Do locksmiths need a license in Virginia?

Yes, with a few exceptions

Yes. In Virginia a business that does locksmith work needs a private security services business license, and the individual locksmiths who work for it need a registration. Both come from the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), not from the Board for Contractors that licenses most home trades. There are exceptions, listed below, but a business that holds itself out as a locksmith is covered.

What the law requires

The business license comes first. The Code of Virginia says: "No person shall engage in the private security services business or solicit private security business in the Commonwealth without having obtained a license from the Department."^[2] A business is only issued a license once it has named a compliance agent in writing,^[2] and DCJS describes its role as reviewing and processing all applications for registration, certification and licensure.^[4]

Individual locksmiths are registered separately. The statute says: "No person shall be employed by a licensed private security services business in the Commonwealth as armored car personnel, courier, armed security officer, detector canine handler, unarmed security officer, security canine handler, private investigator, personal protection specialist, alarm respondent, locksmith, central station dispatcher, electronic security sales representative, electronic security technician's assistant, or electronic security technician without possessing a valid registration issued by the Department."^[2] Employees must also submit fingerprints: "No person shall be employed as an electronic security employee, electronic security technician's assistant, unarmed alarm respondent, locksmith, central station dispatcher, electronic security sales representative, electronic security technician or supervisor until he has submitted his fingerprints to the Department."^[2]

DCJS says its staff is granted statutory authority to proceed with enforcement action against regulants in an effort to protect the public from unlicensed and unethical business practices.^[4]

Who counts as a locksmith

The definition is wide. It reaches anyone who advertises or represents that they have special skills with locks, including use of the words lock technician, lockman, safe technician, safeman, boxman, unlocking technician, lock installer, lock opener, physical security technician or similar descriptions.^[1] The services covered include selling, servicing, rebuilding, repairing, rekeying, repinning,^[1] among others, so changing the wording on a van does not change the rule.

Who is exempt

Not everyone who touches a lock is a locksmith under the law. The law defines key cutting narrowly: "Key cutting" means making duplicate keys from an existing key and includes no other locksmith services.^[1] The article also does not apply to a short list of others, including:

• Retail merchants performing locksmith services, selling locks or engaged in key cutting activities conducted at the business location who do not represent themselves to the general public as locksmiths.^[3]
• Contractors licensed under Chapter 11 (§ 54.1-1100 et seq.) of Title 54.1 performing locksmith services when acting within the scope of such license who do not represent themselves to the general public as locksmiths.^[3]
• Certain unlicensed contractors, where the total value referred to in a single contract or project is less than $1,000, the locksmith work is ancillary to the project and they do not represent themselves as locksmiths.^[3]
• Motor vehicle dealers, and taxicab and towing businesses, that do not represent themselves to the general public as locksmiths.^[3]

An owner working on their own door is also outside the law's reach, because the definition concerns work for the general public or on property that is not the worker's own.^[1] See how to rekey a door lock.

How to check a locksmith

Ask before the visit, not after. Request the business name, the license number and the technician's name, and be wary of a business that gives a generic name or no number. Confirm with DCJS, which handles private security licensing. For the price side, read what a locksmith costs in Virginia.

Stop and call a pro if

• The business will not give a license number. Use another one; the law requires it for locksmith work.^[2]
• The technician cannot show a registration or gives a name that does not match the company you called.
• The price changes at the door. Do not let work start until the total is agreed in writing.
• They push to drill a standard lock at once without explaining why.
• Someone calls themselves a contractor but offers only lock work. Ask whether they hold the locksmith license, since the contractor exemption covers work within the scope of the contractor license.^[3]

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