Commercial Locksmith in Dallas, TX

The West End's brick warehouses

The West End, a Dallas Landmark District, is a run of turn-of-the-century red brick warehouses, one to six stories tall, oriented toward nearby railroad yards. The district has its own ordinance (No. 22158), and the Certificate of Appropriateness rule that covers every Landmark District applies there too. In an older masonry building, list every door that needs work: the street entrance, rear or service doors, stair doors on upper floors and doors between tenant spaces.

Winnetka Heights in Oak Cliff is another Landmark District with a commercial side: 20 commercial structures stand among its 600-plus residential ones. A shop door there faces the same approval step before hardware changes.

Convenience stores and Chapter 12B

Chapter 12B of the Dallas City Code applies to businesses primarily selling convenience goods, with or without gasoline, that have less than 10,000 square feet of retail floor space. Four sections matter to a store's doors and security fixtures:

• Sec. 12B-18(d): public entrance and exit doors must be glass or another transparent material. A store lawfully operating in the city on October 15, 2008 can wait to comply until its majority ownership changes.
• Sec. 12B-18(c): windows and doors must stay clear of signs, advertisements, shelving and merchandise.
• Sec. 12B-16: a drop safe or similar device must be bolted to the floor, with signs stating that employees cannot open it.
• Sec. 12B-17: each public exit must have a posted height marker.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Tenants, staff and keys

A tenant leaves a warehouse floor, an employee leaves a store, and each departure is a reason to ask who still holds a key. Rekeying the affected doors and keeping a written list of keyholders is simpler than chasing down copies.

Details for a commercial request

• The type of business and how many doors are involved.
• Door material, and whether the entrance is glass.
• Whether the building is in the West End or another Landmark District.
• Whether the work follows a tenant or staff change.

Texas Locksmith Pros takes service requests from homes, businesses and drivers in Dallas. See commercial locksmith, lock rekeying, all Texas services or Dallas.