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COMMERCIAL RATES — VERIFIED SEPTEMBER 2026
What a Commercial Locksmith Costs in Metro Vancouver
Everest Locksmith rekeys commercial cylinders for $35 to $60 each in Metro Vancouver, builds master key systems from $300 setup plus $40 to $90 per cylinder, and fits panic hardware for $320 to $650 a door. Every figure below is quoted in writing before work is scheduled, so it can go straight to a strata council or a finance approval.
COMMERCIAL REKEYING
Commercial Rekeying
$35 – $60 On-site time: 20–40 mins per cylinder
- Priced per cylinder across offices, retail and warehouses
- Every key held by a departed staff member stops working
- Restricted keyways rekeyed at $80 to $150 per cylinder
Strata & PM
KEY HIERARCHIES
Master Key Systems
From $300 + $40 – $90/cyl On-site time: scheduled, by site size
- One key for the manager, one door for each tenant or staff member
- Designed on paper and signed off before a single pin is cut
- Key register handed over so you know who holds what
BULK & COMMON AREAS
Building-Wide Rekey
$400 – $650 On-site time: ten doors, about half a day
- Common areas, mailroom, parkade and amenity room in one visit
- Scheduled out of hours so residents and staff are not disrupted
- Invoiced to the strata management company on request
EXIT HARDWARE
Panic Bars & Exit Devices
$320 – $650 On-site time: 60–90 mins per door
- Certified exit devices that satisfy the BC Building Code
- Fire-rated doors kept compliant, closers and seals checked
- Free egress out, controlled entry in, on the same door
ELECTRONIC ACCESS
Access Control Per Door
$600 – $2,400 On-site time: per door, scheduled
- Keypad, card reader and proximity fob systems installed
- Time-restricted access by role, shift or tenancy
- Audit trail logging and credentials cancelled remotely
Staff turnover or a lost master? A building-wide rekey costs a fraction of replacing the hardware, and every key issued before today stops working on the day we finish.
| Commercial & strata service | Everest price | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial rekey, standard cylinder | $35 – $60 per cylinder | 20 – 40 minutes |
| Commercial rekey, restricted keyway | $80 – $150 per cylinder | 20 – 40 minutes |
| Master key system, design and setup | From $300, plus $40 – $90 per cylinder | Scheduled by site size |
| Building-wide or common-area rekey | $400 – $650 for ten doors | About half a day |
| Panic bar or exit device, supplied and fitted | $320 – $650 per door | 60 – 90 minutes |
| Access control, supplied and commissioned | $600 – $2,400 per door | Scheduled |
Three things move a commercial price inside its range: the number of openings, whether the keyway is restricted, and whether the work has to happen outside business hours. All three are settled at the site walk, which is why the quote you receive is written, itemised per opening, and does not move once the scope is agreed. Anything discovered on site is raised as a variation before it is done, not added to the invoice afterwards.
Other work is priced on its own page: 24/7 emergency lockouts, home rekeying and lock changes, and fleet and company car keys.
Commercial Locksmith Vancouver
What a Commercial Locksmith Does
A commercial locksmith keys a building so the right people reach the right doors and nobody else does. Everest Locksmith designs and installs master key systems, rekeys commercial cylinders, fits panic hardware and door closers, and installs access control for businesses, strata corporations and property managers across Vancouver, Burnaby and Metro Vancouver.
Commercial work is different from residential in one way that matters: it is almost never a single lock. It is an opening schedule, a key hierarchy, and a record of who holds what. Get that structure right at the start and a building stays manageable for a decade. Get it wrong and every staff change means another callout.
Every job is quoted in writing and itemised per opening, so it can go to a strata council meeting or a finance approval without anyone having to guess what a line means.
When Businesses and Strata Councils Call
When You Need a Commercial Locksmith
Everest Locksmith is called in by Metro Vancouver businesses and strata corporations most often after a staff departure, when a master key goes missing, at the start or end of a tenancy, when exit hardware fails a fire inspection, and when a building has outgrown the keying system it was handed at construction.
- A staff member, contractor or caretaker has left holding keys
- A master or sub-master key has been lost and the hierarchy is exposed
- A commercial tenancy is starting, ending or changing hands
- A fire inspection has flagged exit hardware or a door closer
- Keys are being copied at hardware stores and nobody can track them
- The building has no key register and nobody knows who holds what
Most of this is planned work, and planned work is cheaper. Scheduling a building-wide rekey in advance costs less per opening than reacting to a lost master, and it can be done outside business hours so nobody is disrupted.
Master Key Hierarchies
How a Master Key System Is Built
A master key system lets one key open every door while each tenant or staff key opens only its own. Everest Locksmith designs the hierarchy on paper first, from $300 setup plus $40 to $90 per cylinder, because a system that is cut before it is designed cannot be extended later without re-pinning the whole building. The design stage is where the money is saved.
- Walk the site and record every opening, its hardware and who needs it.
- Draw the hierarchy: grand master, sub-masters by floor or function, then individual change keys.
- Choose the keyway. A restricted keyway stops keys being copied without written authorisation.
- Agree the schedule in writing, including which doors are done out of hours.
- Cut, pin, install and test every opening, then hand over a key register.
A restricted keyway is worth the extra $80 to $150 per cylinder on any building where keys circulate. It is the only way to stop a key being copied at a hardware store, and it is the difference between a key register that means something and one that is a list of guesses.
Vancouver, Burnaby & Metro Vancouver
Strata Corporations and Property Managers in Metro Vancouver
In British Columbia a multi-unit residential building is a strata corporation, governed under the Strata Property Act, run by an elected strata council and usually administered by a strata management company. Everest Locksmith works for the corporation and its manager, not for individual owners, on anything that touches common property.
That distinction decides what we can legally do. A suite door belongs to the owner and we will rekey it on their instruction. The lobby, the mailroom, the parkade gate, the amenity room and the utility cupboards are common property, and work on them needs written authorisation from the strata corporation or its management company. We ask for it every time, including when somebody is standing in front of us insisting it is fine.
The recurring problem in Metro Vancouver buildings is the same everywhere: a building handed over ten or fifteen years ago on a non-restricted keyway, with a decade of keys cut at hardware stores and no register. There is no partial fix for that. A building-wide rekey onto a restricted keyway costs $400 to $650 per ten doors and it is the only thing that actually resets who has access.
Common-area work is scheduled around residents. Evenings and weekends cost no more, and we would rather do a lobby at nine at night than have forty people queue behind a technician.
Licensed & Insured in British Columbia
Licensing, Insurance and WorkSafeBC Coverage
Locksmiths in British Columbia must hold a security worker licence under the Security Services Act, issued by the Security Programs Division. The licence requires a Locksmith Certificate of Qualification or documented supervised experience, plus fingerprinting and a criminal record check. Everest Locksmith technicians are BC-licensed and carry the card on every commercial site.
For a strata council or a property manager this is not a formality, it is due diligence you can be asked about later. A contractor given master-key access to a residential building should be licensed, insured and covered by WorkSafeBC, and you should hold the paperwork proving it before the work starts rather than after an incident.
Everest carries liability insurance and WorkSafeBC coverage, and a certificate of insurance is issued on request before attendance. We invoice the management company directly on terms where that suits your approval process.
Check any BC security worker licence on the provincial verification tool
Before We Schedule
What We Need From a Strata Council or Business
For common property we need written authorisation from the strata corporation or its management company, naming the doors to be worked on. A strata council resolution, a work order from the manager, or an email from an authorised signatory all work. For a business we need the same thing from an owner, director or facilities manager: the person who can authorise changes to who gets into the building.
Bring whatever key records exist, even if they are incomplete. An old keying schedule, a bag of labelled keys or a list of who was issued what all shorten the site walk considerably. If nothing exists, say so; that is common, and it is the usual reason a building ends up on a fresh restricted system.
Tell us the access constraints up front: fire panel interlocks, tenancy agreements that dictate hardware, insurer requirements, and any hours when work cannot happen. These shape the quote, and they are far cheaper to design around than to discover on the day.
HOW A COMMERCIAL JOB RUNS
From Site Walk to Signed-Off Keying
Scoped on site, quoted in writing, scheduled around your building. Four steps a strata council can follow.
Site Walk
We walk every opening with you, record the hardware and note who needs to reach what. No charge and no obligation.
Written Scope & Quote
You get an itemised quote per opening, priced to take to a council meeting or a finance approval as it stands.
Scheduled Works
Work is booked around residents and trading hours, including evenings and weekends at no extra cost.
Handover & Key Register
Every opening is tested, keys are issued against signature, and you are handed a register of who holds what.
Certificate of insurance on request • Written scope before work • Invoiced to your management company
STRATA & BUSINESS QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions
Clear answers on master keying, common property, insurance and what it costs.