What this actually involves
Most commercial calls are one of two things. Either a door has stopped working and the business cannot open, or somebody has left and the keys they held are now a problem. The first is an emergency and is handled as one. The second is planned work and should be scheduled, because a rekey done calmly is cheaper and better than a rekey done at 7am on a Monday.
Storefront doors fail in a predictable order. The deadlatch wears until it stops catching. The closer loses its fluid and either slams or fails to pull the door shut, and then the latch never engages. Panic and exit devices go out of adjustment and the door looks locked but pushes open. Almost none of those are the cylinder, which is what most people call about. Describing the symptom — 'the door will not stay shut', 'the bar pushes but the door does not release' — gets the right parts on the van.
A master key system is a plan, not a product. Done properly it means one key opens everything, a manager's key opens a floor, and a cleaner's key opens the front door and nothing else. Done badly it means one lost key compromises the whole building. It is worth surveying the doors and writing the plan down before any cylinder is pinned, and worth keeping a record so that in two years the next change is a phone call rather than an archaeology project.
Rekeying after a staff change is the item businesses skip and regret. If a departing employee held a key to the back door, the alarm panel room or the cash office, that key is still working until someone changes the pins. It is a short visit and it is the cheapest risk reduction on the list.
What is covered
- Commercial and storefront lockouts
- Master key system design and implementation
- Rekeying after staff changes
- Aluminium storefront deadlatch replacement
- Panic and exit device repair and adjustment
- Door closer replacement and adjustment
- Mortise and rim cylinder replacement
- High-security and restricted-keyway cylinders
- Access control and keypad entry support
- File cabinet, desk and cash-box locks
Hardware and key types worked on
- Adams Rite and equivalent storefront deadlatches and mortise locks
- Von Duprin and equivalent panic and exit devices
- LCN and equivalent door closers
- Schlage, Best, Medeco, Mul-T-Lock commercial cylinders
- Restricted keyways so copies cannot be cut at a kiosk
- Keypad and fob access control on the door
What it costs
Commercial work is priced by the hardware and the number of doors, not by a flat call-out. A master key plan is quoted after the doors are surveyed, because the cylinder count and the keyways decide the number. Estimates are free and a survey is worth doing before the emergency.
Nothing here is a bait price. The number is quoted on the phone before a technician is dispatched, and confirmed on site before any work begins. If those two numbers ever differ, say so and stop the job.
How the call goes
- 1Call with the business name, the address and the suite or unit
- 2Say whether you are locked out now or planning work — that decides how it is scheduled
- 3Describe the door: glass-and-aluminium storefront, hollow metal, or wood
- 4Describe the symptom rather than the part: will not latch, will not lock, bar does not release, closer slams
- 5For master keying, the doors are surveyed and a written keying plan is agreed before any cylinder is pinned
- 6Keys are stamped, recorded and handed over against a list, so you know what exists