What to put in your request
A supplier can only price what they can see. Answer these and the quotes come back for the same job, which is the only way they can be compared.
- Which services you need: guarding, armed response, alarm or CCTV monitoring, patrols, or supplying and installing equipment.
- For guarding: how many posts, and the hours each must be covered, including nights, weekends and public holidays. A post covered around the clock takes more than one officer.
- For each post: the grade of officer (A to E), armed or unarmed, and the duties, such as access control, searching vehicles, patrols and keeping registers.
- The site: the address, its size, the entrances, the lighting, what equipment is there already, and what has happened before.
- For CCTV and alarms: what each camera or sensor must cover, how many days of recording to keep, whether you want to view it remotely, and whether a control room should monitor it.
- Whether you want to buy the equipment or rent it as part of a monthly contract.
- The response time you expect when an alarm goes off, and how you want incidents reported.
- The start date, the contract length and the notice period you want.
What to compare when the quotes come back
The lowest total is where comparing starts, not where it ends.
- Whether a guarding rate can carry the wages. Minimum wages and allowances for the sector are set by its bargaining council (the NBCPSS) by grade and area, and it publishes an illustrative pricing guide. A rate below what that guide adds up to is a warning sign.
- Officers per post, relief cover for leave and sick days, and how often a supervisor visits.
- For equipment: the exact makes and models, image quality, how long recordings are kept, the warranty, and who owns it when the contract ends.
- The response time promised, how it is measured and reported, and how many vehicles cover your area.
- Monthly monitoring fees, call-out fees, and what a false alarm costs you.
- The insurance the company carries, and any limit on its liability in the contract.
On SupScope every quote arrives with the same three figures: the total, the lead time and the deposit. The first comparison is done before you open anything. The rest of this list is what to read in each supplier's notes and documents.
Paperwork worth asking for
- PSiRA registration for the business and everyone it sends
- Under the Private Security Industry Regulation Act, anyone who renders a security service for payment must be registered with PSiRA: the business, its directors, every officer on site, and installers of alarms, CCTV and access control too. A client who contracts with an unregistered provider, knowingly or without reasonable care, also commits an offence. PSiRA's website lets you check businesses and individuals.
- A current PSiRA letter of good standing
- Registration can be suspended. PSiRA issues a letter of good standing, valid for 90 days, to a business whose registration, fees and returns are in order. Ask for one before you sign, and again while the contract runs.
- Firearm licences, for armed services
- For armed guarding or armed response, PSiRA advises checking that the firearms are licensed to the security business, and that each armed officer is competent and holds the permits the Firearms Control Act requires.
- An electric fence system certificate, if they install one
- Under the Electrical Machinery Regulations, a new electric fence, or an addition or alteration to one, needs an electric fence system certificate, issued by an electric fence installer registered with the Department of Employment and Labour.
And from any supplier
- A SARS Tax Compliance Status PIN
- It replaced the old tax clearance certificate. Checking it on eFiling shows the supplier's status on the day you check, not the day it was issued.
- A B-BBEE certificate or sworn affidavit
- Only if your own scorecard counts it. Small suppliers (turnover up to R10 million) may use an affidavit instead of a verified certificate.
- Company registration and a bank confirmation letter
- Worth having before the first payment, so the account you pay is the company you chose.
General guidance, not legal advice. Regulations change, and some depend on your municipality or the job, so confirm anything you rely on with the authority concerned.
How this works on SupScope
- Step 1
Post it once
Describe the job and choose Security Services & Equipment and your province.
- Step 2
It reaches the right suppliers
Only suppliers who work in this trade and cover your province see it.
- Step 3
Compare and award
Quotes arrive side by side. Accept one and the others are told.