The following terms as used in this chapter have the meaning expressed in this article:

(a) “Branch office” means any additional physical location, other than the principal place of business of a licensee, where any locksmith service is provided. Branch office includes the California office of any out-of-state business conducting, directing, dispatching, or managing a locksmith business, service, or service providers in California. A telephone answering service or a telephone call-forwarding device, for routing calls within the immediate geographic area, shall not be deemed to be a branch office.

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(b) “Bureau” means the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.

(c) “Chief” means the Chief of the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.

(d) “Department” means the Department of Consumer Affairs.

(e) “Director” means the Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

(f) “Employer” means a person who employs an individual for wages or salary, lists the individual on the employer‘s payroll records, and withholds all legally required deductions and contributions.

(g) “Employee” means an individual who works for an employer, is listed on the employer’s payroll records, and is under the employer’s direction and control. An independent contractor is not an employee pursuant to this chapter.

(h) “Employer-employee relationship” means an individual who works for another and where the individual’s name appears on the payroll records of the employer.

(i) “Licensee” means a business entity, whether an individual, partnership, or corporation, licensed under this chapter.

(j) “Locksmith” means any person who, for any consideration or compensation whatsoever, engages, directly or indirectly and as a primary or secondary object, in the business of rekeying, installing, repairing, opening, modifying locks, or who originates keys for locks, including, but not limited to, electronic cloning of transponder keys and any other electronic programming of automotive keys and electronic operating devices, such as key fobs, door and ignition key devices, and successive electronic and other high-security key technology. A “locksmith” does not mean a person whose activities are limited to making a duplicate key from an existing key.

(k) “Person” means any individual, firm, company, association, organization, partnership, or corporation.

(l) “Registrant” means an employee registered pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(m) “Lock” means any mechanical, electromechanical, electronic, or electromagnetic device, or similar device, including any peripheral hardware, that is designed to control access from one area to another, or that is designed to control the use of a device, including, but not limited to, a safe, vault, or safe deposit box.

(n) “Recombination” means changing the combination of any combination-actuated lock.

(o) “Master key system” means any system in which a lock is rekeyed so that the lock can be operated by its own individual key and can also be operated by a key that can operate other locks if the other locks cannot be operated with the lock’s individual key.

(p) “Key duplication machine” means any tool whose only capability is to manufacture a new key by using an existing key as a guide, which includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(1) Standard key duplication machines that are limited to duplication of a metallic key from an existing metallic key, standard single- or double-sided key, including a plastic “credit card” emergency key.

(2) High-security key machines that include the duplication of restricted keys, such as sidewinders and laser cut styles of machines.

(3) Transponder cloning and reprogramming machines that transfer electronic codes and signals and successive technology to keys, fobs, and door and ignition operating devices.

(q) “Key blank” means a key that has not been altered or cut and does not include depth keys.

(r) “Pin kit” means a container that holds only the following lock parts and materials:

(1) Bottom pins.

(2) Top pins (not including master pins).

(3) Springs.

(4) Plug follower.

(5) Proprietary tools, provided by a lock manufacturer, designed for the purpose of rekeying a lock.

(s) “Locksmith tool” means (1) any tool designed for the purpose of opening, bypassing, altering, rekeying, servicing, or repairing any lock, or (2) any burglar tool, as described in § 466 of the Penal Code.

(t) “Motor service vehicle” means any vehicle, as defined in § 6161 of the Vehicle Code, or other mode of transportation, that is used in the business of rekeying, installing, repairing, opening, or modifying locks, or originating keys for locks.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 679, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)