The SIA has created a voluntary accreditation scheme to recognise and promote good practice within the private security industry.

The Approved Contractor Scheme is a voluntary quality management system that encourages continuous improvement. The scheme includes a comprehensive assessment against 89 indicators. The broad scope of the scheme is illustrated in the Self Assessment Workbook (download size: 458kb), as used as one of many stages of the approval process.

Choosing an SIA approved contractor for the provision of your contract security services will help you to meet your security obligations to your staff, shareholders and other stakeholders. The wide-ranging benefits of using an Approved Contractor can be summarised as:

• Assurance of supplier good practice and continuity of quality
• Your requirements met through greater supplier flexibility and effectiveness
• Customer focused suppliers that are responsive to change
• Potential to extend your security network through enhanced working relationships and initiatives

All scheme information - including routes to approval, quality assurance and benchmarking data - is published on our website.