Commercial Locksmith in Pittsburgh, PA

Storefronts in Pittsburgh's historic commercial districts

East Carson Street, the main street of the South Side Flats, is listed on the National Register as the East Carson Street Historic District and is also a local historic district. Market Square and Penn Liberty are local districts as well. In a local district, exterior alterations go through the Historic Review Commission's Certificate of Appropriateness process under Pittsburgh Code Chapter 1101.

Storefront doors, security gates and street-facing hardware are all exterior features. The Mexican War Streets guidelines are specific about them: they favor security gates set inside the storefront windows and painted to be inconspicuous, and they disfavor exterior gates and solid storefront doors of a non-commercial type. Each district has its own guidelines, so check the one for your block before planning new doors, gates or exterior hardware. Rekeying existing locks and changing interior office locks leave the facade as it is. This is general information, not legal advice.

Tenant and staff turnover

Keys to a commercial space spread over time. When a business moves in, the previous tenant, the landlord, the property manager and past cleaning or maintenance crews may all still hold keys. Rekeying at the start of a lease closes that gap, and because it works inside the existing cylinder it does not alter the storefront a district's guidelines cover. Check with the landlord first, since the lease may address lock changes.

Staff turnover raises the same question on a smaller scale:

• keep a written list of who holds which key
• set up a master key system so a manager's key opens every door while staff keys open only what they need
• rekey the affected locks when a key isn't returned
• key the stock room, cash office and rear service door differently from the front door

What to include in a commercial request

Name the business and street, and say whether the building is in a historic district. Describe the doors: glass storefront, rear steel service door, interior office doors. Give the number of locks, roughly how many keys are out, and whether you lease or own. Pennsylvania Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Pittsburgh. See commercial locksmith, lock rekeying and the Pittsburgh page.