Commercial Locksmith: Master Suites and Access Control Leicester

Commercial Locksmith: Master Suites and Access Control

Business premises have security needs that a domestic call-out does not cover: controlling who reaches which room, keeping fire exits both secure and legal, and turning locks over cleanly when a tenant leaves. This page is for businesses, landlords, letting agents and facilities managers who need locks handled properly across a site, not one door at a time.

We are specialists in property security rather than a general handyman who also does locks. That matters most on commercial work, where a keying mistake or a non-compliant exit device is a real problem.

Master key suites

The core of commercial locksmithing is controlling access. A master key suite lets one master key open every door, while each individual key opens only what that person should reach.

• A cleaner opens communal areas but not the stock room.
• A department key opens that department's doors only.
• A manager or master key opens the lot.

The point is to replace a bunch of uncontrolled keys with a planned hierarchy, so access matches the roles in your business. We plan the suite around how your site is actually used, then key the cylinders to that plan. Pairing it with a restricted keyway stops keys being copied at a kiosk, which is what makes a master suite genuinely controllable. Our guide on changing a commercial door lock covers the single-door version of this work.

Exit hardware and compliance basics

In any building the public or staff use, people must be able to leave in an emergency without hunting for a key. That is the job of panic bars and emergency exit devices.

• Panic hardware (push bars) is for buildings where the public may not know the layout, and is covered by BS EN 1125.
• Emergency exit hardware (pads and levers) is for buildings where the users know the way out, covered by BS EN 179.

Fitting the right device to the right door keeps the exit both secure from outside and instantly openable from inside. We fit exit hardware to suit the door and its use and flag anything that looks non-compliant, but formal fire certification always sits with your fire risk assessor, so confirm the specification with them.

Change-of-tenancy and landlord work

When a tenancy ends, the outgoing tenant may still hold keys, so the sensible step before the next tenant arrives is to change or rekey the locks. For landlords and letting agents running several units, we can standardise how every changeover is handled so it is quick, consistent and documented. Where a lock is sound we may rekey rather than replace, which is cheaper across a portfolio. This crosses over with straightforward lock replacement, and the tenant-side rules are covered in can I change the locks on my apartment door. For an overview of everything a locksmith handles, see what services do locksmiths provide.

What it costs

Commercial work is quoted per site. A master suite across a ten-door office, a single exit device on a fire door, and a rolling programme of tenancy changeovers are entirely different jobs, so a single published rate would be misleading.

For a sense of scale only, here is our general lock work, inc VAT. Your commercial job is priced after we understand the doors and the access plan:

Based on 1,008 recent recorded lock repair jobs. Master suites, exit hardware and portfolio work are individually quoted. Our approach to pricing is on the pricing page.

Where we cover commercial work

We handle commercial and landlord jobs across Coventry, Derby, Colchester, Ipswich, Burton upon Trent, Nottingham and Leamington Spa, and the towns around each. Where premises also need a secure way to grant access, a key safe can be part of the plan.

Call us

Call 0333 006 9691 to arrange a commercial job or a site survey. Tell us how many doors are involved and what access control you need, and we will scope it properly.