SIA Licences Explained: What UK Security Employers Must Check

What is an SIA licence and who needs one?

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is the regulator for the private security industry across the UK, set up under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. If your staff carry out a designated licensable activity, each person doing that work needs an individual SIA licence in their own name.

The licensable activities are set out by the SIA. They are door supervision (guarding licensed premises against damage, theft, unauthorised access or disorderly behaviour), security guarding (guarding premises or property), public space surveillance using CCTV (using closed circuit video surveillance to identify people or monitor their activities), close protection (guarding people against physical assault or injury), cash and valuables in transit, and key holding. Vehicle immobilisation is licensable in Northern Ireland only.

The duty sits on the individual to hold the licence, but it also sits on you as the employer. You shouldn't deploy someone on licensable work until you've confirmed they hold the right licence and it's valid. One practical point worth flagging: a security guarding licence has restrictions around CCTV footage viewing, so check the activity matches the licence rather than assuming any security licence covers any task.

Front-line or non-front-line: which licence does each person need?

There are two types of SIA licence, and the difference is whether the person physically does the security work or only manages it.

A front-line licence is required when someone personally performs a licensable activity, for example working the door or monitoring CCTV. A non-front-line licence is for people who manage, supervise or employ those who carry out licensable activities, including a director of a company or partner of a firm where other directors, partners or employees perform licensable work. The SIA is explicit: a non-front-line licence does not allow the holder to perform front-line roles.

The physical proof differs too. For a front-line licence (every type except a key holder licence), the SIA sends a licence photocard alongside a 'licence granted' letter, which should arrive within 14 days of the licence being granted. For a non-front-line licence, the SIA sends a 'licence granted' letter only, and that letter is the holder's proof they're licensed.

So if a supervisor shows you a letter rather than a photocard, that isn't automatically a problem. It may mean they hold a non-front-line licence. The problem would be putting that person on the door, because a non-front-line licence won't cover front-line work.

How long is an SIA licence valid?

Most SIA licences last 3 years. The single exception is the vehicle immobiliser licence, which lasts 1 year, and vehicle immobilisation is only licensable in Northern Ireland.

The 3-year clock matters for your records. A door supervisor licensed today is fine to deploy for three years, but a licence is easy to forget about until the week it lapses. If a licence expires and the person keeps working a licensable role, they're working unlicensed, and you're deploying unlicensed staff. Build the expiry date into your records the day someone joins.

The application fee is also worth knowing as an employer who may reimburse staff. From 1 April 2026 the SIA application fee is £204 per licence, after a temporary £20 rebate that previously reduced it to £184 came to an end. Where someone applies for more than one licence at the same time, the SIA applies a 50% discount to the additional licences.

How do you check an SIA licence is valid?

Use the SIA's Register of Licence Holders. Details about every licence holder are held on a public register, a requirement under the Private Security Industry Act, and you can search it free.

You can search the register by the person's name or by their 16-digit licence number. The licence number is entered with no spaces. Checking against the register tells you whether the licence is current, rather than relying on a photocard alone, which could be expired, suspended or revoked since it was printed.

Do the check before the person's first licensable shift, and repeat it as the 3-year expiry approaches. A photocard in someone's pocket is a snapshot from the day it was issued. The register is the live record. If the register shows the licence as anything other than valid for the activity you're putting them on, don't deploy them on that work.

Keep a dated note of when you checked, what you found, and the licence number. That record is your evidence that you took reasonable steps, which matters if the SIA or another authority ever asks how you assured yourself your staff were licensed.

Does an SIA licence replace a right to work check?

No. An SIA licence and a right to work check are two separate duties, and holding one doesn't satisfy the other.

The SIA licence proves the person is authorised to do licensable security work. A right to work check proves they're legally allowed to work for you in the UK at all. You must check that a job applicant is allowed to work for you in the UK before you employ them, and that obligation applies to security firms exactly as it applies to any other employer.

The check is done one of three ways: an online check using the applicant's share code, an inspection of their original documents, or a check through a certified identity service provider using Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT). British and Irish citizens can't get an online share code, so for them you check original documents or use an identity service provider.

Treat these as two boxes that both have to be ticked. An SIA licence holder could still lack the right to work, for example if their immigration permission has expired. A person with the right to work still can't do door work without a valid front-line licence. Run both checks, record both, and diarise both expiry dates.