What to check before signing a security service contract

Security services are a conditional business line. That means before comparing prices, a client should spend time on the legal paperwork and the draft contract. The points below are often skipped, yet they decide the quality of the shifts that follow.

1. The provider’s legal paperwork

A security service provider must hold a valid certificate of eligibility for security and order, alongside its business registration certificate. Ask to see the original or a certified copy, and check that the legal entity named on the licence matches the one named on the contract.

2. Trained and certified staff

Security officers must be trained and certified as required, and must wear a uniform and name badge on duty. The client is entitled to ask for the list of personnel to be assigned to the site, together with each person’s training record.

3. A plan written for your site

A good plan is written for the specific premises, not copied from a template. It should name the guard posts, the patrol routes and timings, and how staff respond to an unknown visitor, a power cut, a fire, and a suspected loss of property.

4. Headcount and shift coverage

The contract should state how many officers, on which shifts, and how many are present at each hour of the day. It should also say what happens when someone is absent at short notice: who covers, how quickly, and whether it costs extra.

5. Reporting and lines of contact

Agree this upfront: what goes in the handover log, whether reports are weekly or monthly, who gets told about an incident and how quickly. A single named contact on each side resolves problems far faster than a chain of phone calls during an incident.

6. Liability and confidentiality terms

This is the part to read most closely. The contract should set out the provider’s scope of liability if something is lost, how the loss is assessed, and the level and method of compensation. It should also include a confidentiality undertaking — officers see a great deal of internal information in the course of their work.

In short

A lower price usually means fewer people, or less experienced ones. Rather than comparing contract totals, work out the cost per staffed post per shift, then read it alongside the security plan and the liability terms. Only then are you comparing the right things.