{"id":35618,"date":"2023-02-02T12:23:53","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T12:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/?p=35618"},"modified":"2023-08-03T09:13:30","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T09:13:30","slug":"how-hard-is-it-to-get-security-industry-authority-acs-approved-contractor-scheme-approval-and-what-are-the-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.get-licensed.co.uk\/get-daily\/how-hard-is-it-to-get-security-industry-authority-acs-approved-contractor-scheme-approval-and-what-are-the-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about getting ACS Approval from the SIA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you have anything at all to do with the UK security industry you would have heard of the Security Industry Authority\u2019s Approved Contractor Scheme and witnessed the legions of companies proudly displaying the logo on their websites, vans, and marketing material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does my company get it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the benefits of having it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First things first. The Private Security Industry Act (2001) governs the way the industry operates and provides the necessary legislative framework. A very big part of the Act was the creation of an industry regulatory body given the power and resources to enforce these new laws and rules. Thus the Security Industry Authority (SIA) was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, the new Act did not require the mandatory licensing of all companies that provided contract security services, which would have helped eliminate the cowboys and rogue traders from the industry, but I digress. More about that another time. Maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the SIA did do however was to create a system called the Approved Contractor Scheme which, after payment of fees and participation in an independent assessment, was intended to identify the very best companies to potential clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth & the Reality.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most consumers of contract security services now require that the companies they engage have ACS accreditation. As a result, most security companies in the UK have had to achieve approved contractor status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put it bluntly, with so many potential clients now viewing ACS approval as a minimum requirement rather than the intended gold standard, sooner or later, your security company will almost certainly want to attain it, to acquire new business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the better ACS companies, frustrated with this state of affairs, have subscribed to a private service called \u201cACS Pacesetters\u201d which only accepts applications from the top 15% highest ACS assessment scoring organisations, and as such, gives a better indication of their level of compliance with the ACS scoring matrix. (It doesn\u2019t guarantee the quality of staff, level of support or service provided however. Sorry.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily ACS approval is not difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can my company apply for ACS approval?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all security companies can apply for ACS approval however. Your company must have been operating for a minimum of a year and must have had at least two licensed security officers deployed for a minimum of 12 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SIA will also perform vetting which looks at areas such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n