6 min read
Start with the roster, not the rate
A per-guard rate tells you very little on its own. What decides whether a site is actually covered is the shift pattern behind that rate: how many posts, how many shifts, and who fills the weekly off.
Ask any prospective agency to write down the post-wise duty chart including reliever cover. If the plan has no reliever ratio, absence will be handled by leaving a post empty and telling you afterwards.
Ask who checks the guard
Guards perform to the level they are supervised. Find out how often a supervisor visits the site, what they check, and whether those checks are recorded anywhere you can see.
Grooming, punctuality, register upkeep and shift handover discipline are the four things that quietly separate a well-run post from a warm body at a gate.
Insist on written post orders
Post orders convert your expectations into instructions: who may enter, what gets logged, how material leaves the premises, when to escalate and to whom.
Without them, every new guard reinvents your process. With them, a replacement can hold the post from day one.
Match the profile to the site
A processing unit needs material movement discipline. A showroom needs courtesy and presentation. A hospital needs calm visitor handling and women security personnel at frisking points.
An agency that proposes the same deployment for all three has not looked at your site properly.
Check the escalation path
When something goes wrong at 2am, you need one number that answers. Confirm who that is, and whether they are local enough to reach your gate the same day.