Priority Lock and Security works on the door hardware that commercial buildings run on: lever locks, mortise locks, panic bars and exit devices, door closers, aluminum storefront hardware, rekeying and master key systems. Offices, retail, restaurants, churches, schools, apartment and mixed-use buildings across Tampa.
Priority Lock and Security does, and it is the main thing we do. We are a locksmith company in Tampa, Florida, founded in June 2021 and owned by Steve Wathen, and most of our work is on commercial and multi-tenant buildings in and around Ybor City, downtown Tampa and the neighborhoods within about thirty minutes of downtown. Property managers, building owners, office managers and facilities teams call us for the doors that stopped working right and for the keys that nobody has under control.
We are insured. Florida does not license locksmiths at the state level, and Hillsborough County stopped issuing and monitoring its locksmith licenses on July 1, 2025, so we do not advertise a license number. What a building owner can ask us for is a certificate of insurance and references from buildings like theirs.
Property managers and building owners are the core of the work: older multi-tenant buildings in Ybor City, office buildings downtown, storefronts, restaurants, churches, schools and apartment communities. What a manager needs from a locksmith is mostly not about locks. It is somebody who answers, shows up when they said they would, tells you what they found in plain words, and keeps a record of your doors and keys so the next request does not start from zero. That is how we run every account.
We also rekey and change locks for homeowners. See residential locksmith. We do not do car keys, car lockouts or safes, and we will point you to somebody good who does.
Text a photo of the door hardware to 813-421-4787 with a sentence about what it is doing: it slams, it will not latch, the key will not turn, the bar sticks. A photo usually lets us identify the lock or closer and bring the right parts on the first visit. You get an answer the same day during business hours, then a price and a time. When the work is done you get a plain description of what we found and what we did.
Text a photo of the door and the hardware to 813-421-4787. We will tell you what it is and what it takes to fix it.
Text a photoA commercial locksmith works on the door hardware of businesses and multi-tenant buildings rather than houses and cars: commercial grade lever and mortise locks, panic bars and exit devices, door closers, aluminum storefront door hardware, rekeying, tenant turnover lock changes and master key systems. The hardware is heavier, it is rated by ANSI/BHMA grade, it has to meet code on exit doors, and the key systems are planned so one manager can control access across many doors. Priority Lock and Security does this work across Tampa and Ybor City.
Yes. Most of our work is in and around Ybor City, plus downtown Tampa, the Channel District, Tampa Heights, Seminole Heights, Hyde Park, South Tampa, West Tampa, Westshore, Temple Terrace, Town 'N' Country, Carrollwood, Citrus Park, Brandon, Riverview and Lutz. If your building is a little outside that and you manage other properties inside it, ask.
Insured, yes: Priority Lock and Security carries general liability insurance and can provide a certificate of insurance to a property manager or owner. Licensed, no, and neither is anyone else: Florida does not license locksmiths at the state level, and Hillsborough County stopped issuing, monitoring and registering its locksmith licenses on July 1, 2025, after the state preempted local occupational licensing. Any company still advertising a county locksmith license number is citing a program that no longer runs.
Yes. Commercial door hardware is the main work, and we also rekey and change locks for homeowners in the Tampa area: rekeys, lock changes and deadbolts. We do not do car keys, car lockouts or safes.
Text a photo of the hardware to 813-421-4787 with a sentence about what it is doing and you get a real answer and a schedule the same day during business hours, Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM. We are a scheduled service company rather than a 24 hour emergency line. For weekends and after hours, ask and we will see what we can work out.
Commercial lock work starts at $125 an hour, and the first hour on site is the visit. Remote support, when a problem can be settled by phone, text or video, is as low as $50 an hour. After hours is $149 for the first hour. Labor is billed in quarter hours after the first hour, and real hardware, such as a lock, a closer or an exit device, is quoted as a part. Text a photo of the door to 813-421-4787 and you get a price before anyone is scheduled.
More answers: the full question and answer page. If your question is not there, text a photo of the door to 813-421-4787.
We will tell you what it is, what it takes, and when we can be there.
