Hiring a security company in Hamburg: a guide for clients.

What a security provider must meet legally

Security services are a licensed trade in Germany. Anyone guarding third-party life or property commercially needs a licence under § 34a of the Trade Regulation Act (Gewerbeordnung). The company as well as every guard deployed, who must additionally hold instruction or an expertise examination from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Since 2019 the Federal Statistical Office has maintained the guard register (Bewacherregister). Every licensed company and every guard is listed there with an identification number. Clients can and should ask for it: it is the simplest proof that a provider is genuinely licensed. Anyone unable or unwilling to give it is out.

Some duties carry additional requirements, for example the expertise examination rather than mere instruction for work in public spaces, in shopping centres, or as head of security services at reception facilities.

Seven points to settle before you commission

Offers differ less in the hourly rate than in what stands behind it. These seven points separate reliable providers from the rest:

• The company's guard register identification number: ask for it and note it down.
• Qualification of the staff deployed: § 34a instruction or expertise examination? The right level for your task?
• Certifications such as ISO 9001 (quality management) and DIN 77200 (security services), with registration number and validity date, not just a logo.
• Liability insurance: cover and scope in writing, not verbally.
• Availability: is there a permanently staffed operations centre, or does the night call reach a voicemail?
• Documentation: are patrols recorded verifiably, via NFC checkpoints with timestamps, for instance and do you receive the reports?
• Staff continuity: does the face at reception change constantly, or does a fixed team work your site?

What the price really tells you

Security is a staffing service: the large majority of the hourly rate is wages, wage-related costs and qualification. Germany applies generally binding minimum wages in the security trade, graded by federal state and activity. An offer far below the market level is hard to deliver reputably.

Five factors drive the price in practice: the qualification required, the hours worked (night, weekend and public holiday premiums), the duration and predictability of the assignment, the number of staff on site at once, and whether technology takes over part of the task.

This is why a reputable provider quotes only after a site visit. Anyone promising a flat price on the phone without having seen the site is either padding the figure or planning with staff who do not meet the requirements. The client carries that risk, because responsibility for choosing the provider stays with them.

The process: from enquiry to first shift

A sound process almost always follows the same steps and a provider can be measured against them:

• Initial conversation: what is to be protected, against which risk, during which hours?
• Site visit on location, free and without obligation. A provider who skips it does not know your site.
• Security concept and offer: services, hours, staff, documentation and price in writing.
• Operating instructions: the concrete procedures for your site, rounds, reporting chains, conduct during an alarm, contacts.
• Briefing of the staff before the first shift, not during it.
• Regular feedback: reports, fixed contacts, adjustment after the first few weeks.

Common mistakes when choosing

• Comparing only the hourly rate without checking the qualification level behind it.
• Not asking for a written security concept, leaving no basis if something goes wrong.
• Trusting certificate logos without checking registration number and validity.
• Not testing availability outside office hours, ideally call once at night before commissioning.
• Underestimating your own duties: keys, access, contacts and reporting chains have to be settled on your side.