How Often Should a Business Rekey Its Locks? A Practical Schedule

If you're waiting for a specific date on the calendar to tell you it's time to rekey your business, you're asking the wrong question. Commercial security isn't about anniversaries — it's about who has walked through your doors, who's left your payroll, and how many copies of your keys are floating around that you can no longer account for.

The quick version: most businesses should rekey immediately after any employee with key access leaves (voluntarily or not), after a lost or unreturned key, and after any break-in or attempted break-in. Beyond those triggers, a general baseline of every 2–3 years for high-turnover businesses (retail, restaurants, warehouses) and every 4–5 years for low-turnover offices is a reasonable default — but the triggers matter far more than the timeline.

Why "every X years" misses the point

A schedule based purely on time assumes your key exposure grows at a steady, predictable rate. It doesn't. A restaurant that turns over 40% of its staff every six months has wildly different exposure than a two-person accounting office where the same people have held keys for a decade. Basing your rekey decision on a fixed interval means you're either rekeying too often for no reason, or — more dangerously — leaving old keys active for years after someone who shouldn't have access still does.

Think of key control the way you'd think of password security: it's not about changing it on a schedule, it's about changing it the moment there's a reason to believe someone unauthorized might have it.

The five triggers that should always prompt a rekey

• Any employee departure with key access. Whether it's a manager who quit on good terms or a cashier let go for cause, if they held a key, that key's usefulness to them should end the same day. A surprising number of business owners collect the physical key back and consider the job done — but a key can be copied at any hardware counter for under $10 before it's ever returned.
• A lost or misplaced key. Even if you're fairly sure it's just sitting in a coat pocket somewhere, "fairly sure" isn't a security policy. If a key with your address or unit number attached goes missing, rekey that lock within days, not months.
• A break-in or forced entry attempt. Even if the lock wasn't picked or bumped, an attempted entry tells you someone has scouted your building. Rekeying afterward is cheap insurance against a repeat attempt using a different method.
• A change in landlord, subtenant, or shared-space arrangement. Commercial leases change hands more often than owners think, and previous tenants, contractors, or cleaning crews may still hold working keys from a prior arrangement you inherited.
• Vendor or contractor access that's outlived its purpose. If a cleaning company, IT contractor, or delivery service was issued a key for a temporary project and the project's over, that's a rekey trigger — not a "we'll get to it" item.

What "rekeying" actually solves (and what it doesn't)

Rekeying changes the internal pins of your existing lock hardware so old keys stop working, while keeping the same lock body — it's typically 40–60% cheaper than full lock replacement and takes a locksmith 10–20 minutes per door. It's the right tool when your hardware is in good condition and your only problem is key exposure.

What it won't fix: worn-out latches, doors that don't close flush, or hardware that's been drilled or damaged in a break-in attempt. In those cases, replacement is the honest answer, not rekeying. A good locksmith will tell you which one your situation actually calls for rather than upselling the more expensive option by default.

A practical schedule for common business types

Here's a starting baseline, assuming no triggers occur in between — though in practice, triggers will usually come first.

• Retail and restaurants (high staff turnover): Rekey every 12–24 months as a floor, and immediately with any termination.
• Warehouses and light industrial: Every 24–36 months, plus immediately after any shift-lead or supervisor departure.
• Professional offices (low turnover): Every 4–5 years is reasonable if staff is stable, but audit your key log annually regardless.
• Multi-tenant commercial buildings: Rekey common-area locks whenever a tenant vacates, not just when your own staff changes.

Consider a master key system instead of guessing

If you're rekeying reactively every few months because of staff churn, a master key system can reduce how disruptive each rekey needs to be. Instead of replacing access for the whole building, you rekey just the individual cylinder tied to the role or department that changed, while the master key structure above it stays intact. For businesses with 10+ employees and varying access levels, this usually pays for itself within the first year or two of avoided full-building rekeys.

Rekey on the event, not the calendar — the date someone loses access to your business matters far more than the date on your wall planner.

If it's been a while since you've reviewed who actually holds keys to your business — or you've had staff turnover you haven't addressed yet — it's worth a proper audit rather than a guess. Our COMMERCIAL LOCKSMITH VANCOUVER team can assess your current hardware, recommend rekey versus replacement, and set up a master key system if your access needs have outgrown a single set of keys. Give us a call and we'll walk your space with you.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to rekey a commercial lock?

Commercial rekeying typically runs $40–$90 per cylinder depending on lock brand and access, with volume discounts common for multi-door jobs — a locksmith can usually quote an exact number after a quick site look.

Can I rekey locks myself to save money?

DIY rekey kits exist for standard residential-grade locks, but most commercial-grade cylinders (especially high-security or master-keyed systems) require specific pinning kits and expertise to avoid damaging the lock or compromising the master key hierarchy.

Is rekeying enough after a break-in, or should I replace the whole lock?

If the lock still functions properly and wasn't damaged during the attempt, rekeying is sufficient; if the cylinder was drilled, pried, or the door frame was damaged, replacement is the safer call — a locksmith can confirm which applies to your specific lock.