We Don’t Tolerate Unregulated Gas Engineers – So Why Tolerate Rogue Security Installers?

For as long as I can remember, the security industry has regulated itself on a voluntary basis.

It has standards to work to and organisations that control and regulate it, but there has always been the choice – become approved or not become approved.

Is that enough?

As far as intruder alarms are concerned (and CCTV is fast coming up behind) the insurance companies and police always insist on installers being approved if the risks are above a certain level or if the police are required to respond directly.

So the police and insurance companies are driving the requirement to work to standards for their own needs – but where does that leave the general public?

Basically they’re out in the cold.

Brilliant research
Some years ago then SSAIB chief David Hinge did a very simple but brilliant bit of research. He asked a major alarm equipment supplier how many delivery addresses they had.

He didn’t ask for names and addresses, which would have been unethical, just the number of delivery addresses. The answer was 22,000 and that research was 20 years ago.

At the time the SSAIB and the NSI had less than 2,000 enrolled companies between them. Even allowing for large companies having multiple addresses, a very conservative estimate would be that there were 10,000 unregistered installers out there fitting systems.

Today we can add fire, CCTV, locksmiths and access control into the equation, so how many unregulated companies are out there today is anybody’s guess. And just what they are fitting and to which standards they are working is an even wilder guess.

Here’s the crunch: in this country today you can come straight out of jail and set yourself up as a security company. It’s called equality, political correctness or freedom to trade and all that old rubbish and the public are blissfully unaware that the guy fitting the new lock to their front door learned his trade in the nick, or even that the guys fitting other forms of security could all be ex-offenders!

The powers that be have felt the need to regulate some trades and situations but not others.

For example we now have Part P for electricians, making it illegal for anyone without the proper qualifications to take a screwdriver to the electrics in a dwelling place. Or you have to be a registered gas installer before you can put your grubby mitts on a blowlamp.

Incidentally I agree with the regulation, but the bottom line is you can go out there and rob the customer blind with cheap inferior security but you’re not allowed to gas ‘em or electrocute ‘em. Am I missing something here or is the security industry considered to be the poor relation?

Corner-cutting brigade

There is a theory that the NSI and SSAIB have done too good a job. They’ve provided the people with higher risks a set of approved companies to pick from, but those self-same regulated companies have to compete with the corner-cutting brigade whose only selling point is “I can do it cheaper because I buy cheapo kit and cut corners.”

Then there are those companies that are just complete rogues – selling cheap kit to the unsuspecting at wickedly high prices. Companies selling on that scam should be forced into regulation for the good of the unsuspecting public – usually pensioners browbeaten into buying what they cannot afford.

How can we, as an industry, stand by and let this happen?

My vote is to make all security companies apply for a licence to trade based on competence and security screening.

Then we could have a level playing field where installers can charge enough to pay for their apprentices to be properly trained and we can finally say that all systems are fit for purpose, fitted by approved people.

I believe the security industry is under-regulated.