Commercial Locksmith in Boise, ID

Boise's business districts and their doors

Commercial lock work covers storefront, rear service and suite doors and master key systems.

• Old Boise, Hyde Park and South Eighth Street. These are the city's three commercial historic districts; Hyde Park runs along 13th Street from Alturas to Brumback. Hardware in older storefronts may date from earlier tenants, and some older doors use mortise locks. In these districts, most exterior changes need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the city, so a plan that grows from a lock into a new storefront door or window needs a word with preservation staff first.
• West Boise. Bordering Meridian, West Boise has Boise Towne Square, the state's largest mall, and many strip malls. In a strip mall, find out who holds the master key to the suites before any cylinder changes.

Knox boxes: new locks mean new fire department keys

Boise amends International Fire Code Section 506.1 in City Code Title 5, Chapter 12. Unless the fire code official approves otherwise, every structure whose fire alarm or sprinkler system reports to a monitoring service needs a key box. It holds a master key to every entrance, mechanical, electrical and fire riser rooms included, along with access cards and keys to the roof, elevator and fire alarm panel.

Under the fire department's key rule, any change of locks or keys puts the job of providing new keys on the owner or occupant, and the nearest fire station or the district fire inspector schedules a visit to swap them and lock the box. Book that visit whenever you rekey. This is general information, not legal advice.

Staff and tenant turnover

When an employee leaves without returning keys, or a suite changes tenants, lock rekeying resets the affected cylinders without new hardware. A master key system lets managers unlock every door while each staff key works only in its own area. Keep a written log of who holds which key, and collect access cards along with keys.

Details for a commercial request

Give the district or cross streets, the door types (storefront, rear service, interior), the number of cylinders, whether a master key system exists and whether the building has a Knox box. The Boise page has more on the districts and the key box rule.