Cluster mailboxes are a growing trend in mail delivery across the country. Read on to learn more about cluster mailboxes, including USPS cluster mailbox regulations.
In 1775, Benjamin Franklin helped establish the United States Postal Service (USPS), and for nearly 250 years, residents of the United States have had mail delivered to their homes. A lot has changed over the last two centuries, and the USPS has recently shifted to centralized delivery as their preferred method for delivering mail.
One of the most common ways centralized delivery is incorporated at commercial buildings is through Cluster Box Units (CBU), also called cluster mailboxes. According to the USPS, CBUs are “a centralized unit of individually locked compartments for the delivery and collection of mail.” Cluster mailboxes have most commonly been used at commercial offices, apartment buildings, townhome complexes, senior living facilities, and dormitories, but today many single-home developments are also utilizing them.
Centralized mail appears to be here to stay, so here are a few USPS cluster mailbox regulations to consider before you install one at your commercial building.
- The customer (IE: the property owner or manager, developer, etc.) is responsible for ensuring the mail carrier has unobstructed access to the mailbox.
- The customer is responsible for providing its mailbox users with lock and key access. Simply put, a property owner is responsible for giving tenants keys. USPS cluster mailbox regulations prohibit mail carriers from accepting keys for private mailboxes.
- The USPS provides a master lock for their carriers to have access to deliver the mail. The customer cannot preinstall this lock.
- Customers must install cluster mailboxes in a safe location that is conveniently accessible by customers and mail carriers.
- The USPS must approve the installation location of the mailbox.
- Mailboxes must be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
- The customer is responsible for maintaining and repairing the cluster mailbox.
- Customers must work with a local USPS Growth Manager
Do you need a commercial mailbox that will meet USPS cluster mailbox regulations? Consider contacting Holman, Inc. As a Division 10 specialties contractor in the Jacksonville area, we offer a variety USPS approved mailboxes, including cluster, mounted, pedestal, and freestanding mailboxes. Contact our team today to see how we can both supply and install cluster mailboxes or other types of commercial mailboxes that can accommodate the needs of your commercial building.