Mounting Options for 4C Commercial Mailboxes – Part 1

Commercial 4C mailboxes, most often supplied by The MailboxWorks industry-leading Auth Florence mailboxes, are not an insignificant investment for apartment and office space builders.  Yet often, in the hurry of completing a project, many key factors that could multiply that investment into longer tenant retention periods are overlooked.  And one key factor is STD 4c mailbox location.

UPDATE: 4C Pedestal Mailboxes have been discontinued as of November 30, 2020. The USPS Cluster Box Unit (CBU) Mailbox is now the standard for all multi-family mail delivery.

Over the years, three major trends have emerged in locating and installing 4C Mailboxes:  First, some architects, in an effort to create a community feel among the complex, have created a separate space for all 4c commercial mailboxes to reside.  Typically connected to a community room or installed in a space near or in the lobby, the idea behind installing all STD 4c USPS approved commercial mailboxes in the same place is simple:  people who develop friendships tend to stay longer.

When space is developed for condo or apartment owners (or business suite occupants) to house all the 4c commercial mailboxes, then the everyday patterns of coming and going create “chance” personal connections where tenants can say hello and initiate friendships.

Some apartment managers have gone the extra mile to bring in furniture groupings where one can peruse and read their mail.  Some have added free coffee and business center amenities such as computer kiosks, small desks, staplers, tape, and postage stamp dispensers – all in an effort to elongate the time spent in the common space and encourage the relationships to develop.

For spaces such as these, experts at The MailboxWorks state that the STD 4c mailbox recessed wall-mounted units work perfectly. Maximizing floor space, these 4c commercial mailboxes are recessed into the wall and can be accessed by the mail carrier with a postal key that opens the front of the unit for easy loading.

When the lobby space has a secure room, a new rear-loading STD 4c mailbox model can be installed for the carrier to load the tenant mailboxes from the back of the unit – providing much faster mail delivery and avoiding the inconvenience of tenants having to wait for the carrier to finish loading mail from the front before accessing their unit.

Additionally, The MailboxWork’s Auth Florence Commercial Mailboxes offer a special multi-unit kit that connects each versatile 4c mailbox suite.  This connector kit allows for easy installation of multiple 4c mailboxes in a single rough opening in the wall and provides a stunning, flush installation that completely eradicates the need for separation between custom 4c mailboxes as well as the need for studs in the wall for mounting.

When designing for a recessed wall mount STD 4c mailbox, The MailboxWork’s experts state that it is crucial to keep in mind that postal regulations specify that at least one tenant compartment of the custom 4c mailboxes shall be positioned less than 4 feet from the finished floor and that no tenant lock shall be located more than 5’7” from the finished floor.

Additionally, when considering how low to mount the STD 4c mailbox, no tenant mailbox interior bottom compartment shelf can be positioned lower than 2’4” from the finished floor.  It is also important to note that the interior bottom compartment shelf of a parcel locker compartment must be at least 1’3” from the finished floor and that the USPS Arrow lock for the mail carrier should be mounted between the 3’ to 4’ above the finished floor.

In part two of this series on the mounting options for the 4c commercial mailboxes, we will cover the second major trend in locating these custom 4c mailboxes.

Categorized in: Commercial Mailboxes