Access control for a small business: what to fit and what to skip
Fobs, keypads and phone-based entry for a shop or a small office — where they genuinely beat keys, and the fire-code constraint that governs all of it.
LAK Locksmith Team4 min read
✳02 / 04 · Commercial service
One key that opens everything, and staff keys that open only what they should.
- Category
- Commercial
- Availability
- 24/7
- Coverage
- 10 GTA cities
- The visit
- 4 steps
✳On this page
What this actually involves
A master key system lets one key open every door while each keyholder carries a key that opens only what they need. It is worth designing rather than growing by accident — the hierarchy has to be planned around who needs access to what before any cylinder is pinned, because retrofitting a badly planned system means redoing it. We map the doors and access levels with you first, then key the system to that plan.
Design happens before any cylinder is pinned
A master key system is a hierarchy: one key that opens everything, and below it keys that open exactly what each holder needs — the cleaner's key that works evenings but not the office, the manager's key that covers a floor, the owner's key that covers the building. The hierarchy has to be mapped before the first cylinder is pinned, because a system that grows by accident runs out of usable combinations and ends up redone. We map doors and access levels with you on paper first, then pin the metal to the plan.
A system you can run, not just receive
The handover includes a record of which level opens which door, so staff changes are an administrative step instead of an archaeology project. When someone leaves with a key, the affected level can be rekeyed without touching the rest of the hierarchy — the design absorbs turnover instead of collapsing under it. Existing hardware can usually join the system, so the cost concentrates in design and pinning rather than all-new locks.
How the visit goes
Start to finish, so nothing on the day is a surprise.
- Step 01
Walk the doors
Every door in scope, who needs to pass it, and when. The map of who-opens-what is the actual product; metal comes later.
- Step 02
Design the hierarchy
Access levels drawn up with room to grow — spare combinations held back so the system absorbs new doors and new roles without a redesign.
- Step 03
Pin and cut
Cylinders pinned to the plan, keys cut and labelled by level, existing hardware folded in where it is compatible.
- Step 04
Documented handover
You get the key schedule — which key, which doors, who holds it — so the system stays administrable long after the visit.
What to expect
Access levels planned before any cylinder is pinned, so the system does not need redoing in a year
One key for the owner, restricted keys for staff, and a record of which door each level opens
Rekeyable as staff change, without replacing the hardware
Asked before calling
The questions this job actually gets, answered the way they would be on the phone.
Usually, yes — compatible cylinders are repinned into the hierarchy rather than replaced. Incompatible hardware gets flagged in the design stage with options, so there are no surprises at installation.
Where we go
Commercial work is mobile across the GTA — the technician and the equipment come to you, 24/7. Based at 470 N Rivermede Rd, Vaughan.
- Toronto
- Vaughan
- Markham
- Brampton
- Mississauga
- Richmond Hill
- Scarborough
- Pickering
- Ajax
- Oshawa
More commercial work
Not the job you have? The rest of what we do on this side of the trade — every one of them its own page, written the same way.
01Commercial Lockout
Getting a business back open — storefront, office, warehouse or restricted room.
02Door Closer Installation
Fitting and adjusting the arm that pulls a commercial door shut behind you.
03Push Bar Installation
Panic hardware for commercial exits, installed and adjusted to release under pressure.
Related reading
The journal covers this side of the trade in depth — how things fail, what they cost you when they do, and what to check before calling anyone at all.
Can a landlord change the locks in Ontario?
The short answer is no — not on an occupied unit, not for unpaid rent, and not by asking a locksmith to do it. Here is what the Residential Tenancies Act actually says.
LAK Locksmith Team3 min read
Master key systems for small buildings: a planning guide
One key for the owner, one per unit, one for the cleaner. How a system is laid out before any cylinder is pinned — and the mistake that makes it unmaintainable in two years.
LAK Locksmith Team3 min read
The other doors
Everything LAK does sits in one of these: your car, your bike, your home or your business.
- (01)Emergency4 services
- (02)Automotive7 services
- (03)Motorcycle4 services
- (04)Residential4 services
- (05)Commercial4 services