Commercial Locksmith in Baltimore, MD

Baltimore's commercial doors

Downtown and the Inner Harbor, home to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Baltimore Convention Center, make up the city's main commercial district. Doors in a district like that range from glass storefront entrances to steel rear service doors and tenant suite doors, each with its own hardware. Within the Market Center National Register district, the Howard Street Commercial and Five & Dime districts are also Baltimore City historic districts, which brings preservation rules into play.

Storefronts in historic districts

Citywide guidelines from the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) shape how an older storefront can be secured:

• New storefront entrances should fit the surrounding commercial buildings.
• Historic security grills are to be kept unless deteriorated beyond repair, which makes fixing a grill's lock or track more practical than removing the grill.
• Security cameras should be small and attached through mortar joints, not into the masonry.

Exterior changes in a city historic district go through CHAP's Authorization to Proceed application. Work inside the door, such as a new cylinder, usually leaves the facade as it was. This is general information, not legal advice.

Staff and tenant turnover

Businesses lose track of keys as staff come and go, and building owners lose track as tenants change. Rekeying the affected cylinders limits the damage from each departure. In a multi-tenant building, the street door and each suite door may sit under different control, so decide who holds the keys for which door before the next move-out.

A master key system, where a manager's key opens every door and each employee's key opens only the doors they need, keeps the number of keys in circulation down. Keep a written record of who holds which key and collect keys at the exit interview.

What to include in a request

• The business name, the address and which doors are involved.
• The door type: storefront glass, steel service door or tenant suite door.
• Whether the building is in a city historic district, and whether the tenant or the landlord controls the locks.
• How many keys should be issued.

Maryland Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Baltimore. See commercial locksmith and lock rekeying, or use the request form.