Defence, Security & Space

Meet your security and investigation regulatory duties

If you provide manned guarding, door supervision, close protection, cash-and-valuables-in-transit, CCTV operation, keyholding, alarm response, alarm or CCTV installation, or private investigation, your business carries specific licensing, certification and regulatory duties on top of the universal workplace foundation. This guide covers each regime and what you need to do.

UK-wide
On this page
UK-wide

Related guides in Compliance & Legal

Secure your business premises

Security requirements for business premises including CCTV compliance, SIA licensing, and physical security measures.

Set up security staff training

How to establish and manage ongoing training for private security employees. Covers initial SIA qualifications, mandatory refresher training, …

SIA employer compliance checklist

Compliance audit checklist for private security employers. Covers SIA licensing, refresher training, first aid, DBS checks, right to …

Some security and investigation activities carry their own licensing or certification requirements on top of the workplace health and safety, fire safety, insurance, equality and data protection duties covered in the universal spine guide. This guide covers the SIA licensing regime, the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme, security systems installer certification and the current status of private investigator licensing.

A. SIA licensing — who needs a licence

The Private Security Industry Act 2001 is in force across the whole of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland (commenced in Northern Ireland from 2009). It makes it a criminal offence under section 3 to carry out licensable security activity without a valid licence issued by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), and a criminal offence under sections 5 and 6 to supply or use unlicensed operatives.

Licensable activities are defined in Schedule 2 of the Act. You need a front-line SIA licence if you personally carry out any of these activities:

  • Manned guarding (security guarding)
  • Door supervision
  • Close protection (bodyguarding)
  • Cash and valuables in transit (CVIT)
  • Public space surveillance (CCTV operation)
  • Keyholding and alarm response

Each activity is a separate licence sector with its own approved training qualification. A licence is valid for three years.

Directors, partners and managers who manage, supervise or employ front-line licensable operatives but do not themselves do front-line work must hold a non-front-line (management) licence. No separate training qualification is required, but the SIA applies the same identity and criminality checks.

B. Keyholding, alarm response and the installation boundary

Keyholding and mobile alarm-response operatives — those dispatched to attend premises in response to an alarm activation or who hold keys on behalf of clients — need a front-line SIA licence. However, the design, installation, maintenance and remote monitoring of intruder alarm and CCTV systems are not in themselves SIA-licensable activities. If your business only installs and remotely monitors alarm and CCTV systems and does not deploy staff to physically respond or hold keys, your installers and monitoring operators do not need SIA licences. If any of your staff cross the boundary — for example an installer who also responds to alarm activations — that person needs an SIA licence for the response activity.

C. SIA Approved Contractor Scheme

The Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) is a voluntary quality-assurance accreditation for security suppliers, administered by the SIA under sections 14 and 15 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. It is not a legal requirement to trade, but it is widely required by buyers — particularly public-sector and corporate procurement — as evidence that the supplier meets independently audited standards for management, vetting, training and operational delivery.

ACS-registered companies are assessed annually against the SIA's approved standards. ACS status also allows a company to deploy a proportion of staff under a licence dispensation while their individual licence applications are being processed, reducing mobilisation delays. The SIA publishes a register of approved contractors.

D. Security systems installer certification

There is no statutory licence to install intruder alarms, CCTV or access-control systems. In practice, however, installers are expected to be certified by a UKAS-accredited inspectorate — the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) or the Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB) — and to install to the relevant British and European standards. This certification is effectively mandatory because:

  • Police-response unique reference numbers (URNs) for monitored intruder alarms are typically conditional on the installing company being NSI or SSAIB certified.
  • Insurers routinely require that alarm and CCTV systems be installed and maintained by a certified company.

Certification applies UK-wide and is a market and insurer requirement, not legislation.

E. Private investigator licensing — power not commenced

The Private Security Industry Act 2001 designates 'private investigations' as a licensable activity (Schedule 2, paragraph 4). However, the licensing power for private investigators has never been commenced. Private investigators are therefore currently unlicensed in practice — there is no live SIA licence to apply for, and you do not need one to carry out investigation work.

This is a watch item. If the government commences the relevant provisions, private investigators will need to obtain SIA licences before they can operate. The SIA publishes updates on any proposed changes to the licensing regime.

Even though investigation work is unlicensed, private investigators must still comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR when processing personal data in the course of investigations. The ICO has taken enforcement action against investigators who have obtained personal data unlawfully.

Go deeper on each regime

For step-by-step detail on the regimes summarised above, follow the dedicated guides:

  1. 1

    What to do next

    Complete the security and investigation compliance checklist to confirm you have met every obligation that applies to your business.

Official sources

Authoritative guidance for security and investigation regulatory duties.