A lockout in Tasmania can become a cylinder replacement, restricted-key request or electronic access job once the tradie reaches the door. The task decides the Tasmania locksmith security licence check.
Do not rely on the word “locksmith”. Write down what the tradie will touch. Check the activity category before you quote or dispatch anyone.
Tasmania locksmith security licence: does the work need one?
Tasmania regulates locksmith work that falls within the security technician activity under its security-agent licensing system. The published CBOS description covers installing, maintaining and repairing security equipment. If the description does not settle the exact task, ask CBOS before quoting it.
Use this task map before accepting the booking:
| Booked task | CBOS category wording and office action | What you do before quoting |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate an existing key without working on the lock | Standalone key duplication is not expressly settled by the published security technician description | Ask CBOS if the work involves restricted keys, originating a key or changing a controlled key system. |
| Open a lock without damaging, installing, maintaining or repairing it | Non-destructive opening is not expressly settled by the published description | Describe the opening method and ask CBOS whether the security technician activity covers it. |
| Maintain or repair a mechanical lock | The published security technician description covers maintaining and repairing security equipment | Confirm with CBOS that the nominated lock work falls within that category before quoting. |
| Rekey a cylinder or change its operation | Rekeying is not expressly named in the published description | Describe the cylinder work and confirm with CBOS before quoting. |
| Install a mechanical lock, safe or vault | Installation of security equipment sits within the published security technician description, but the exact item still matters | List the hardware and confirm the activity with CBOS before quoting. |
| Install, maintain or repair an electronic lock, reader, controller, alarm or access-control device | Electronic security equipment can involve several components and licensed activities | Split the components, then confirm each activity with CBOS before quoting. |
The category used by CBOS is “security technician”. It sits under the security agent licence. Do not assume that a licence for another security activity covers locksmith or access-control work.
If one booking contains several tasks, classify each line separately. A key-cutting request can expand into opening, rekeying, installing or repairing a lock, and each added task needs its own check.
Map the booked work before checking a licence
The office needs a scope map before it can check the booking. Build it while taking the enquiry.
Record the site, customer, door or opening, existing hardware and requested result. Then split the work into separate lines.
For a lockout that may expand on site, the booking could say:
- open the nominated door without replacing hardware
- inspect the existing cylinder after entry
- do not rekey, replace or cut restricted keys without office approval
- exclude electronic access-control and alarm-connected work
That scope gives the tradie a stopping point. It also gives CBOS something concrete to assess if the activity boundary is unclear.
For master-key work, identify the doors, cylinders, key hierarchy, authorised key holders and key issue process before pricing. The locksmith master-key quote guide shows how to turn those details into a controlled quote.
Check the CBOS security-agent category before quoting
Use the Consumer, Building and Occupational Services security-agent information (opens in a new tab) to check which licence pathway may cover each task and which person or entity CBOS needs to assess. CBOS is part of Tasmania’s Department of Justice and administers the security-agent licensing system.
Give CBOS a concrete scope when the published category does not settle the job. Ask whether the task is a security technician activity, which legal entity needs authority to contract for it and what authority the person doing the work needs.
For mixed mechanical and electronic work, include the hardware, cabling, connections and programming in the question. Do not ask whether “locksmith work” is covered. That label hides the task CBOS needs to classify.
Check the business, worker and subcontractor separately
Do not assume one licence answers every entity and worker question. CBOS provides current pathways for individual and body corporate applicants on its security-agent licensing page (opens in a new tab). Ask CBOS which pathway applies to the legal entity taking the booking and which authority each person performing the work needs.
Give CBOS the exact trading structure. State whether the quote will come from an individual, company, partnership, trustee or another entity. Ask which name must appear on the application or licence and whether an existing authority needs amendment before the new service is sold.
Before dispatch, use the official licence-check route linked from the CBOS security-agent page or get written advice from CBOS. Confirm that the authority:
- is current on the day of dispatch
- belongs to the business or person named in your job record
- includes the activity CBOS said covers the work
- matches every booked task assigned to that person
Run the same check for a subcontractor. A licence number on an old invoice is not a current check.
Keep one dispatch record. Enter the booked scope, the entity taking the job, the assigned person, the licence details checked, the date of the check and any written CBOS advice. That one record controls the quote and dispatch decision.
Put the licence check into the quote
A vague quote creates a vague licensing decision. Name the door, hardware and work.
For mechanical work, state the lock or cylinder type, the number of doors, the keying work, the keys included and the handling of existing hardware. For electronic work, state the reader, controller, locking device, cabling, programming, testing and connections included or excluded.
Customer authority is a separate gate. A tradie may have authority to perform the work but still lack permission from the owner, tenant, strata manager or authorised representative to enter or alter the lock. Use the locksmith proof-of-ownership and entry checks before opening the door.
For strata work, name who can approve entry, issue keys and change the building’s keying system. A work order that only names a door is not enough. The locksmith strata work process covers authority, key records and work orders for strata sites.
Price only after the permitted scope is settled. Build the quote from your labour cost, materials and markup. Add travel, access equipment, specialist subcontract work and administration only where they belong to that job. Do not use the licensing check as a reason to invent a market rate.
Stop and check scope changes on site
A customer books a lockout. After entry, they ask the tradie to replace cylinders and cut restricted keys. That is a new scope. Stop and send the added tasks to the office before touching them.
The same rule applies when a commercial client adds an electronic reader, controller or alarm-connected device to mechanical lock work. Check the new activity and the assigned person before preparing a variation.
The order matters:
- Stop the added work.
- Describe the new task.
- Check the licensing position.
- Confirm customer authority.
- Price the added labour and materials.
- Get written approval for the variation.
- Continue only when the right person is assigned.
The house example is an electrical job, but the scope-control lesson fits locksmith work. R. Chen’s quote Q-1847 at 14 Oak Street was 1,105 for a bathroom exhaust fan and four LED downlights. The ceiling was lined, and chasing was excluded. Extra cable and chasing were approved as a 160 variation, so invoice INV-1847 was 1,265.
The point is not the price. The excluded task became visible on site, so it was stopped, described and approved before the invoice changed. On a locksmith job, add the licensing check before approving any expanded security work.
Keep practical records for each client and site
These are practical business controls. They do not replace licence conditions, privacy duties or written instructions from CBOS.
Set one office rule for customer authority. Match the customer’s name to an accepted identity record and a document or instruction connecting them to the site. Send exceptions to the owner or operations manager, record the decision and do not leave identity documents in open job notes.
Residential work
Record the occupant or owner who requested the work, what the office checked and who approved any exception. Note the address, door, lock and approved task. If a tenant requests a permanent hardware or keying change, record the owner or property manager approval relied on.
Strata work
Keep the strata work order, the person authorised to approve entry and the person authorised to change the building’s keying system. Record the affected doors, cylinders and key groups. Link each issued key to the approved recipient without placing sensitive key data in general invoice notes.
Commercial work
Name the site contact, the person who approved the work and every authorised key or credential recipient. Keep the agreed door and hardware scope, testing result and handover record. Record who accepted the completed system on behalf of the client.
For every client type, link the assigned tradie or subcontractor to the work completed. Store key codes, credentials and detailed access information in a restricted record that only approved office staff and assigned tradies can open.
Yes Foreman can keep the quote, assigned tradie, job notes, variation and invoice attached to the same job. The software does not decide whether the work is licensed. Your CBOS classification and authority check do that.
Use the official application, amendment and licence-check routes
Start from the CBOS licensed occupations page (opens in a new tab), then open the current security-agent section. Use the application route for the legal entity CBOS identifies, the amendment route when an existing authority may not cover the new activity, and the official licence-check route before dispatch.
Have the legal entity name, trading name, business structure and contact details ready. Add the exact tasks you plan to advertise, the mechanical and electronic components, who will contract for the work, and who will perform each task. For an existing licence, include the licence details and state what service is being added or changed.
Save the current form or online lodgement receipt with the business record. Save written CBOS advice against the service and each affected job. Do not treat an application as approval or send a tradie until the current authority has been checked.
Use the written answer to set your quote exclusions, dispatch rules and advertised services. The Tasmania locksmith security licence check starts with one clear scope, not the job title on the van.
Write the scope for the next booked job now. Send the unsettled tasks and entity details to CBOS before you promise the work.