Do locksmiths need a license in Pennsylvania?

Updated November 10, 2026 · KeystoneProGuide editorial team

Is there a Pennsylvania locksmith license?

No. Pennsylvania does not license locksmiths. The Department of Labor and Industry says Pennsylvania imposes no licensure or certification requirements on most construction contractors, and locksmiths are not among the handful of trades it lists as exceptions. The Department of State's Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, which runs the state's professional licensing, supports 29 boards and commissions, from accountancy to veterinary medicine. Not one of them covers locksmiths.

Some states do it differently. Connecticut, for example, makes each person who performs locksmith services register with its consumer protection department, and applicants must pass a criminal history records check. Pennsylvania has nothing like that, so there is no state locksmith card to ask to see.

Does a locksmith have to register with the Attorney General?

In many cases, yes, and the Attorney General names the trade outright. Its questions and answers about the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act include one that asks whether locksmiths, burglar alarm businesses and similar firms need to register. The answer: if they do repairs, replacements, installations or alterations on private residences, they count as contractors under the act and must register and follow it.

Four limits on the act matter for lock work.

A price floor. The definition covers work on a home whose total agreed price is more than $500.
A volume floor. A contractor doing under $5,000 of this work in a calendar year does not have to register, and neither does a retailer worth more than $50 million.
Homes only. It reaches single-family houses, buildings with one or two units, and individual condominium or co-op units.
Building staff. Maintenance employees of an apartment building, condominium or community association, working on that property as part of their job, are exempt.

Two questions are left open. The page never applies the $500 figure to a lockout or a single rekey. And it carves out work done under the emergency section of Pennsylvania's general consumer protection statute, saying the carve-out is narrow, limited to emergencies that meet that section's tests and conditional on a waiver the contractor must obtain each time; it does not say whether being locked out qualifies. The office also warns that its page is not a legal opinion. In practice, a small call-out may sit outside the act, while rekeying a whole house, fitting new deadbolts or installing a smart lock is the kind of job the answer describes.

How can you confirm a locksmith is registered?

Look for the number. The act requires the registration number, written as PA plus digits, on a contractor's ads, estimates, proposals and contracts. If the company van carries advertising, the number belongs on it; a plain van needs none.
Run a search. The Attorney General's online contractor search lists only registrations that are currently active. One of its type-of-work choices is "Locksmith", but the page says that field is new and holds little data so far, so a name or number search is more reliable.
Phone the bureau. Consumers can check a registration on 1-888-520-6680.

To register, a contractor files background disclosures, among them past bankruptcies and criminal pleas or convictions, and shows insurance of at least $50,000 for personal injury and $50,000 for property damage. The registration runs for two years. In the office's words it is not an endorsement of competency or skill, and its verification page tells consumers to check references too, collect more than one bid and see whether complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau. The registration website was down for a period and has worked again since April 24, 2026; if a business you expect to find is not listed, ask the helpline.

What must a locksmith's contract contain?

When the act applies to a job over $500, you are entitled to a signed written contract that describes the work and gives approximate start and finish dates, the full price and a notice of your right to cancel. That right lasts three business days. In May 2026 the Attorney General announced that the state Supreme Court had held a homeowner may cancel by phone, in writing or in person, provided the contractor receives actual notice. Leave the cancellation notice out and the whole contract may be voidable even later.

Billing by time and materials is allowed, but only after a written initial estimate, and the final charge cannot run more than 10% over it unless you sign a change order.

Can your township license locksmiths?

Not as home improvement contractors. Since July 1, 2009, the Attorney General says, counties, cities and townships may not run their own licensing or registration of home improvement contractors, apart from licensing rules for trades such as plumbing and electrical work that were already in place on that date. Labor and Industry notes that some of the state's 2,562 municipalities do have trade requirements of their own, and that only the municipality can tell you what they are.

Is a permit ever needed?

Not usually for a lock; sometimes for a door. Pennsylvania's building code regulation does not reach repairs to residential buildings, or alterations without structural changes, unless a local ordinance says otherwise, and it adds that small framing changes made to replace an existing door do not count as structural. Most municipalities, over 90% according to Labor and Industry, run code enforcement themselves, so put the question to your own township or borough.

How does Philadelphia handle locksmiths?

Philadelphia does not license them either. The city's list of trade licenses issued by Licenses and Inspections includes electrical, plumbing, fire suppression, sheet metal and general contractor licenses, with no locksmith license. Anyone doing business in the city, even from outside it, needs a Commercial Activity License, which costs nothing. For work on existing one- and two-family houses, the city points contractors other than plumbers, electricians, fire suppression and demolition firms to the state: they must register as home improvement contractors with the Attorney General. On a property listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, replacing a door, storm door or security door requires review by the Historical Commission; the city's page is silent about lock hardware.

Who takes complaints about a locksmith?

The Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection, which accepts complaints online or on a printed form. The registration hotline, 1-888-520-6680, also takes reports of unregistered contractors, who the office says risk civil penalties of $1,000 or more. Before hiring, compare the quote with published locksmith prices; businesses that serve your area are on the locksmiths directory page.

Sources

Contractor Licensing, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry
Boards & Commissions, Pennsylvania Department of State
Frequently Asked Questions: Home Improvement Contractor Registration, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
Home Improvement Contractor Registration, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
Home Improvement Contractor Search, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
Home Improvement Contractor Verification, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
PA Supreme Court Upholds Consumer Right-to-Cancel Home Improvement Contracts Within Three Days Regardless of Medium, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
Submit a Complaint, Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
Uniform Construction Code, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry
34 Pa. Code § 403.1. Scope., Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Code)
Trade licenses, City of Philadelphia
Get a Commercial Activity License, City of Philadelphia
Find a licensed contractor and contractor information, City of Philadelphia
Get approval for work to a historic property, City of Philadelphia
Consumer Alert: Locked Out? Be Wary of Scammers Posing as Locksmith Technicians, Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection