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Managing SIA Licences Across a Team — Practical Guide

Updated May 2026 — Security operations compliance best practice

The structural challenge of SIA licence management is simple to state but surprisingly hard to solve in practice: every operative has a licence that expires on a different date, and the consequences of missing an expiry are criminal. A small security company with 15 operatives might have licences expiring in every single month of the year. Without a tracked system, the first you learn of an expired licence is when an operative is turned away from a venue, or worse, when the SIA come to you.

Why spreadsheets fail for licence tracking

Most security companies start with a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is set up, licences are entered, and for the first year or two it works tolerably well. Then:

• Operatives are added without their licence details being entered
• Expiry dates are not updated when licences are renewed
• No one is responsible for checking the spreadsheet regularly
• The person who maintained it leaves
• The file becomes out of date and is trusted less and less

Spreadsheets are passive — they require regular, deliberate attention to remain useful. A licence management system needs to be active — it should alert you when action is needed, not wait to be consulted.

What a reliable licence tracking system looks like

The minimum requirements for an effective system:

• A record for every operative — name, licence number, licence type, expiry date, and a copy of the licence front and back
• Automated expiry alerts — at 90 days, 60 days, and 30 days before expiry; relying on manual date checking guarantees things will be missed
• A renewal workflow — the system needs to track not just that a licence is expiring, but whether the renewed licence has been received and verified
• An audit trail — a record of when each licence was checked and by whom

The renewal process — what can go wrong

The SIA renewal process takes time — typically four to six weeks. Operatives who leave renewal to the last minute frequently find themselves unable to work while they wait for the renewed licence. Common failure points:

• Operative applies for renewal but does not tell you — you have no visibility of whether the new licence has arrived
• Application is submitted but rejected — perhaps due to a new criminal conviction or failure to complete refresher training
• New licence is issued but with a different licence number — your records need updating
• Operative intends to renew but does not get around to it — and you have no reminder system that would prompt you to chase

Suspended and revoked licences

The SIA can suspend or revoke a licence at any time — not just at expiry. Reasons include criminal convictions, information coming to light about the operative's character or conduct, or failure to comply with licence conditions. A suspension means the operative cannot work immediately.

Because suspension can happen at any time, checking the register at onboarding is not sufficient. Best practice is to check the register periodically — monthly is reasonable for most businesses — not just when licences are coming up for renewal.