SIA licence checks: what good practice looks like
In security, a documentation failure is a licensing matter rather than an inconvenience. Here is how licence verification should be handled.
Security is the sector where staffing compliance has the sharpest edge. An officer deployed without a valid, correct-category licence is a regulatory problem for everyone in the chain, and it is entirely preventable.
Verify at source, every time
A photograph of a licence card is not verification. The licence number should be checked against the SIA public register, and the status, category and expiry date recorded against the worker's file with the date of the check.
Category matters
A Door Supervision licence and a Security Guarding licence are not interchangeable, and neither covers CCTV operation. Matching the licence category to the assignment is a basic control that is nonetheless sometimes missed under time pressure.
Monitor expiry, do not just record it
- Record the expiry date at the point of verification.
- Raise an alert well ahead of expiry so renewal can be completed in time.
- Block deployment on assignments requiring that licence once it has lapsed.
- Re-verify at the register after renewal rather than accepting confirmation.
The pattern is the same as Right to Work: the initial check is rarely the failure point. The failure point is the eighteenth month, when nobody is watching the date any more.
This article is general guidance rather than legal advice. Refer to current SIA guidance for the authoritative position on licensing requirements.
