There are many security companies, and the difference between them often only shows when something goes wrong. To avoid finding out the hard way, ask these seven questions before you sign a contract.
1. Do they hold a licence from the Ministry of Internal Affairs?
Security activity in Ukraine is licensed. Ask to see the licence and make sure the contract is signed with the same company the licence was issued to. Without a licence, a company is not allowed to provide security services.
2. Do they have their own central monitoring station?
Some companies run their own monitoring station, others pass signals on to an intermediary. An own technically reinforced, certified station with protected communication channels means the security company itself watches your property around the clock and is responsible for the response.
3. Do they have their own rapid response teams, and where are they based?
It is the response team that turns up when the alarm goes off. Ask whether these are the company’s own teams, whether they work around the clock and whether they cover your area. This determines how quickly help reaches your site.
4. What does the price include?
A price «per post» or «for monitoring» can cover very different sets of services. Check whether response team call-outs are included and how many, patrols with logging, reports for you, uniforms and special equipment for the guards, and replacement of a guard who falls ill.
5. Who pays for losses?
Read the liability section of the contract. Your risk of financial loss should be minimised by the security company’s contractual liability — including insurance of the cases set out in the contract. Check under which conditions liability applies and whether there is a cap.
6. How is the guards’ work supervised?
A guard nobody checks on soon stops being a guard. Ask about supervision: remote online monitoring, patrol checkpoints with digital logging, contact with the dispatch centre, inspections by an internal security unit and reports for the client.
7. Can different formats be combined?
The most reliable protection often has several parts: a guard post by day, alarm monitoring at night, a panic button, CCTV and a fire alarm. It helps when one company can provide all of it — then there are no disputes about who is responsible for what.
How Kodeks Bezpeky answers
We have been working since 2014 under a licence from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and we carry out fire protection work under a licence from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. We have our own central monitoring station, our own rapid response teams and 12 offices across Ukraine, with the head office in Lviv. For manned guarding clients, response team call-outs are included in the price with no limit.
Learn more on the business security and alarm monitoring pages. For the benefits of contracted security, read «Contracted manned guarding». Send a request — we will survey your property and prepare a quote.