Commercial rekey in Vancouver
For the day the old keys need to stop working.
Rekeying repins the cylinders you already own, so the old keys stop turning them and your new key does. The locks stay on the doors, and your business can stay open while it happens.
Someone left with a key. The lease turned over. Time for a commercial rekey.
Rekey after an employee leaves with keys
Most departures are friendly, and the key still leaves with them. Copies may have been cut along the way. Rekey the doors that key opened, and you retire the original and every copy at once.
Tenant turnover rekey between leases
Between leases, your commercial unit often has keys out that nobody tracked: cleaners, contractors, the last tenant's staff. A turnover rekey gives the new tenant a clean start and the landlord a clear record.
Rekey office locks after a break-in or a lost master key
Lost the master key? It opens every door on its system, so each of those cylinders needs rekeying. After a break-in, rekey any door whose key may be gone. For damaged hardware, see break-in repair.
Commercial rekey when moving into a new unit
The keys you are handed on move-in day are rarely all the keys there are. Rekey before your stock, files or equipment arrive. First, check which doors the building controls.
A commercial rekey that does not close the office.
Most commercial rekeys can run while your business is open. We agree the order of the doors with you before any work begins.
1. Pick a working-hours, evening or weekend commercial rekey slot
A daytime visit suits most offices. If your shop or clinic floor is busy, you may prefer after closing. Evenings, weekends and holidays are by appointment; the quote tells you if timing moves the price.
2. Rekey one office door at a time so staff keep working
Each cylinder is pulled, repinned and refitted before the next door is touched, so your office carries on. The main entrance usually goes last, once the new keys are ready.
3. Cut and label the new office keys on site
Each new key is cut, labelled and counted out against a list. You keep the written key record: every keyway, cylinder and key issued, and who holds each one.
The commercial rekey price moves with cylinders, keyways and keys.
The $75 mobile service call is never the whole bill; the rekey is quoted on top. A commercial walk-through costs you nothing.
The price guide explains the service call and the walk-through.
See the price guideHow many commercial cylinders get rekeyed
Count the cylinders, not the doors. A door with a keyed lever and a keyed deadbolt has two, more if the deadbolt is keyed on both sides. Several in one visit cost less each.
Standard versus restricted keyway cylinders
A standard keyway uses blanks sold at most key counters. A restricted keyway uses controlled blanks, needs the system holder's sign-off and sometimes parts ordered in. See high security locks.
Number of new office keys cut per door
Decide who gets a key before the visit. Extra copies are priced per key. Cutting the full count on the day saves you a second visit, and your key record starts complete.
Keyed-alike or master-keyed commercial rekey
Keyed alike means one key opens every door in the set. Master keyed means each person's key opens their doors and a master opens all of them. Master pinning takes more parts and planning.
What property managers ask before a commercial rekey.
Can you rekey office locks so one key opens every door?
Usually, when your cylinders take the same key blank. Mixed brands may need a cylinder or two swapped, which we price first. If some people need only some doors, that is a master key system.
Do I need the old key to rekey commercial locks?
No, but it helps. With a working key, the cylinder comes out and is repinned. Without one, it is picked or removed first. On a master system, bring the key chart if you have it.
Can a commercial rekey be done without removing the door hardware?
Usually. A mortise cylinder unscrews once its set screw is loosened; a rim cylinder is released from the inside. A keyed lever slips off to reach its cylinder. The lock body and door stay put.
Should a tenant turnover rekey include the mailbox and storage cage?
Usually, yes. The outgoing tenant's key ring often had both. Mailbox cam locks are often swapped rather than repinned. Check who controls each lock first. See mailbox locks.
Do we have to rekey every lock when one employee leaves?
Not always. Rekey the doors their key opened. A master key widens that to its whole system. If you keep a key record, it answers the question; without one, start with the outside doors.
Commercial locks rekeyed by a licensed locksmith, with the drill as a last resort.
Only the pin stack in each cylinder changes. The plug slides out, is repinned to suit the new key and goes back in. On a master system, it is pinned to take the master too.
Non-destructive work comes first wherever the lock allows. When you have no key, that means picking the cylinder before anything else. If one has to be drilled, you hear why and the cost first.
Rekeying decides who can open your business, so authority is checked before any pins move: the owner or manager, and the landlord too where the lease or building requires it.
Before the next door, the new key has to lock and unlock the cylinder, and an old key is tried to confirm it no longer turns. The locksmith shows identification on site.
Rekey the office locks or replace them. We will check the hardware, you decide.
If the hardware is sound and only the keys are the problem, rekeying is the right call. It costs far less than new locks and changes nothing else about your door.
Replacement makes sense when a cylinder is worn past safe repinning, a lock no longer latches, or you want a new keyway. We tell you which applies to each door; the choice stays yours.
While a cylinder is out, have the rest of the lock checked. A sticky cylinder, dragging latch or misaligned strike can be cleaned and adjusted on the same visit, and any part is quoted first.
Busy doors can go on a commercial lock maintenance schedule you set: planned visits to clean, lubricate and adjust cylinders, latches and strikes. Invoices can go to your company or the property manager.
Staff turning over every month? Access control lets you cancel a fob instead of recalling a key. Want keys that cannot be copied at a hardware counter? Move to a restricted keyway.
We work mobile anywhere in the Lower Mainland. Our shop at 929 Drake Street opens soon; every job is mobile until then.
Tell us what is going on, and we will price it first.
Call or book online. Tell us how many doors, who has keys and who should keep them, and you will have the method and the number before any work begins.