Verify a New Jersey locksmith license

Why this check exists in New Jersey and almost nowhere else

Most states do not license locksmiths. Anyone with a drill and a magnet sign can advertise the work. New Jersey is different. Under P.L. 1997 c.305, codified at N.J.S.A. 45:5A-23 et seq., both the individual locksmith and the locksmith business have to hold a state license, and the record of who holds one is public.

That single fact changes what a person locked out at midnight can do. It is not a matter of reading reviews or trusting a phone voice. There is a state database, it is free, and the answer takes about a minute.

The lookup, field by field

The state’s tool is at newjersey.mylicense.com/verification/. It opens on two buttons: BUSINESS SEARCH and PERSON SEARCH. New Jersey issues separate licenses to the company and to the person, so both records exist and both are worth checking.

Then comes the field that defeats most people.

Field	What to select
Profession	Electrical Contractors
License Type (business)	Locksmith Business
License Type (person)	Locksmith License
Business Name / Last Name	Exact name, or leave blank
License Number	The number, if you were given one
City	The municipality

There is no “Locksmith” entry in the Profession dropdown. Locksmith licensing in New Jersey runs through the Fire Alarm, Burglar Alarm and Locksmith Advisory Committee, and that committee sits inside the Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors. The database is organized by board. Selecting Electrical Contractors is not a mistake, it is the correct path, and the trade appears in the License Type dropdown one field down.

Note that the same License Type list also contains Burglar Alarm Business and Fire Alarm Business. Those are different licenses. Neither one authorizes locksmith work.

Searching when you have almost nothing

The name a company answers the phone with is often not the name on its license. If a search returns nothing, that is not yet an answer.

Do this instead: leave every name field empty, enter the municipality in City, and search. The result is a list of licensed locksmith businesses on record in that town. Read it. If the company that just quoted you over the phone is not on that list and cannot produce a license number that resolves, you now have real information rather than a bad feeling.

Reading the result

A row coming back is not a pass. Two things on the record decide it:

• Status. It has to be active. Suspended, expired and inactive all mean the same thing on the night in question.
• Expiration date. A license that lapsed last spring does not cover work done tonight.

Then match the record to reality. The licensed business name, the name lettered on the vehicle, the name on the identification card and the name that will appear on the invoice should all be the same name. Three matches and an active record is a pass. One mismatch is a reason to stop.

When the person is already at your door

The lookup assumes a signal and a spare minute. Sometimes neither exists. Three checks work without either.

Look at the vehicle before you open the door. N.J.A.C. 13:31A-1.13 requires a licensed locksmith business to mark its service vehicles on both sides with the business name, the license number and the municipality, in lettering at least three inches tall. Three inches is large. It is readable from a window at night. An unmarked sedan is not a matter of taste or a small operator being casual. It is a documented violation of the advertising and marking rule, and it is reportable.

Ask for the identification card. The Division of Consumer Affairs advises consumers to ask an arriving locksmith for the State issued identification license card bearing a photograph. Compare the photo to the face. A licensed locksmith expects to be asked.

Ask for the number, out loud. “What is your locksmith business license number?” A licensed operator answers immediately, because the number is on the truck, on the invoice and in every advertisement the business runs. Hesitation, a story about the office having it, or a sudden change of subject to insurance is the answer.

What a legal New Jersey advertisement has to contain

This is a useful filter to apply before you ever call. Under N.J.A.C. 13:31A-1.13, a licensee’s advertising has to carry the name and license number of the licensee, the designation “Locksmith Business License Number” or “Locksmith Business Lic. #”, and the street address and telephone number of the business office.

So a website, a listing or a printed ad for locksmith work in New Jersey that shows no license number and no street address is not merely thin. It is non-compliant on its face, and the operator behind it has already told you something about how the rest of the job will go.

If the license does not check out

Stop the work. You are not obligated to let an unlicensed person drill your lock, and a drilled cylinder is an expense that does not come back.

Then report it. The Division of Consumer Affairs takes consumer complaints at njconsumeraffairs.gov/Pages/consumer-complaint.aspx. The Fire Alarm, Burglar Alarm and Locksmith Advisory Committee can be reached at (973) 504-6245. Unlicensed practice carries penalties of up to $10,000 for a first violation and up to $20,000 for each violation after that, under N.J.S.A. 45:1-25(a). Complaints are how those records get built.