How to Number CBU Cluster Mailboxes

Commercial cluster mailboxes or CBU mailboxes (cluster box units) are one of the most common mail delivery solutions for business centers and strip malls.

Residential Cluster Mailboxes are cluster box units utilized for residential use as condo mailboxes or Apartment Mailboxes in many high density housing complexes.

As more and more developers, builders, and architects are specifying and utilizing CBU cluster mailboxes for residential use, best practices are emerging for long-term tenant retention and administration.  Over the years, this blog has focused on CBU installation, décor, and architectural styles with regard to CBU mailbox units.

Yet one of the most overlooked aspects of cluster mailboxes is perhaps one of the most important as it affects the efficient and safe use of the mailboxes on an every day basis:  the numbering of the CBU mailbox tenant doors for easy identification.

Upon order, each CBU mailbox can be customized with specific numbers for each mailbox (or shipped standard with numbering from 1 to the maximum number of units).  So when an order is placed, what are the best practices in terms of numbering cluster mailboxes?

In this article, you’ll discover three best practices that will guide you as you place your next order for a CBU mailbox:

First, one must consider a tenant’s safety.

When tenant safety is considered, tenant retention is preserved (and so are profits).  Every tenant enjoys living in a community where he or she feels safe and secure.  And one way to ensure tenant security is counter-intuitive to most complex administrators and designers; the tendency of administrators and designers is to match the CBU mailbox unit numbers to the condominium or apartment numbers in the complex.  And while it seems like common sense to a builder who wants to make it easy for everyone to remember which mailbox goes with which apartment or condo unit, unfortunately it also makes sense to common thieves who can use these numbers to quickly target victims in the complex.

What would be the easy fix? Avoid matching the CBU mailbox numbers to the tenant unit numbers in your complex.

Second, one must consider a tenant’s ease-of-use.   

Think of how many times a week, one must share their address with a vendor or associates.  Since the numbers should not match their apartment, condo, or business space, it is crucial that one considers not only how easy it is to remember the number but how simple it is to mark to one’s address hundreds of times a year.   While no tenant will ever thank you for creating an easy numbering system for cluster mailboxes, certainly one wants to avoid having tenants curse you each time they write out their address.

For an easy-to-use (and remember) numbering system, consider the simple numbers that come standard on each CBU cluster mailbox or consider using alphabetic symbols (A-Z) so that only one letter/number is required.

For large complexes requiring more than one CBU mailbox, the numbers for each cluster mailbox unit can be the same while the building numbers can change to create a unique address.

Third, one must consider a tenant’s desire to live or work in a pleasing aesthetic.

In other words, as you place your order for CBU cluster mailboxes consider the numbering or identification of the tenant mailbox doors as a part of the design elements.  Just like the right door pulls and door knobs can create a unique space in your kitchen or office, so can the right placards or engravings on your complex’s CBU mailboxes.

Remember, tenants check their mail up to six times a week and the experience can be enhanced by carefully considering not just the color of the cluster mailbox units but also the fine accessories such as the numbering.

All cluster mailbox units come standard with silver placard for tenant door identification however, to make your CBU cluster mailboxes unique or to provide a more sophisticated look for your tenants, consider having the tenant door identification engraved and filled with either white or black epoxy.

If you choose custom engraving, be sure to choose contrasting colors to your CBU cluster mailbox.  Black units should specify the white filled engravings for optimum visibility.  Conversely, the sandstone and postal grey cluster mailbox units should specify the black filled engravings for best visibility.

By focusing your attention in these three areas of our CBU cluster mailboxes you will enhance tenant security, ease-of-use and attractiveness.

Learn more about How to Customize Your Cluster Box Unit and your Cluster Box Mailboxes Configuration Options.

For more information on any of our commercial mailboxes available online at The MailboxWorks, please call us a 1-866-717-4943 or fill out the online contact form.

Categorised in: Commercial Mailboxes