< Levels of Access >

Hey Guys, I wonder if anyone can shed light... I have a system that internal users access - I have separated access levels into 1, 2, 3 etc. So if you have access 1 you can view certain things - If you are 2 then you can view more or other things. However the problem arises when someone in access level 1 wants to access a level 2 function. I then manually specify that: if (access = 2 or user=joe) { Allow the functions ... } This can get messy - as individuals will be specified all over the place on a large system to override levels of access. Is there a sensible standard that is used to have levels of access but special people can access certain higher level functions.? I hope that makes sense. Thanks