A customer gives you a door count. At the rear opening, the enquiry lists one door, but the keyed lever and double-cylinder deadbolt reveal several key-operated barrels. A door count will leave work out of your locksmith rekey quote.
Count openings to locate the work. Count locks to identify the hardware. Count cylinders or barrels to scope the rekey. Count finished keys to scope cutting and handover. Here, “cylinder” is the schedule term. Customers and tradies may also call it a barrel.
Confirm the result and the person allowed to approve it
Write down what the customer wants each lock to do. “Rekey the building” is too loose. The tradie needs a location, operating instruction, key quantity and approval contact.
Record these details before inspecting:
- Customer and service address
- Site contact and access window
- Customer authority to order the work
- Person allowed to approve a variation
- Openings named by the customer
- Current operating keys available
- Requested keyed-alike or keyed-different arrangement
- Finished keys requested for each group
- Known damage, missing keys or access trouble
The person opening the building may not control the money. This matters for strata managers, owners corporations, body corporates, facilities teams and other commercial locksmith clients. Put the site contact and approval contact in separate fields.
Record the customer’s authority to order work on the property. Scheduled rekeying is not the same as emergency entry, but you still need a reliable job record. Use the separate process for checking a customer’s right to control an opening when access or authority is unclear.
Keep emergency entry, electronic access, lock repairs and replacement hardware outside a basic rekey scope unless they are named. A designed access hierarchy also belongs elsewhere. If the customer needs master access, controlled key issue or several operating levels, build a master key system quote instead.
Build the locksmith rekey quote from a site survey
Give every door, gate, cabinet and other opening a location ID. Use a label the tradie can find without ringing the office. “Rear service door” is useful. “Door near storage” is not.
Record each lock at that opening. Then record every key-operated cylinder. An opening, lock body and cylinder are different things. One opening can hold several locks, and a lock can operate from more than one keyed side.
The opening ID locates the work. The cylinder row tells the tradie what to service. Keep one row for each cylinder, including the side of the opening.
| Opening ID | Exact location | Cylinder ID and side | Hardware | Keyway status | Requested group | Condition | Instruction | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ID] | [Location] | [ID and inside/outside] | [Lever, deadbolt, rim, mortice or other] | [Identified, unknown, operating key available] | [Group ID, separate key, unchanged or excluded] | [Serviceable, damaged, seized or inaccessible] | [Inspect, rekey, replace as option or exclude] | [Reference] |
Take the photo at the opening and put its reference in the same row. A folder of unlabelled photos does not tell the tradie which outside cylinder belongs to which lock.
Keep the finished-key schedule separate. The cylinder count measures service work. The finished-key count measures cutting and handover.
| Key group or key ID | Assigned cylinder IDs | Operation | Finished keys included | Added keys requested | Handover contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Identifier] | [Opening and cylinder IDs] | [Keyed alike or keyed different] | [Quantity] | [Quantity] | [Name or role] |
Give each keyed-alike set a group ID. Give each keyed-different cylinder its own key ID. Mark cylinders that stay unchanged or sit outside the work. Do not leave the tradie to reconstruct the plan from messages.
Check every proposed key group before fixing the scope
A customer can request one key for every listed lock. You cannot promise that result until you inspect the installed hardware.
Use the same check at each cylinder:
- Identify the cylinder and keyway where possible.
- Record whether a current operating key is available.
- Check whether the cylinder can be removed and returned to service.
- Compare it with the proposed key group.
- Mark it compatible, replacement required or unresolved.
Do not force an unidentified keyway into fixed scope. Leave it unresolved until you can identify it, or offer replacement as a separately priced option.
Treat a seized or damaged cylinder the same way. Routine rekey labour assumes the hardware can be serviced and returned to use. If dismantling shows otherwise, stop at that opening and record the defect.
Test the proposed arrangement against the actual cylinder schedule, not the customer’s door list. The schedule should tell the tradie which cylinders share a key, which stay separate and which require another decision.
Choose a fixed quote or a lock change estimate
Use a fixed locksmith rekey quote when the listed openings, cylinder quantities, keyways, serviceability, access and finished-key quantities are defined well enough to price.
Use a lock change estimate when replacement work remains uncertain. An estimate can state a range or present a replacement option, but it must still describe what is known and what could change. Do not disguise unresolved hardware inside a fixed rekey line.
Write assumptions that can be checked on site. These may include access during the booked window, serviceable cylinders, availability of stated operating keys and compatibility within the proposed key groups.
Write exclusions with the same care. Name unlisted openings, concealed defects, electronic access work, lock-body repairs, replacement hardware and return visits that are not included.
A fixed price is not permission to absorb unlisted work. It is a price for the listed schedule and stated assumptions.
Calculate rekey labour and materials from the rows
Build rekey labour and materials from tasks and quantities. Do not start with a guessed price per door.
Direct labour can include:
- Surveying and identifying the hardware
- Removing each listed cylinder
- Servicing and rekeying each cylinder
- Cutting the included finished keys
- Refitting the hardware
- Testing every serviced side
- Completing the cylinder and key records
- Handing keys to the named recipient
Apply your own labour cost to the time required by this site. Mixed hardware, restricted access and difficult removal belong in the labour allowance. They should not disappear behind an average door count.
Build direct materials from quantities. Include the correct key blanks, job-specific cylinder parts and confirmed replacement components. If travel, parking, access equipment or another cost belongs only to this job, name it in the internal costing.
Keep the buckets plain:
Survey and identification labour + Removal and rekey labour + Key-cutting labour + Refitting, testing and record labour = Direct labour cost Key blanks + Cylinder parts + Confirmed replacement components = Direct material cost Direct labour cost + Direct material cost + Other named job costs = Direct job cost Direct job cost + Overhead allocation = Cost base Cost base + Markup = Selling price
Use your payroll costs, supplier invoices, vehicle costs and overhead method. The shared job pricing framework shows how to move from the cost base to a selling price without inventing a market rate.
Keep the calculation inside the job record. The customer document needs the included scope, quantities, options and total. It does not need your internal labour cost or supplier cost unless you have a specific reason to show them.
Keep markup and margin separate
Markup is what you add to cost to produce a selling price. Margin is profit as a share of that selling price. Mixing them can make a price look healthier than the finished job.
Use the Oak Street electrical job only as an arithmetic example. These are sample currency units, not locksmith prices. Quote Q-1847 for R. Chen at 14 Oak Street was 1,105. Job cost against the original quote was 850, leaving profit of 255.
- Profit: 1,105 − 850 = 255
- Markup: 255 ÷ 850 = 30%
- Margin: 255 ÷ 1,105 ≈ 23%
The ceiling was lined and the quote excluded chasing. Extra cable and chasing were approved as a 160 variation, so invoice INV-1847 was 1,265. The variation cost is not given. Do not combine the 1,265 invoice with the 850 original job cost or calculate profit from the invoice total.
Set extra key pricing before cutting starts
State the finished keys included for every key group. “Rekey all listed locks alike” does not tell the customer how many keys they will receive.
Build extra key pricing from the blank, quantity, cutting labour, handling, overhead and markup. If supplying the keys requires another visit, cost that visit separately. Do not publish a guessed amount that ignores the blank or delivery work.
Put added keys on their own quote line or option. Name the key group, added quantity, supply method and price. That lets the customer accept the keys without changing the cylinder schedule.
If the site contact asks for more keys while the tradie is cutting, check the approval contact on the job. If the names do not match, stop. Send the changed quantity and price to the authorised person and get written approval before cutting.
Put GST, approval and the variation rule on the same quote
An Australian customer-facing quote should let the customer check the work without reading your internal costing sheet. Show the service address using suburb, state or territory and postcode. Present the price in AUD and state how GST is treated.
Use this copy-ready blank template:
Document: Locksmith rekey quote [Quote number] Customer: [Customer or entity name] Service address: [Street, suburb, state or territory, postcode] Site contact: [Name, role and phone] Authority record: [What was checked and the result] Variation approval contact: [Name, role, phone or email] Access window: [Date and time] Listed openings: [Quantity and opening IDs] Listed cylinders: [Quantity and cylinder IDs] Key groups: [Group IDs] Finished keys included: [Quantity by group] Included work: [Surveyed cylinders, rekey work, refitting and testing] Assumptions: [Access, operating keys, serviceable hardware and compatible keyways] Exclusions: [Unlisted openings, defects, replacement work and other exclusions] Options: [Separately priced replacement work or added keys] Price: AUD [Amount] GST treatment: [State how GST is presented] Acceptance: [Name, approval method and date] Scheduling terms: [Your wording] Variation rule: Written approval is required before changed work proceeds.
Use the customer’s actual entity name. A strata manager, owners corporation, body corporate, facility operator and property owner are not interchangeable. Put the entity accepting the quote on the document and the person approving variations in the named contact field.
Check ABN, GST and BAS questions with the Australian Taxation Office (opens in a new tab). Do not copy a tax setting from another business and assume it fits yours.
Locksmith and security-work licensing differs by state and territory. Ask the regulator responsible for the work you plan to sell which licence or registration covers it, then write down the answer. For example, an ACT business can ask Access Canberra (opens in a new tab) about ACT licensing rather than relying on a rule from another jurisdiction.
Stop when the site differs from the approved schedule
The approved schedule controls the work. If the tradie finds an unlisted barrel, incompatible keyway, damaged cylinder or added-key request, stop at that item.
Write a variation that records:
- Opening and cylinder ID
- Site condition or new request
- Change to the work instruction
- Added or removed work
- Changed price and timing
- Name and method of approval
Send it to the approval contact named on the locksmith rekey quote. Do not rely on a conversation with an occupant who cannot approve the cost. Get a yes, record it, then continue.
Call the document a variation. Put it against the same job and quote so the invoice can show the original work and approved change separately.
If the customer declines replacement of a damaged cylinder, record what was not completed. Do not mark an unresolved opening as successfully rekeyed.
Test the locks, count the keys and close the job
Test every serviced cylinder from each keyed side. Check the intended key group, lock operation and refitted hardware. A key turning on the bench is not the final test.
Count the finished keys with the named recipient. Record each group, quantity, handover person and date. Keep sensitive key information out of general notes that do not need it.
Replace estimated labour, materials and site costs with actual costs after the job. Compare the approved quote scope with what happened. Keep variation costs separate so you can see whether the original rekey work held its price.
Turn the accepted scope and approved variations into the invoice. Do not bill an unapproved extra just because the tradie completed it.
Common questions
Can site photos replace a cylinder schedule?
No. Photos support the schedule, but they do not assign key groups, finished-key quantities or work instructions. Give each photo a reference and attach it to the matching opening and cylinder row.
Should internal costs appear on the customer quote?
Not by default. Keep labour cost, material cost, overhead and markup in the job record. The customer’s locksmith rekey quote should show what is included, the key quantities, any options, the AUD total and how GST is presented.
What should the tradie take to the first opening?
Take the approved opening schedule, cylinder rows, key-group plan and approval contact. Start at the first listed opening and compare the installed hardware with the row before removing anything.