SIA licence check and BS 7858 screening for seasonal security staff

If you take on short-term starters for winter contracts such as Christmas markets, retail parks and festive events, every one who will do licensable work needs an SIA licence check before you hire them. Approved contractors must also screen them to BS 7858. The SIA cannot give an exact processing time for licence applications, so sort out starters without a licence first.

In short: Check every seasonal starter in a licensable role on the SIA register before hiring and keep a dated record of the result. Licence dispensation notices never cover first-time applicants. Approved contractors must screen temporary staff to BS 7858 as well as permanent ones.

The penalties for deploying unlicensed staff are covered in our article on SIA licensing offences.

Which SIA licence does the seasonal role need?

The licence follows the duties, not the job title. Under a contract for services, guarding premises or property needs a security guard licence. Guarding licensed premises, meaning venues licensed to sell alcohol or provide regulated entertainment, needs a door supervisor licence. A door supervisor licence also covers security guarding, but a security guard licence does not cover door supervision.

At events, a steward who directs visitors to toilets or checks that they have a ticket does not need a licence. If that steward then refuses someone entry or makes them leave, the SIA's guidance says a licence is needed. Write the actual duties into the deployment brief and brief the client on the same terms, so that nobody on an unlicensed stewarding post ends up doing door work.

How to run an SIA licence check before hiring

Search the SIA register of licence holders before you hire, using either the 16-digit licence number or the surname plus details such as date of birth and role. Keep a dated record of who checked, what was searched and what the register showed. If you search by number, remember that a replacement card has a different licence number.

A search that returns nothing needs resolving before deployment. In a published freedom of information response, the SIA said that when a name and date-of-birth search delivers no results, "this is a clear indication that the individual in question does not hold a current SIA licence". Go back to the operative and establish why the search found nothing. If they are your employee with a licence application in progress, for example a renewal that has not been decided before the old licence expired, check the LDN conditions below. Otherwise keep them off licensable duties until the register confirms a licence in the right sector.

Section 5(2) of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 gives a business accused of supplying an unlicensed operative a defence if it "took all reasonable steps" to prevent unlicensed work.

Run the same check on subcontracted officers. Ask the subcontractor for a named list with licence numbers before the first shift and search those names yourself.

Once the SIA grants a licence, the operative can start work in that sector straight away, before the card arrives. Until it does, they must carry the licence granted letter and photo ID.

Applicants still waiting: what a licence dispensation notice covers

A licence dispensation notice (LDN) lets an approved contractor deploy its own employee while their licence application is still being processed. It is not a route for first-time applicants. Since 24 February 2025, an LDN can only go to someone who held an active SIA licence when they submitted the application, and each LDN lasts five weeks at most.

Under the SIA's guidance you also need its separate permission to issue LDNs, for sectors your approval covers, and the application must be at "checks in progress", with proof on file for your assessor. LDNs cannot go to anyone whose previous application was refused or whose previous licence was revoked or suspended. Usually no more than 15 % of your licensable staff may be on LDNs, and nobody on an LDN may be in sole charge of children or vulnerable adults.

On the job, the officer carries the LDN and their company ID card, and you must tell the client that you are deploying someone on an LDN. Keep LDN records for 12 months after expiry. An LDN issued by a previous approved contractor is no longer valid once the officer has transferred to you. Before sending LDN staff to a licensed venue, check the premises licence, because some premises licences issued before November 2006 do not allow it.

In practice an LDN can cover a returning officer whose licence expires while the renewal is still being processed. Licences last three years and do not renew automatically, and operatives can apply to renew four months before expiry. Ask returning officers for their expiry date when you offer the contract, and push anyone close to it to renew straight away.

Right to work and BS 7858 screening for short contracts

Every seasonal starter needs a right to work check before employment starts, whatever the contract length. Keep copies of the documents during the employment and for two years after it ends, and record the date of the check. Repeat it before a time-limited permission runs out. Approved contractors must also screen every new starter, temporary ones included, to BS 7858.

The SIA checks right to work against Home Office records during the licence application. That check serves the SIA's licensing decision. Your own check as the employer still has to happen before the person starts.

BS 7858 is the British Standard for screening individuals working in a secure environment. The SIA confirmed in a freedom of information response that companies in its Approved Contractor Scheme must screen to it, and the current edition, BS 7858:2019, covers temporary as well as permanent employees. What to check, and over what screening period, is set out in the standard. It is paywalled, and the SIA has arranged a 30 % discount through BSI, so buy the text rather than working from a vendor's summary.

For a returning officer who spent the summer with another company, the 2019 edition permits a screening file to be passed from one employer to the next. BSI states that accepting that file alone does not meet the standard, so you still confirm that every requirement has been followed. If you outsource screening, the SIA's guidance says you keep the responsibility and some elements cannot be outsourced. Ask the provider for a file covering every stage, not a certificate, and for evidence of how they verified any reference sent by text message.

Repeating the SIA licence check during the season

A licence that was valid at hire can be suspended or revoked mid-season. Use the SIA's free Licence Status Checker to build a watchlist for each site or event, which displays current data from the public register. It needs an SIA business account. Approved contractors on the Licence Management service also receive updates when a licence is suspended or revoked.

A front line licence has to be worn where it can be seen during licensable work, unless the role is covert, the licence is with the SIA, or it has been reported lost or stolen. Where they can, operatives must tell the SIA within two days of a conviction, caution or charge for a relevant offence. Rather than relying on those notifications reaching you, check the watchlist before each weekend's shifts are allocated.

If you plan seasonal shifts in COREDINATE, the guard tour and patrol system's rota takes each officer's qualifications into account when it allocates shifts.

Frequently asked questions

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Taking on new sites for the winter? Run COREDINATE's guard tour and patrol system on one of them first with the 14-day test kit.