Locked out of your business
A closed business loses money by the hour, so the useful thing this page can do is tell you exactly what to send so the right approach and the right parts arrive first time.
Or send a service request online if you cannot call right now.
Send these four things
Commercial doors vary far more than residential ones. These four answers decide the whole approach.
- The door type. Aluminum framed glass, solid wood, steel, or an overhead shutter.
- The lock type. A cylinder in the door, a mortise lock, a panic bar, or an electronic reader.
- Who can authorize it. The owner, a named officer, or a manager on the lease.
- Whether it is powered. An access control failure is a different problem from a lock problem.
- CT registered locksmithRegistration LCK.0000486
- Insured locksmithWork done by an insured business
- Upfront quote and ETABefore anyone is dispatched
- Pay after the workOnly once the job is done
- Family ownedLocal and accountable
- Damage free entryOur standard method
What a commercial lockout involves
A commercial lockout is entry to an office, storefront, or other business premises, using non destructive methods wherever the hardware allows. Commercial doors use different mechanisms from residential ones, including aluminum framed glass doors, mortise locks, panic bars, and electronic access control. Authorization is verified before any door is opened, and an employee identification alone is not sufficient.
- Authority is verified first. Owner, named officer, or a manager on the lease.
- Describe the door and the lock. Commercial hardware varies far more than residential.
- Access control failure is not a lock problem. Say so, because the answer is different.
Commercial door and lock types
Identifying yours from this table before you send the request is the single most useful thing you can do.
| What you have | How to recognize it | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminum framed glass door | Glass panel in a narrow metal frame, typical of shopfronts | The lock sits in a thin stile with little margin, so care around the glass is essential. |
| Mortise lock | A large lock body set into the edge of the door, often with a lever handle | More complex than a residential cylinder and usually more expensive to replace. |
| Panic bar or push bar | A horizontal bar across the inside of the door, required on many fire exits | Fire safety hardware. It must keep working correctly afterwards, without exception. |
| Electronic access control | A card reader, a keypad, or a fob reader beside the door | A failure here is usually power, controller, or network, not the lock. |
| Overhead shutter or roller door | A rolling metal door over a loading bay or a shopfront | Often powered, with a manual release. Say whether it has power. |
| Standard commercial cylinder | Looks much like a residential lock but in a heavier door | The closest to a residential job and usually the most straightforward. |
Fire exit hardware is not optional
Panic bars and fire exit doors exist so people can get out of a building quickly. Any work involving them has to leave them functioning correctly, and no arrangement that defeats an exit route is acceptable regardless of what it would solve for security. If a security problem and a fire exit requirement appear to conflict, that needs a proper solution rather than a compromise.
Establishing authority to enter
This is stricter than a residential job, and the reason is straightforward. A dispute between a business and a former employee, a departing partner, or a landlord and a tenant is a realistic situation, and a locksmith who opens the door for whoever asks first becomes part of it.
- Business documents showing your name and the company, such as a registration or an operating agreement.
- The lease, where you are the named leaseholder or an authorized manager.
- Confirmation from the owner or leaseholder, who can authorize directly.
- Photo ID that matches whichever of those you rely on.
If there is an active dispute over the premises, say so plainly. That is a matter for the parties involved and their legal advisers, and it is better resolved before anyone attends than argued about on the sidewalk.
Have this ready before you request service
Every item below either speeds the job up or decides whether it can be done at all. Having them ready at the start avoids a second trip.
- The full address, including a unit or an apartment number.
- Whether you own the property or rent it.
- Proof that you live there or own it, such as a lease, a deed, or mail with your name, plus a photo ID.
- Which door is locked and what type of lock it uses.
- Whether anyone else needs to approve the work, such as a landlord or a property manager.
Why proof of ownership is always required
A locksmith who makes a key or opens a lock without checking ownership is helping a theft. We check ownership on every job, without exception. It protects your vehicle and your home from someone doing the same thing to you.
Bring a photo ID plus one document that ties you to the vehicle or the property. For a vehicle that is the registration or the title. For a home that is a deed, a lease, or recent mail with your name at that address.
What usually needs to happen next
A commercial lockout is often a symptom rather than the whole problem. These are the three that follow most often.
Keys have left the building
Staff turnover means keys accumulate outside your control. Rekeying every exterior door as one job makes all of them stop working at once.
The hardware is worn out
A commercial door cycles far more than a residential one. A lock that stuck before it failed was already telling you it was near the end.
Nobody has a spare
A single key held by one person is a business continuity problem. If that person is unreachable, you are closed until somebody attends.
What decides the cost of a commercial lockout
-
Tell us about the job
How many locks are involved, whether you want them rekeyed or replaced, and the brand on the lock if you can see one.
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Get your quote and ETA upfront
You hear the price for your exact vehicle or lock, and when to expect us, before anyone is dispatched.
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Pay when the work is done
Nothing is paid up front. You pay once the job is finished and tested. Card, tap to pay, and cash are all accepted.
What changes the price
- How many locks
- Rekeying four exterior cylinders costs more than rekeying one. The price scales with the number of cylinders, not the number of doors.
- Lock condition and brand
- A serviceable modern lock can usually be rekeyed. A worn, damaged, or obsolete lock is often cheaper to replace than to repair.
- Rekey against replace
- Rekeying keeps your existing hardware and changes which key operates it. Replacement changes the hardware itself. Rekeying is usually the lower cost option when the hardware is in good shape.
- Keyed alike requests
- Bringing several locks onto one key is straightforward when the cylinders are compatible and more involved when they are not.
- Access and hardware type
- A standard residential deadbolt is a different job from a commercial storefront lock.
Lockout, rekeying, and lock change services
Fast, damage free entry and lock services for vehicles, homes, and commercial properties across Eastern Connecticut.
Vehicle lockout
Damage-free door and trunk entry for cars, trucks, and RVs.
Home and apartment lockout
Non-destructive front door, knob, and deadbolt picking.
Commercial lockout Current
Office, storefront, and commercial door unlocking on site.
Rekey locks
Change internal pins so old keys no longer work.
Lock change and hardware
Fresh locksets, deadbolts, and hardware replacement.
Car key replacement
Lost your keys during a lockout? New keys made on site.
Business lockout questions
Somebody who can demonstrate authority over the premises. That usually means an owner, a named officer of the company, a manager on the lease, or a person the leaseholder confirms directly.
An employee with a name badge is not enough on its own, and that is deliberate. A former employee with a grievance is a realistic scenario, and the check that slows you down by five minutes is the same one that protects your premises from somebody else.
The hardware. A house typically has a knob or lever with a separate deadbolt. A commercial entrance often has an aluminum frame with a narrow stile, a mortise lock, a panic bar, an electronic access control system, or a combination of those.
Those are genuinely different mechanisms requiring different approaches and different parts. It is why describing the door properly matters more on a commercial job than on a residential one.
That is always the aim, and non destructive entry is the default approach. Aluminum framed glass doors need particular care because the frame is narrow, the glass is expensive, and the lock sits in a thin stile with little margin.
If a lock cannot be opened non destructively you are told before anything irreversible happens, with the replacement implications explained first. On a storefront that conversation matters, because the hardware is usually more expensive than a residential equivalent.
Rekey rather than replace, in most cases. Rekeying keeps your existing hardware and makes every key that has left the building stop working, which is exactly the problem you have.
Do it as one job across every exterior door rather than one door at a time, because a single overlooked back door defeats the whole exercise. The rekey page explains how it works and what it covers.
Say that clearly when you request service, because it changes what is needed. An access control failure is not really a lock problem. It can be a power supply issue, a controller fault, a network problem, or a dead backup battery.
Many systems have a mechanical override that lets you in while the electronics are dealt with separately. Describe the system and what it is doing, and you will get an honest answer about whether this is something we handle or whether your access control provider is the right call.
We do not operate around the clock. We are open Monday to Friday 6:00am to 9:00pm and Saturday 6:00am to 11:00am, and closed on Sunday.
Outside these hours, emergency jobs are taken case by case and are not guaranteed. Call to confirm.
Business lockouts in 48 Eastern Connecticut towns
Each town page explains what the local roads, housing, and access mean for the visit. Find yours below.
Hartford County 1 town
Middlesex County 4 towns
New London County 21 towns
Describe the door and who can authorize it
The door type, the lock type, whether it is powered, and who has authority over the premises. Those four answers decide the whole approach.
Or send a service request online if you cannot call right now.
Call or text with the vehicle or the property, the exact location, and what happened. You get an upfront quote and an arrival estimate before anyone is dispatched, and you pay only after the work is done.
Opening hours
HoursMonday to Friday 6:00am to 9:00pm, Saturday 6:00am to 11:00am
- Monday to Friday 6:00am to 9:00pm
- Saturday 6:00am to 11:00am
- Sunday Closed
Outside these hours, emergency jobs are taken case by case and are not guaranteed. Call to confirm.
Payment: Card, tap to pay, or cash, taken once the work is done.