Guidance

SIA approved contractors sub-contracting outside of the ACS

Sub-contracting to a company that is not an SIA approved contractor: what the rules are and how you ask for permission.

Unless we have given you permission to do otherwise, you must only sub-contract to SIA approved contractors. Your customers have contracted an SIA approved contractor and will therefore expect the service they receive to be from an approved contractor.

In exceptional circumstances, we may allow you to sub-contract to a company we have not approved. You need our permission to do this and your customer must also agree to it. Any permission we grant will be for a limited time usually no longer than 3 months.

How to ask for permission

Fill out the (ODT, 31.2 KB).

You must fill in all fields marked with an asterisk (*). We will reject any form in which any of these fields are left blank.

Upload the form to your SIA online business account. Select Help, then select Other as the category. Enter sub-contractor request as the text of your message.

Ideally, you should ask us for permission before you sub-contract the work. If this is not possible then you must do so within 5 working days after deployment.

How we make our decision

We review each application individually. We will consider your specific situation.

We will only give you permission if we agree that your circumstances are exceptional.

We will also consider:

  • your track history of following ACS rules
  • your efforts to avoid using a company we have not approved
  • whether you could have prevented the situation by acting earlier
  • any potential risk to public safety or the reputation of our approved contractor scheme
  • the due diligence and quality checks you have done to confirm the sub-contractor meets the required ACS standard
  • how you will align the sub-contracted service with ACS requirements (your sub-contractor plan)

We will try to reach a decision within 5 working days.

What we mean by ACS requirements

When we refer to you aligning the sub-contracted service with ACS requirements, these are the specific points we are referring to:

  • Criterion 1 Strategy
    • Indicator 1.1.2 key stakeholders are aware of the organisations overall approach to business
    • Indicator 1.2.1 critical success factors have been clearly identified and internal measures are in place to monitor progress towards achievement
  • Criterion 2 Service delivery
    • Indicator 2.2.1 there is a current and effective plan to ensure continuity of service delivery
    • Indicator 2.4.1 use of sub-contractors is agreed with customers and subject to defined quality assurance procedures
    • Indicator 2.4.2 effective customer and consumer performance indicators and service level agreements have been established
    • Indicator 2.6.1 the organisation regularly reviews performance against service level agreements and/or key customer performance indicators
  • Criterion 3 Commercial relationship management
    • Indicator 3.1.1 effective purchasing procedures are implemented
    • Indicator 3.5.1 the organisation regularly reviews performance against responses from customer opinion gathering
  • Criterion 4 Financial management
    • Indicator 4.2.1 clear and effective management of the payroll can be evidenced
    • Indicator 4.2.4 there is sufficient insurance to cover contractual requirements

After we have reached our decision

We will tell you in writing whether we give you permission. If we do, we will explain the conditions of our permission and the date it expires.

If we do not give you permission, we will explain why.

You can appeal our decision if we do not give you permission. Contact us through your business account to ask for an independent review.

What counts as exceptional circumstances?

Exceptional circumstances are when your only option is to use a contractor we have not approved. This is usually when you have an urgent need and no SIA-approved contractor is available.

Some examples are:

  • you need a specialised service, like a trained dog-and-handler team, and you cannot find an SIA-approved contractor who offers it
  • you have a short-term security demand that your company cannot satisfy on its own (such as a festival or major event) and you cannot find enough SIA-approved contractors to cover it
  • you need security services urgently for a situation where peoples health and safety is at risk

Sub-contracting versus use of labour

Sub-contracting is different from use of labour. Use of labour refers to hiring temporary workers. You do not need our permission to do this. Know the difference between sub-contracting and use of labour.

Updates to this page

Published 3 October 2024
Last updated 16 May 2025 show all updates
  1. Replaced the request form with an updated version. Amended the 'How we make our decision' section to include 2 additional points we consider and an explanation of what we mean by 'ACS requirements'. Moved some of the material from 'How we make our decision' to 'After we have reached our decision'.

  2. First published.

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