Schlage ALX Series Function Kit, 2-3/4" Backset

The ALX function kit is a replacement parts kit that changes what a Schlage ALX Series cylindrical lever lock does, rather than a complete new lockset. You pick the function when you order: 10 Passage, 40 Bed/Bathroom Privacy, 50 Entrance/Office, 53 Entrance, 70 Classroom, or 80 Storeroom. The parts that decide how the lock behaves are what you get, including the latch, strike and inside spring cage. If the levers and roses on the door are already ALX and in serviceable shape, a function kit is how a passage opening becomes a classroom opening without new door prep.

No handing to call out. The ALX function kit is reversible, so the same part covers a left hand or right hand door and you can stock one kit for both swings. It also means a door that gets rehung the other way later does not cost you another part.

Measure from the edge of the door to the center of the bore hole. If it comes out at 2-3/4 inches, this is the right kit. 2-3/4 inch is the backset most commercial openings are prepped to; the other common one is 2-3/8 inch, which turns up mostly on residential and light interior doors, and that opening needs the 2-3/8 inch backset version instead. Getting this wrong is the most common reason a lock part will not go into an existing prep.

It comes down to who locks it and when. The 70 Classroom function lets a key lock and unlock the outside lever, so staff can secure the door from the corridor and leave it free the rest of the day. The 80 Storeroom function keeps the outside lever locked at all times and takes a key for every entry, which is what belongs on mechanical rooms, IT closets and stock rooms that should never sit unlocked. Inside lever always retracts the latch on both, so egress is not affected either way.

Both are keyed entrance functions with an inside push button and a cylinder in the outside lever; the difference is how the button lets go. Entrance/Office (50) holds the outside lever locked until someone deliberately releases the button, which is what a tenant suite or office door that stays locked through the day needs. Entrance (53) is the general entrance function, where the button locking releases through normal operation from the inside. Neither belongs on a bedroom or bathroom door: that is the 40 Bed/Bathroom Privacy kit, which locks from the inside and carries no key.

613 Oil Rubbed Bronze is the one you want, and there are nine finishes in total: 605 Bright Brass, 606 Satin Brass, 612 Satin Bronze, 613 Oil Rubbed Bronze, 619 Satin Nickel, 622 Matte Black, 625 Bright Chrome, 626 Satin Chrome and 643E Aged Bronze. Those are BHMA finish numbers, the same designations other manufacturers use, so specifying 613 keeps the opening consistent with hardware from another brand on the same door. If you are standardizing a whole portfolio rather than matching existing doors, 626 satin chrome is the usual commercial default.

Commercial. The ALX function kit is built in stainless steel and belongs on apartment corridors, offices, schools and MRO work, not specified as residential hardware. For a property manager or facility buyer that matters, because it keeps the opening on a commercial platform you can re-function later instead of a builder-grade set you throw away.

Screws are captured in the latch, strike and inside spring cage on the ALX function kit, so they stay with the part instead of ending up in the carpet or down a stairwell. For a maintenance tech running several doors in a day, that is the difference between a clean swap and a trip back to the truck.