administered - handed out, replaced and/or collected - by the housing officer, who is based in the offices of the Local Housing Organisation located farther down the road from the estate. On vacating their flats tenants return their keys not to the concierge but to the housing officer. The housing officer then brings the key back to the concierge station, where such keys are kept to permit any post-tenant clearance work to be undertaken.

During the time of our field-work in Red Road, on a daily basis, a 'clearing squad' of three to four workers from Glasgow City Council's building services went from flat to flat in order to strip out carpets, take away and dispose of old furniture for fire security reasons, to seal off letterboxes and lock the front and back doors. Further access was required by electricity and water service providers in order to shut off supplies to individual flats. In the concierge station, keys were handed out to workers, who had to countersign a form when taking out and bringing back keys to the station. Once the clearance squad had completed work in a flat, workers were under instruction to return the keys to the concierge station.

A frist transcript [image_1] takes us through a sequence of access organisation at this stage. A joiner from Glasgow City Council building services, asks at the station window for two sets of keys to empty flats. The concierge in the main station room, the joiner at the station window, and a second concierge, in the back room (not visible), search for the requested keys.