A customer gives you a door count. On site, several openings have a keyed knob and a double-cylinder deadbolt. A door-count locksmith rekey quote will miss cylinders, labor, keys, or all three.
Count openings for location. Count cylinders for work. Count finished keys for materials and cutting. Then write the quote from those quantities.
Start the locksmith rekey quote with the service request
Write down the requested result before counting hardware. “Rekey the building” is not a usable instruction. It does not tell the technician which openings change or which key operates each cylinder.
Record:
- Customer and service address
- Authorized site contact
- Occupancy and access window
- Areas the technician may enter
- Operating keys available for the survey and job
- Requested key arrangement
- Number of finished keys requested
- Known access problems or damaged hardware
Ask one blunt question: does the customer want the same key for every listed cylinder, or separate keys for different openings? Record the answer as a request, not a promise. You still need to inspect compatibility.
Separate the requested service at intake. Rekeying changes a cylinder so it operates with the selected key. It does not automatically include opening a locked door, repairing a seized lock, replacing a lockset, changing electronic access equipment, or designing a master key system.
If the caller is still deciding between a fixed quote and a wider price range, use the contractor estimate versus quote guide to choose the document before promising a price. A lock change estimate can cover an uncertain replacement scope. A fixed rekey quote needs a known schedule and clear assumptions.
Build an opening and cylinder schedule before costing
Give every door, gate, cabinet, or other opening a short ID. Use labels the technician can find on site, such as front entry, rear service door, or office storage. Put the ID on the quote schedule, work order, photos, and completion record.
Then count the key-operated cylinders at each opening. Do not use door count as a shortcut.
A door, a lockset, and a cylinder are different units. An opening may have a keyed knob plus a deadbolt. A double-cylinder deadbolt has a key-operated cylinder on each side. Count the hardware that must be removed, serviced, reinstalled, and tested.
Record the cylinder arrangement
For each opening, write down:
- Opening ID and location
- Hardware type
- Number of key-operated cylinders
- Inside and outside arrangement
- Manufacturer or identifying marks where visible
- Keyway where it can be identified
- Current operating key available or unavailable
- Requested key ID or group
- Finish and visible condition
- Access or removal difficulty
- Photo reference and notes
Avoid a line such as “doors rekeyed.” It leaves the technician guessing. A schedule exposes the actual rekey labor and materials before you calculate the price.
Use a copy-ready survey and quote schedule
Fill a row for every hardware item or cylinder arrangement. Add rows rather than squeezing several different locks into a single description.
| Opening ID | Location | Hardware | Cylinder count | Inside/outside arrangement | Keyway | Requested key ID or group | Included keys | Condition/access | Scope and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ID] | [Door or gate location] | [Knob, lever, deadbolt, rim cylinder, mortise cylinder, other] | [Qty] | [Describe each side] | [Identified or inspection required] | [Shared group ID, separate key ID, unchanged, or excluded] | [Qty] | [Working, damaged, seized, inaccessible, unknown] | [Rekey, inspect, exclude, or price separately] |
Below the table, add document fields for the customer, service address, authorized contact, access window, total cylinder count, total included keys, assumptions, exclusions, price, acceptance, and expiry or scheduling terms used by your business.
Check compatibility before promising same-key operation
The customer may want the same key for every opening. That result depends on the installed cylinders and keyways. Inspect first.
Use the same decision sequence for every proposed key group:
- Identify the cylinder and keyway.
- Confirm that the requested key matches the keyway.
- Check that the cylinder is serviceable and can be rekeyed.
- Verify any authorization needed for a restricted key.
- Mark the cylinder compatible, replacement required, or unresolved.
Record mixed, unidentified, damaged, or inaccessible hardware as a decision point. Do not hide uncertainty inside a fixed line item.
If compatibility cannot be confirmed during the survey, choose a clear treatment:
- Inspect and confirm before issuing the fixed quote.
- Quote the confirmed cylinders and exclude the uncertain hardware.
- Define an allowance by naming the work or material it covers, state that actual cost replaces the allowance, and name who approves the difference before work continues.
- Price cylinder or lock replacement as a separate option after identification.
A cylinder that is seized, damaged, or inaccessible may need repair or replacement. That is not routine rekey work just because the original request used the word “rekey.” State what happens if the technician cannot service it as quoted.
Check the official state and local licensing body that governs locksmith work in your location. Ask which license or registration covers the work you intend to sell and write down the answer. Do not rely on a rule from another state or assume every locksmith task is treated the same way.
Write the key schedule in plain language
Give each cylinder an instruction the technician can follow. Use keyed alike, keyed different, unchanged, or excluded.
Keyed alike means the specified cylinders operate from the same key. Keyed different means they use separate keys. Neither phrase says how many finished keys the customer receives, so add that quantity separately.
Assign a shared group ID to every set of cylinders keyed alike. For keyed-different work, assign a separate key ID or group to each cylinder. Then record how many finished keys are included for each group or separate key ID and who receives them at handover.
For example, the schedule fields can read:
- Key group or key ID: [Identifier]
- Cylinders assigned: [Opening and cylinder IDs]
- Instruction: [Keyed alike across this group or keyed different for this cylinder]
- Finished keys included: [Quantity]
- Additional keys requested: [Key type and quantity]
- Handover contact: [Name or role]
Keep extra key pricing visible. List the blank type, quantity, cutting work, and selling price as a separate line. If the customer asks for more keys after acceptance, treat the added quantity as changed scope rather than absorbing it.
Do not squeeze master key design into an ordinary rekey. A designed hierarchy, controlled issue plan, and broader key schedule need their own survey and scope. Send that request to the master key quote process before pricing it.
Calculate rekey labor and materials from the schedule
Price the work the technician will perform. Start with the schedule, not a flat door count.
Labor may include identifying hardware, gaining normal access, removing cylinders, servicing or repinning them, cutting keys, reinstalling hardware, testing every opening, labeling key groups, and completing the job record. Estimate those tasks with your own labor cost and expected time for this site.
Materials may include pins, springs, key blanks, replacement cylinders, and other job-specific items. Use quantities from the cylinder and key schedules. Do not invent a material allowance to cover a count you have not completed.
Keep the cost buckets boring:
- Direct labor cost
- Direct material cost
- Other job-specific cost
- Overhead allocation
- Markup
Other job-specific costs can include travel, parking, access equipment, or a required site expense when it applies. Name the cost. Do not bury it in the cylinder quantity.
Uncertain repair and replacement labor stays outside the fixed rekey scope until you can inspect it. If you decide to offer an option, describe the trigger and price the option from your own costs.
For a fuller pricing method, use how to price a job after the cylinder and key quantities are fixed.
Add overhead and markup to the cost base
Direct cost is not the selling price. The job must also carry its share of business overhead and produce profit.
Build the calculation in this order:
Direct labor cost + Direct material cost + Other job-specific cost = Direct job cost Direct job cost + Overhead allocation = Cost base Cost base + Markup = Quoted selling price
Keep overhead allocation and markup in the internal cost build unless your business deliberately itemizes them. The customer-facing quote can show the scoped work, extra keys, options, and final selling price without exposing each internal pricing step.
Use your own payroll cost, material cost, vehicle cost, overhead method, and target markup. Do not copy a market rate or guess a price per door. Your cylinder schedule and cost records are the inputs.
Price additional keys as real work
Extra key pricing starts with the correct blank and quantity. Add the cutting labor and any direct handling required for the job. Carry overhead and markup using the same method as the rest of the quote.
State whether the line covers keys cut during the scheduled visit. If a later request needs a new visit, quote that visit separately. An additional key is not free because other keys were included.
Keep markup and margin separate
Markup is added to cost. Margin is profit as a share of the selling price. They are not the same percentage.
The Oak Street electrical job is the house example for the arithmetic. Its original quote was 1,105. Job cost was 850, so profit against that quote was 255.
- Markup: 255 ÷ 850 = 30%
- Margin: 255 ÷ 1,105 ≈ 23%
The invoice later became 1,265 after a 160 change order. The costs of that change are not given. Do not calculate profit from 1,265 or combine that invoice total with the 850 original job cost. These are sample currency units, not a locksmith rate card.
Put assumptions and exclusions beside the price
A clean price needs a clean boundary. Write the assumptions close to the total so the customer and technician can see what the number depends on.
State:
- Surveyed openings and cylinder count
- Included key groups and finished key quantities
- Normal access to listed hardware
- Availability of any operating keys relied on during pricing
- Hardware and keyway compatibility relied on for keyed-alike work
- Work hours and access window used in the labor estimate
Then name the work that is not included. Common exclusions are concealed damage, failed or seized hardware, door alignment, replacement locksets, replacement cylinders not listed in the schedule, lockout work, electronic access equipment, master key design, and unlisted openings.
Use direct wording. “Price excludes repair or replacement of hardware that cannot be rekeyed as surveyed” is better than “additional work may cost more.” The first sentence tells the technician when to stop.
State the rule for an excluded condition. The technician records it, shows the customer or authorized contact, prices the added work, and gets approval before proceeding.
Control site differences with a change order
The accepted locksmith rekey quote is the boundary. Stop when the site does not match it.
Common triggers include an extra cylinder, an incompatible keyway, a seized lock, inaccessible hardware, a request for more keys, or a changed keyed-alike instruction. Photograph the condition. Link it to the opening ID. Describe the added labor and materials.
Write a change order with:
- Original quote reference
- Opening and cylinder affected
- Condition found or request made
- Added or removed scope
- Price change
- Schedule effect, if any
- Customer approval
Get a yes before doing the added work. An on-site conversation without a record is how replacement labor costs leak into a rekey price.
On the Oak Street bathroom, the original quote was 1,105. The lined ceiling meant chasing was outside the quoted scope. Extra cable and chasing were approved as a 160 change order, so the invoice became 1,265. Different trade. Same sequence: find the difference, stop, write the change, get approval, then continue.
Turn the accepted quote into the technician’s job sheet
Carry the accepted schedule into the work order. Do not ask the technician to rebuild the scope from customer messages.
The job sheet needs the opening IDs, cylinder count, key groups, included key quantities, exclusions, site contact, and change approval contact. Put a test and completion field beside every listed cylinder.
At the opening, the technician should mark the cylinder removed, serviced, reinstalled, and tested. Record the key group used. Note any hardware left unchanged or excluded. Count the finished keys at handover and record who received them.
Before invoicing work from a locksmith rekey quote, reconcile actual labor, materials used, extra keys, and approved change orders against the accepted scope. Job costing tells you whether the cylinder work made money; it also gives you better inputs for the next quote.
Before the next survey, set up a single job record that keeps the accepted schedule, photos, approvals, and invoice together. The locksmith job setup guide shows how to build that control into daily operations.