Choosing a security agency is choosing who holds the keys to your business — literally. Yet many organisations select agencies on price alone, discovering the gaps only after an incident. This checklist will help you separate professional security partners from manpower contractors with uniforms.

Licensing and Verification

1. Do you hold a valid PSARA licence for my state? Operating without one is illegal — and your company shares the liability.

2. Is every guard police-verified with documented records? Ask to see sample verification files, not just assurances.

3. What is your background-verification process beyond police checks — address verification, previous employer checks, database screening?

Operations and Supervision

4. What is your supervisor-to-guard ratio, and how often do field officers visit each site?

5. How do you verify that patrols actually happen? Look for GPS tracking or QR checkpoint systems, not paper registers.

6. What is your replacement policy and guaranteed replacement time when a guard is absent?

7. Can I see your site SOP template and a sample incident report?

Commercials and Compliance

8. Is your pricing compliant with minimum wages, PF and ESIC? Suspiciously low quotes almost always mean statutory violations — which become your problem during audits.

9. What insurance coverage do you carry for guards on duty and third-party liability?

10. Who is my escalation contact at 2 AM — and what is your guaranteed emergency response time?

An agency that answers all ten confidently, with documentation, is worth the premium. One that hesitates is telling you something important.

Key Takeaways

  • PSARA licensing and police verification are non-negotiable legal requirements
  • GPS or QR patrol verification beats paper registers every time
  • Below-market pricing usually hides statutory non-compliance
  • Test the 2 AM escalation answer before you sign