SIA licence/Renewal
SIA licence renewal: a tracking guide for employers
An SIA licence lasts three years and never renews automatically. Officers can apply to renew four months before expiry without losing the remaining time, and pay the same £204 as a new applicant. Door supervisors, security guards and close protection operatives must hold a refresher qualification first. Once a licence expires, it cannot be renewed.
Renewal window
4months
before expiry. The time left on the old licence is added to the new one.
- Fee
- £204, the same as a new licence
- Refresher
- Door supervisors, security guards, close protection
- After expiry
- No renewal. A new application, and no licensable work until it is granted.
SIA licence renewal rules in brief
All of the following comes from the SIA's guidance on how to renew your SIA licence, checked on 10 November 2026.
- Validity
- Three years; one year for a vehicle immobiliser licence.
- Renewal window
- Opens four months before the current licence expires.
- Early renewal
- No time is lost. The time left on the old licence is added to the new one, which is valid from the day it is granted.
- Fee
- £204, the same as a new licence. A second licence on the same form, the same day, costs £102.
- Training
- No need to repeat the original course. Door supervisors, security guards and close protection operatives need a refresher qualification.
- Identity checks
- The same as a first application, so officers may be sent to a Post Office again.
- Processing time
- The SIA cannot say exactly how long a renewal will take. It offers a decision timescale indicator, which gives an estimate, not a guarantee.
- Expired licence
- Cannot be renewed. The officer must make a new application and may not do licensable work until it is granted.
Refresher training before renewal
For renewals after 1 April 2025, door supervisors and security guards need a refresher qualification. The SIA announced the requirement in October 2024; the refresher covers searching, protecting vulnerable people and terror threat awareness, with spiking and physical intervention added for door supervisors. Close protection operatives have their own refresher.
| Licence | Refresher qualification | First aid needed before the course |
|---|---|---|
| Door supervisor | Level 2 Award for Door Supervisors in the Private Security Industry (Refresher) | Emergency First Aid at Work or equivalent, valid for at least another 12 months |
| Security guard | Level 2 Award for Security Officers in the Private Security Industry (Refresher) | Emergency First Aid at Work or equivalent, valid for at least another 12 months |
| Close protection | Level 2 Award for Close Protection Operatives in the Private Security Industry (Refresher) | Level 3 first aid (FAW or equivalent), valid for at least 12 months |
The first aid condition is easy to miss. An officer whose first aid certificate has less than 12 months left cannot book the refresher, and cannot renew without it. Renewal is also the point where officers may change sector: a door supervisor can take the security guard refresher and switch to a security guard licence, and a close protection operative can switch to door supervision.
A renewal timeline for your rota
The SIA fixes two dates: the window opens four months before expiry, and the licence ends on its expiry date. Everything else on this timeline is our recommendation, built backwards from those two dates and the first aid rule.
- Before the window opensCheck the expiry of the officer's first aid certificate. If it will have less than 12 months left when the refresher is booked, arrange first aid training first.Our recommendation, from the SIA's 12-month rule
- 4 months before expiryRenewal opens. The officer completes the refresher and submits the application, or you submit it for them through Licence Assist or Licence Management.SIA rule
- While the application is openTrack it. Nobody can promise a decision date, so plan cover for the officer's licensable posts after expiry.Our recommendation, from the SIA's statement on timing
- Expiry date, no decision yetThe officer leaves licensable posts. Approved contractors with SIA permission may be able to issue a licence dispensation notice (see below).SIA rule
- Licence grantedThe officer can work in that sector immediately with the licence granted letter and photo ID. Run a fresh register check and update your records.SIA rule; the fresh check is our recommendation
Paying for or submitting renewals for your officers
The SIA tells officers to check with their employer before renewing, because the employer may pay the fee or submit the application for them. Which service you can use depends on your status:
- Licence Pay Only
- Any business. You pay the fee; the officer fills in and submits the form.
- Licence Assist
- Approved contractors only. You submit and pay for applications and receive progress updates.
- Licence Management
- Approved contractors who meet extra requirements. Adds identity checks done by you, updates to officers' details and notifications when a licence is suspended or revoked.
Every route needs the officer to accept a link request between their SIA account and yours. Requests expire after 48 hours, and Pay Only and Assist links end when the SIA makes its decision. In the SIA's guide to Licence Assist (version 6, April 2020), a linked business sees a list of licences eligible for renewal with each licence's start and expiry date. Details of all four services are on the SIA's business services page.
Renewal is not automatic approval
A renewal goes through the same identity and criminal record checks as a first application, against the SIA's current licensing criteria, not the ones that applied when the old licence was granted. Those criteria tightened on 1 December 2025: a longer list of relevant offences, a stricter line on sexual offences and long custodial sentences, and an overseas criminal record check for anyone who lived abroad for six or more continuous months in the last ten years, up from five. An officer licensed in 2023 may meet a different test at renewal, so the overseas record check in particular is worth raising with returning staff before they apply.
Licence dispensation notices when a renewal runs late
An approved contractor may be able to keep an officer on licensable duties while a renewal is processed by issuing a licence dispensation notice (LDN). Since 24 February 2025 the rules are narrower, as the SIA set out when it changed them: you need the SIA's permission to issue LDNs at all, the notice is issued through the business services, it is valid for five weeks, and it can only go to an employee who held an active licence when they submitted the application. Companies outside the Approved Contractor Scheme cannot use LDNs. Our article on seasonal security staff covers the further LDN conditions on record-keeping, client notification and deployment limits.
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Free renewal tracking log
Our SIA licence check and renewal log has columns for licence expiry, first aid expiry, refresher booked, application submitted and decision date, so a renewal can be followed from the window opening to the new grant.
Seeing expiry dates before they reach the rota
A log works if someone opens it. In COREDINATE's guard tour and patrol system, the SIA licence and the first aid certificate can both be stored as qualifications with validity dates and evidence attached. Officers see their own qualifications grouped as valid, expiring soon, applied for or expired, and the duty roster takes qualifications into account when allocating shifts. The renewal application itself still goes through the SIA's own systems.
Frequently asked questions
When can I renew an SIA licence?
From four months before the current licence expires. Renewing early costs no time, because the remaining time on the old licence is added to the new one.
How much does an SIA licence renewal cost?
£204 since 1 April 2026, the same as a new licence. Renewing a second licence on the same application form on the same day costs £102. Refresher training is paid separately to the training provider.
Can an officer keep working if the SIA licence expires during renewal?
Not on licensable duties, unless they work for an approved contractor with SIA permission to issue licence dispensation notices and they held an active licence when they applied. An LDN lasts up to five weeks.
Can an expired SIA licence be renewed?
No. Once a licence has expired, the officer must apply for a new licence and cannot do licensable work until it is granted.
Do security guards need to retake their training to renew?
Not the original course. Security guards and door supervisors need the Level 2 refresher award for their sector and an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification valid for at least another 12 months before they can take it.
Spot expiring licences before the rota does.
Test COREDINATE's guard tour and patrol system free for 14 days.