SIA ACS Accreditation Support

What are the SIA ACS requirements?

The ACS standard is structured around seven criteria:

Strategy – clear strategic direction that delivers value to stakeholders.
Service Delivery – robust processes that ensure consistent service to customers and stakeholders.
Commercial Relationship Management – transparent, trust-based relationships with customers, consumers and suppliers.
Financial Management – financial viability and sufficient resources to meet current and future obligations.
Resource Management – sufficient technical resources, premises, equipment and procedures to sustain the business.
People Management – ensuring people are appropriately trained, developed and supported.
Leadership – effective leadership that drives continuous improvement.

Businesses can underestimate the level of detail and evidence beneath these seven headings. The current ACS self-assessment contains 78 individual indicators, and you need to demonstrate not only that policies and processes exist, but that they reflect what actually happens within your organisation.

ACS accreditation checklist: what should you have in place?

Every business is different, but preparation is likely to involve evidence covering the requirements outlined above. ACS assessment is not simply about producing the right documents. Your evidence needs to demonstrate that your systems and procedures are genuinely being followed.

How do you apply for ACS accreditation?

There are two routes to SIA ACS approval: the standard route and the passport route.

Under the standard route, the process broadly involves:

1. Complete the ACS self-assessment
   Assess your business against the ACS standard using the SIA self-assessment workbook and report.
2. Submit your application
   Submit your ACS application through your SIA online business account and pay the application fee.
3. SIA eligibility checks
   The SIA reviews your application and checks whether your business is eligible to proceed.
4. Arrange an independent assessment
   Once eligibility is confirmed, arrange for an SIA-approved assessing body to assess your business against the ACS standard.
5. Assessment report
   The assessor reviews your business and submits an assessment report to you and the SIA.
6. SIA decision
   The SIA reviews the report and decides whether to grant ACS approval.
7. Registration
   If approved, you pay the required registration fee and become an SIA approved contractor.

The passport route is available to businesses certified through an SIA-accredited passport scheme and follows a different process.

What happens during an ACS assessment?

An ACS assessment looks beyond whether you have the correct policies sitting in a folder. Assessors may review documentation and records, speak to management and employees, talk to customers and examine how your procedures operate in practice. Businesses can be surprised by the depth of information required.

An assessment can also identify two types of findings:

An improvement need is raised where the business does not meet part of the ACS standard and requires action to address the failure.

An improvement option identifies an area where the business could improve or reduce the risk of falling below the standard.

JVR can carry out an internal assessment beforehand, identify areas requiring attention, help organise your evidence and support you in addressing any findings.

Common problems when applying for SIA ACS

From our work with security businesses, some issues arise repeatedly:

Underestimating the detail required – the depth of information and evidence beneath the seven criteria can come as a surprise.

Staff screening – incomplete screening records or missing evidence can create compliance issues.

Incorrect SIA licensing – employees must hold the appropriate licences for the activities they are actually undertaking.

Procedures that don’t reflect reality – documented procedures need to match what employees and managers actually do.

Poorly organised evidence – incomplete, inconsistent or difficult-to-retrieve information makes demonstrating compliance much harder.

Trying to achieve too much – applying for activities the business cannot properly evidence can make the process unnecessarily complicated.

How does JVR help with ACS accreditation?

JVR Consultancy can support your business wherever you currently are in the ACS process.

We start by understanding your business and assessing what you already have in place. We don’t create paperwork simply for the sake of it: where existing systems, procedures and evidence meet the requirements, we use them.

Our support can include:

• Establishing your eligibility and appropriate scope
• Reviewing existing systems and documentation
• Supporting the ACS self-assessment and initial application
• Identifying gaps against the ACS standard
• Collating and organising supporting evidence
• Conducting internal audits and assessments
• Developing improvement plans
• Preparing your team for formal assessment
• Supporting you during the assessment process
• Helping address improvement needs
• Supporting ongoing compliance and annual reassessment

Some clients want us to help organise everything and then present the evidence themselves. Others want JVR more closely involved in preparing for and supporting the assessment. We tailor our involvement to what you need.

There will always be information and activities that have to come from within your organisation. Making sure the relevant people understand the ACS requirements from the outset and are ready to provide the necessary evidence makes the process considerably easier.

Maintaining your SIA ACS approval

Becoming an SIA approved contractor is not the end of the process. Approved contractors must continue to meet the eligibility requirements, approval conditions and ACS standard, with businesses following the standard route undergoing an independent assessment every year.

JVR can provide ongoing support to help you maintain your approval and prepare for annual assessment.