Get commercial locksmith work from property managers

How commercial locksmith work is bought

Commercial locksmith work comes in two kinds. Reactive work is the lockout, the lost key, the broken closer and the rekey after a tenant leaves. It goes to whoever the manager already has in their phone and who answers. Planned work is a new master key system, an access control upgrade, or replacing the exit hardware on a floor. It is quoted, often against one or two other locksmiths, and approved by someone above the person who rang you.

The buyers are mostly managers, not owners. A property manager arranges rekeys and repairs for landlords and passes your invoice on. A strata or body corporate manager looks after common property, and bigger jobs such as a new key system for the whole building go to the committee. A facilities manager runs a contractor list for offices, schools and centres, usually inside a prequalification system. Builders buy locks and keying on every multi-unit job, and the work often leads to years of service once the building is handed over.

The pattern is the same everywhere. You win the small reactive jobs by being easy to reach, and the planned work follows once they trust you.

Pricing and call-out norms

Commercial clients expect a simple, stable structure they can approve once:

• A call-out fee for attending, often covering the first block of time on site.
• An hourly rate after that, with a separate after-hours and weekend rate stated up front.
• Per item pricing for repeat tasks such as rekeying a cylinder or cutting a restricted key, so a manager can approve a job without a quote.
• A written quote for planned work such as a master key system, with the hardware, labour and key register listed separately.

Most managers prefer a monthly account to paying on the day, and many will ask for your rates in writing before they add you to their list. Send one page with your call-out fee, hourly rates, after-hours rates and payment terms. Keep it current, because a manager who is surprised by an invoice will not ring again.

Licences and checks by state

Locksmith licensing is set by each state under its security laws, and it differs a lot. Check with your own regulator before you quote, and expect commercial clients to ask for your licence number.

• New South Wales. Locksmiths need a Class 2C (security equipment specialist) licence from the NSW Police Security Licensing and Enforcement Directorate under the Security Industry Act 1997. Running a security business, even as a sole trader, also needs a master licence.
• Queensland. The Office of Fair Trading says that in most cases you need a security equipment installer licence to be a locksmith. The exemptions are narrow, such as retail key cutting and fitting basic locks during building work.
• Victoria. All private security activities have been licensed by Victoria Police since 19 June 2025. Security equipment installation includes safes, vaults and electric or electronic access control, so check how much of your work falls inside it.
• Western Australia. WA Police Licensing Services issues security installer licences in classes, and the class that covers safes, vaults and prescribed locks calls for a trade qualified locksmith.

Other states and territories have their own rules. Beyond your licence, commercial clients usually want a public liability certificate of currency, your ABN, and for schools and childcare a working with children check for anyone on site.

How to win and keep the work

Start with the managers who already need you most often: property managers with a busy rent roll and strata managers with older buildings. A short note with your area, your after-hours number and your rates sheet is enough. Ask to be their second call, not their first. Most already have a locksmith, and the second call gets the job when the first one doesn't answer.

Once you are on the list, keeping it is about records. Keep a key register for every master key system you install, with who holds each key and who can authorise a new one. Restricted key systems are built around that control, and a manager who knows you will refuse an unauthorised copy trusts you with more. Send photos with every invoice, turn up when the tenant was told, and tell the manager when a door or closer is close to failing so they can plan it, not pay for an emergency.

If you would rather someone else did the first approach, Curlew writes to the property managers, strata managers and businesses around you in your name and passes on anyone who wants to talk.