The core skills are the same: opening locks without damage, rekeying, cutting keys and installing hardware. The difference is in the hardware and the job. Residential work centres on a handful of doors, lighter-duty locks and the people who live there. Commercial work involves heavy-duty and specialized hardware, many doors and many keyholders, life-safety rules for exits, and systems such as master keying and access control that have to be planned and documented.

Not sure which kind of help you need? Call (613) 707-4884 and describe the door.

The Hardware Is Different

Typical residential hardware

  • Tubular deadbolts and knob or lever sets on wood or steel entry doors.
  • Sliding patio door and window locks.
  • Smart locks and keypad deadbolts.
  • Garage entry doors and the occasional safe.

Typical commercial hardware

  • Heavy-duty cylindrical and mortise locks, usually ANSI/BHMA Grade 1, built for constant use.
  • Exit devices (panic bars) and door closers.
  • Narrow-stile locks on aluminum and glass storefronts.
  • Interchangeable-core cylinders that let a business swap a lock's core in seconds instead of rekeying in place.
  • Electric strikes, magnetic locks and card readers that tie into access control.
  • High-security cylinders with restricted keys, cabinet locks, safes and padlocks.

The Job Is Different

Scale and planning

A home might have three or four exterior locks. An office or plaza can have dozens of doors and many keyholders. Commercial jobs therefore involve planning keying layouts, keeping key schedules and records, and working in phases so the business can stay open. Our guide to master key systems shows how that planning works.

Life-safety rules

Commercial doors are often part of exit routes, so the building and fire codes affect what hardware can be used and how it must operate. A commercial locksmith has to consider whether a change will keep the door usable as an exit, and complex cases should be confirmed with the building official or a design professional.

Authorization and documentation

On both kinds of jobs, a reputable locksmith confirms you are entitled to the work before opening or rekeying anything. Commercial work adds more parties: owners, tenants, property managers and sometimes head offices, each of which may need to approve keys or changes in writing.

Timing

Residential calls are often urgent and personal, such as a lockout or a move. Commercial work is a mix of urgent calls (a business lockout or a failed lock on a storefront) and scheduled projects done before opening or after closing.

Where the Two Overlap

Many locksmiths do both kinds of work, and some situations sit in between: home-based businesses, small multi-unit rental properties, and condo buildings where suites have residential locks but common areas use commercial hardware and a master key system. In those cases, ask whether the locksmith regularly works with the specific hardware you have.

Questions to Ask Before You Hire

  • Do you regularly work on this type of door and lock (for example, a storefront deadlock, a mortise lock or a smart deadbolt)?
  • Can my existing hardware be rekeyed or repaired, or does it need to be replaced?
  • For a business: can you provide a key schedule and restricted keys, and can the work be phased around opening hours?
  • For a home: which deadbolt grade and features suit my door? Our guide to the best deadbolts for Ottawa homes covers that.
  • How will you verify that I am authorized to have the work done?

What Affects the Cost

For either type of work, cost depends on the hardware involved, the number of doors and keys, whether locks are rekeyed or replaced, the time of day, and for commercial projects the amount of planning, documentation and specialty hardware required.

Next Step

If your question is about a business, office, storefront or rental property, our commercial locksmith services page lists the work involved. For a home or anything you are unsure about, call (613) 707-4884.