BS 10119:2026 Explained: Complete Guide for Security Labour Providers
What is BS 10119? Does it replace COP 119 or NCP 119? Who does the standard apply to, what does it cover, and what should a security labour provider have in place?
If your business supplies security officers, event staff or other personnel to another organisation to supplement its workforce, BS 10119:2026 is an important standard to understand.
Published by the British Standards Institution in 2026, BS 10119 is titled “Provision of labour to the security and events sectors — Code of practice.” It provides a recognised framework for organisations involved in supplying supplementary labour to the security and events sectors.
For many security businesses, however, the terminology may initially be confusing.
You may already know COP 119. You may have dealt with NCP 119. A client, principal contractor or certification body might now be talking about BS 10119.
So what has actually changed?
Quick Answer
BS 10119:2026 is the British Standard covering the provision of labour to the security and events sectors.
It addresses how supplementary labour is managed and supplied, including areas such as:
- Recruitment and screening
- SIA licensing controls where applicable
- Right-to-work checks
- Employment status
- Training and competence
- Personal protective equipment
- Terms and conditions of employment
- Employment records
- PAYE and working-time compliance
- Management responsibilities
- Documentation and record keeping
The standard developed from earlier security-industry work around labour-provider assurance, including NCP 119.
However, publication of BS 10119 does not mean that every existing COP 119 or NCP 119 certification arrangement automatically changed on the date the standard was published.
What Is BS 10119:2026?
BS 10119:2026 is a British Standard providing a code of practice for the provision of labour to the security and events sectors.
Its full title is:
The standard was published by the British Standards Institution, or BSI, on 30 June 2026.
You can view the official standard information directly on the BSI website .
Its purpose is to provide recognised best-practice recommendations for organisations involved in supplying supplementary personnel within the security and events industries.
That distinction is important.
BS 10119 is not simply another standard telling a security guarding company how to operate a guarding contract.
Its focus is specifically on labour provision.
For example, a security contractor may win a contract requiring 100 officers but employ only 70 suitable personnel internally.
The contractor could purchase additional labour from another organisation to cover the remaining requirement.
The organisation supplying those additional workers becomes part of the security labour supply chain.
The question is not simply whether somebody is available for a shift. It is whether the organisation supplying that person can demonstrate that the labour has been provided responsibly, legally and with appropriate controls.
Why Was BS 10119 Introduced?
Bought-in labour plays an important role within the UK security industry.
Security requirements can change quickly and contractors may need additional personnel because of:
- New contract mobilisation
- Seasonal demand
- Events and festivals
- Sporting fixtures
- Temporary sites
- Emergency requirements
- Employee absence
- Short-term staffing shortages
- Large one-off deployments
- Rapid business growth
External labour can give a contractor the flexibility to increase workforce capacity without permanently employing every officer it might possibly need.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that model.
The risk comes when supplementary labour is supplied without adequate controls.
A contractor could potentially receive workers whose:
- SIA licences have not been correctly checked
- Right to work has not been properly established
- Screening is incomplete
- Training is unsuitable
- Employment arrangements are unclear
- Pay arrangements create compliance concerns
- Working hours are poorly controlled
- Personnel records are incomplete
- Identity has not been adequately verified
- PPE arrangements are unclear
Problems within a labour provider can quickly become problems for the company purchasing that labour.
What Does Labour Provision Mean in the Security Industry?
It is important to distinguish between providing supplementary labour and providing a complete subcontracted security service.
Example
ABC Security Ltd holds the contract with the customer.
ABC requires an additional 20 security officers for several sites.
XYZ Labour Ltd supplies those 20 people to ABC.
ABC remains responsible for delivering the security contract, while XYZ provides supplementary labour.
The contractual structure, management responsibilities and the reality of the working relationship all matter.
Security businesses should understand:
- Who holds the customer contract?
- Who is responsible for service delivery?
- Who employs or engages the workers?
- Who pays them?
- Who screens them?
- Who checks their licences?
- Who trains them?
- Who supervises them?
- Who manages performance?
- Who provides PPE?
- Who controls personnel records?
- Who is accountable when something goes wrong?
Those responsibilities should be clear rather than assumed.
Who Is BS 10119 For?
BS 10119 is relevant to organisations involved in supplying or purchasing supplementary labour within the security and events sectors.
1. Security and Event Labour Providers
Your company supplies personnel to another organisation.
You need systems capable of demonstrating that the people you provide have been appropriately recruited, screened, managed and documented.
2. Companies Buying Labour
Your company holds security or events contracts but uses external providers when additional personnel are required.
You need confidence that organisations entering your supply chain operate appropriate controls.
Does BS 10119 Apply to Event Staff?
Yes.
BS 10119 covers labour provision to both the security and events sectors.
The workforce at a major event could include a mixture of:
- SIA-licensed security officers
- Door supervisors
- Event security personnel
- Stewards
- Crowd-management personnel
- Other event-support personnel
Whether an individual requires an SIA licence depends on the activities that individual actually performs.
Calling someone a “steward” does not remove licensing requirements if their real duties involve licensable security activity.
BS 10119 vs COP 119 vs NCP 119: What's the Difference?
This terminology is likely to cause some confusion while the market transitions.
NCP 119
Associated with NSI and developed to address the management, competence and ethical provision of security labour.
COP 119
A term already widely recognised by security labour providers and contractors looking for labour-provider compliance and certification.
BS 10119:2026
The national British Standard now covering the provision of labour to the security and events sectors.
Earlier labour-provider assurance frameworks helped create the foundations for a nationally recognised British Standard: BS 10119:2026.
Businesses should not automatically assume an existing COP 119 or NCP 119 certificate became a BS 10119 certificate simply because the new standard was published.
Certification bodies need to communicate their own certification and transition arrangements.
Is BS 10119 Mandatory?
BS 10119 is a code of practice, not a piece of legislation requiring every labour provider to become certified.
However, many of the subjects addressed by the standard relate to existing legal responsibilities.
These can include:
- SIA licensing
- Right to work
- National Minimum Wage
- PAYE
- Working time
- Employment rights
- Data protection
- Health and safety
There is also an important difference between something being legally mandatory and commercially required.
A customer, principal contractor, framework agreement or tender could make a particular accreditation or compliance requirement part of its supplier criteria.
Compliance does not always win the contract. Sometimes it is what gets your company through the door and allows you to bid.
What Does BS 10119 Cover?
The complete requirements should always be checked against an authorised copy of BS 10119 itself.
At a high level, labour providers should expect to address areas including:
- Organisational responsibilities
- Understanding customer and stakeholder requirements
- Recruitment
- Security screening
- Licence controls
- Right-to-work controls
- Training and competence
- Employment arrangements
- PPE
- Documentation
- Personnel records
- Management of labour provision
In practice, the company needs to consider the entire journey from accepting a customer labour requirement to providing suitable personnel and retaining evidence that appropriate controls were followed.
SIA Licensing Controls
Where an individual carries out licensable security activity, applicable SIA licensing requirements still apply.
BS 10119 does not replace the SIA licensing regime.
A labour provider should consider:
- What security activity the individual will perform
- Which licence is required
- Whether the licence is currently valid
- Whether licence details match the worker
- When the licence expires
- How licence status is monitored
- Who is responsible for checks
- How evidence of the check is retained
- What happens if a licence expires or becomes invalid
Simply copying an SIA licence at recruitment and never reviewing the position again is not a strong ongoing control.
Screening and BS 7858
Security screening is another significant area for organisations supplying security personnel.
Common weaknesses can include:
- Unexplained employment gaps
- Missing references
- References covering incorrect periods
- Inconsistent dates
- Poor identity evidence
- Missing address history
- Screening completed too late
- Checks recorded without supporting evidence
- Inconsistent screening processes across employees
A spreadsheet saying “screening complete” does not demonstrate that the screening process itself was completed correctly.
The evidence behind the status is what matters.
Right-to-Work Checks
Labour providers need appropriate controls around each worker's legal right to work in the UK.
The organisation should understand:
- Which type of right-to-work check is required
- When that check must be completed
- What evidence should be retained
- Whether the person's permission is time limited
- Whether a follow-up check will be required
- Who monitors relevant expiry dates
- What happens if appropriate evidence cannot be obtained
Right-to-work requirements can change, so organisations should always use current government guidance when carrying out checks.
Employment Status and PAYE
Labour supply can create additional complexity around employment arrangements.
A provider needs to understand the actual status of the personnel it supplies.
Questions can arise around:
- Employment
- Worker status
- PAYE
- Self-employment
- Agency arrangements
- National Insurance
- Holiday entitlement
- National Minimum Wage
Changing the title at the top of an agreement does not necessarily change the reality of the working relationship.
Where a company is uncertain about employment status or tax treatment, appropriate professional advice should be obtained.
Terms and Conditions of Employment
Personnel need appropriate documentation establishing their relationship with the organisation.
Documents should reflect how the company actually operates in practice.
Personnel should understand relevant matters such as:
- Their role
- Pay arrangements
- Working hours
- Holiday arrangements
- Reporting requirements
- Standards of conduct
- Confidentiality
- Uniform and PPE
- Training requirements
- Absence
- Disciplinary arrangements
- Grievances
- Assignment requirements
- Use of personal information
Working Time, Pay and Worker Protection
Responsible labour provision is not only about protecting the purchasing contractor.
It also involves protecting the people being supplied.
Security and events work can involve:
- Long shifts
- Night work
- Consecutive assignments
- Travel between sites
- Last-minute requirements
- Significant overtime
- Large temporary deployments
A labour provider should therefore have systems capable of monitoring working arrangements rather than depending entirely on individual workers to identify problems.
Training and Competence
Holding an SIA licence does not necessarily mean an individual has received every piece of training required for every assignment.
The labour provider and purchasing organisation need to understand what competence is required.
Depending on the work, this may include:
- Licence-linked training
- Company induction
- Site-specific induction
- Assignment-specific information
- Health and safety
- Emergency procedures
- Incident reporting
- Customer requirements
- Equipment training
- Conflict management
- Safeguarding
- Counter-terrorism awareness
- Event-specific responsibilities
- Refresher training
The useful question is not simply “has this worker had some training?” It is “can we demonstrate that this worker is competent and appropriately prepared for the assignment?”
Personal Protective Equipment
Where PPE is required, responsibilities should be clearly established.
Consider:
- What PPE is required?
- Who provides it?
- Is it suitable for the task?
- Is it available in suitable sizes?
- Has the worker been instructed in its use?
- Is damaged equipment replaced?
- Are issue records maintained where appropriate?
- Are customer-specific requirements understood?
Roles, Responsibilities and Authority
As labour providers grow, compliance can become dangerously dependent on one individual.
The director may personally understand recruitment, screening, licensing, payroll, training, customer requirements and employee documentation.
That may work while the business is small.
It becomes much less reliable as the workforce and customer base increase.
A controlled organisation should know:
- Who approves new workers?
- Who verifies screening?
- Who monitors SIA licences?
- Who monitors right-to-work restrictions?
- Who authorises deployment?
- Who controls payroll information?
- Who handles customer complaints?
- Who investigates problems?
- Who reviews compliance?
- Who can stop an unsuitable worker being deployed?
- Who is accountable at senior-management level?
The system should continue working when one director or manager is absent.
Documentation, Records and Evidence
Good compliance is not about creating the biggest possible compliance folder.
It is about controlling the information your organisation genuinely needs and being able to demonstrate that your processes operate.
Requirement → Process → Responsibility → Evidence → Review
Imagine your procedure says that every SIA licence is checked.
Process: How is the check completed?
Responsibility: Who completes it?
Evidence: Where is the result recorded?
Monitoring: How are expiry dates identified?
Action: What happens if the licence becomes invalid?
Review: How does management know the control continues to work?
Apply the same logic to:
- Screening
- Right to work
- Recruitment
- Training
- Payroll
- Working time
- PPE
- Customer requirements
- Complaints
- Personnel records
- Contracts
A procedure says what should happen. Evidence demonstrates that it actually happened.
BS 10119 and SIA ACS: Are They the Same?
No.
SIA ACS and BS 10119 serve different purposes.
SIA ACS assesses eligible security contractors against the Security Industry Authority's Approved Contractor Scheme standard.
BS 10119 is more specifically focused on arrangements surrounding the provision of supplementary labour to the security and events sectors.
Example
An ACS-approved guarding contractor wins several large security contracts.
During a busy period it purchases supplementary workers from an external security labour provider.
The ACS approval relates to the security contractor.
BS 10119 is directly relevant to the systems and controls surrounding the labour being supplied.
They are not interchangeable.
Neither removes the requirement for individual SIA licences where licensable security activities are being performed.
Why Should Security Contractors Care About Their Labour Providers?
Because outsourcing the source of the worker does not necessarily outsource the risk.
Imagine a security company purchases 50 officers from a labour provider.
The purchasing company assumes all 50 people have been properly:
- Identified
- Screened
- Licensed where required
- Trained
- Paid appropriately
- Documented
- Checked for their right to work
But what evidence supports those assumptions?
Serious compliance failures within the labour supply chain can affect:
- Contract delivery
- Customer relationships
- Certification
- Reputation
- Service quality
- Worker welfare
- Legal compliance
- Tender opportunities
A professional procurement process should therefore look beyond:
It should also ask:
What controls exist behind the labour we are purchasing?
What About BS 10119 Certification?
BS 10119 has only recently been published.
Publication of a British Standard and the transition of every certification scheme do not necessarily happen at exactly the same time.
Businesses should therefore:
- Check the current position with their intended certification body
- Ask how existing COP 119 or NCP 119 certification will transition
- Confirm exactly what certificate is being offered
- Understand which standard the assessment will use
- Begin preparing their systems for BS 10119 requirements
- Avoid relying on outdated assumptions about the certification route
What Might BS 10119 Assessment Preparation Involve?
The exact external assessment process will depend on the certification body and scheme.
Preparation is likely to require an organisation to demonstrate that appropriate systems are not merely documented but actually implemented.
- Obtain and understand the applicable standard
- Review existing business systems
- Carry out a compliance gap analysis
- Assign management responsibilities
- Update policies and procedures
- Correct personnel-file issues
- Improve screening controls
- Review employment documentation
- Review SIA licence controls
- Check training and competence records
- Improve document control
- Implement missing processes
- Build appropriate evidence
- Carry out an internal readiness review
- Arrange independent assessment when appropriate
- Address any findings raised
The objective is not to manufacture paperwork immediately before assessment. It is to build a labour-provider compliance system that works throughout the year.
How Should a Labour Provider Prepare for BS 10119?
The best starting point is usually a structured gap analysis.
Do not begin by downloading dozens of generic policies.
First establish where your business actually stands.
Review Your Company Structure
- Directors
- Managers
- Operational responsibilities
- Compliance responsibilities
- Recruitment responsibilities
- Screening responsibilities
- Payroll responsibilities
- Training responsibilities
- Authority to approve or stop deployment
Review Your Personnel Files
Review a representative sample of real personnel files rather than only choosing your cleanest file.
Include examples such as:
- A new starter
- A long-serving worker
- A worker with a complex screening history
- A worker with time-limited right-to-work status where applicable
- Someone whose SIA licence has recently been renewed
- Personnel deployed to different customers
Review Your Contracts
Do worker contracts or engagement documents accurately reflect the relationship?
Do customer agreements clearly establish the labour being supplied, responsibilities and operational arrangements?
Review Your Systems
- SIA licence monitoring
- Right-to-work monitoring
- Screening
- Training
- Working hours
- Payroll
- PPE
- Complaints
- Incidents
- Data protection
- Record retention
- Customer requirements
- Document control
Review Your Evidence
Do we have a procedure?
Do we actually follow it?
Can we prove that we follow it?
That final question is where many compliance gaps become visible.
Common BS 10119 Preparation Problems
Generic Policies
A downloaded document carrying your logo is not automatically an effective company procedure.
Incomplete Personnel Files
One employee may have a perfect file while another has missing screening information, outdated evidence or unexplained gaps.
Weak Licence Monitoring
The SIA licence may have been checked at recruitment but there is no reliable process for ongoing monitoring.
Screening Started Too Late
Trying to reconstruct historical information after somebody has already been deployed creates unnecessary risk.
Employment Documents That Do Not Match Reality
The contractual description of a working relationship needs to align with how that relationship actually operates.
Poor Evidence
If there is nothing showing when it happened, who completed it or what was reviewed, an organisation may struggle to demonstrate the process.
Unclear Responsibilities
Everyone assumes somebody else checked the worker.
Compliance Existing in One Person's Head
The business works while one director is present but processes become unreliable when that person is absent.
Preparing Only for Assessment Day
Creating documents immediately before an audit does not create a mature compliance system.
Do not build a company that can look compliant for one audit day. Build a company that can demonstrate compliance throughout the year.
How Long Does BS 10119 Preparation Take?
There is no useful one-size-fits-all answer.
Two labour providers employing the same number of workers could have completely different levels of readiness.
Business A
Already has:
- Controlled recruitment
- Appropriate screening
- Strong personnel files
- Licence monitoring
- Right-to-work processes
- Suitable employment documentation
- Training records
- Payroll controls
- Document control
- Internal compliance reviews
It may require a relatively focused project.
Business B
Has:
- Generic policies
- Incomplete personnel files
- Missing screening evidence
- Ad-hoc licence checks
- Poor employment documentation
- Limited training records
- Unclear management responsibilities
- Little historical evidence
That business may require significantly more work.
Instead of asking “how long does BS 10119 take?”, ask: “How far away from BS 10119 readiness is our company today?”
How Much Does BS 10119 Certification Cost?
There is no single universal BS 10119 cost.
Potential costs can include:
- Obtaining the British Standard
- Certification-body charges
- Assessment charges
- Consultancy support where required
- Internal management time
- Training
- Correcting compliance gaps
- Improving business systems
- Ongoing surveillance or certification charges where applicable
Be cautious of quotations that combine everything into one figure without explaining what is actually included.
Do I Need a BS 10119 Consultant?
No.
A business can obtain the official standard, interpret the applicable requirements and develop its own systems.
Using a consultant is optional.
However, understanding a standard and implementing it across a working labour-provider business are two different things.
Someone still has to:
- Review the existing business
- Interpret applicable requirements
- Identify gaps
- Review personnel files
- Check screening
- Review contracts
- Develop missing documentation
- Implement procedures
- Assign responsibilities
- Organise evidence
- Test whether processes work
- Prepare management for external scrutiny
Meanwhile, management may already be dealing with customers, recruitment, rotas, payroll, incidents, mobilisation, staff shortages and tender deadlines.
How ESC Support Ltd Can Help With BS 10119 Preparation
Good BS 10119 preparation should begin by understanding the business you already have rather than immediately producing more paperwork.
ESC Support can assist security labour providers with practical compliance preparation including:
- BS 10119 / COP 119 gap analysis
- Review of existing policies and procedures
- Company-specific policy development
- Screening-process reviews
- Personnel-file reviews
- SIA licence-control procedures
- Right-to-work procedures
- Recruitment documentation
- Training and competence records
- Employment-documentation reviews
- PPE procedures and records
- Customer and labour-supply documentation
- Management responsibility structures
- Document-control systems
- Internal compliance reviews
- Evidence preparation
- Pre-assessment readiness checks
- COP 119 / NCP 119 transition support
- Ongoing compliance support
The objective is not to hand your company a folder containing generic policies.
It is to help establish processes your organisation can actually operate and demonstrate.
BS 10119 Readiness Checklist
Before considering your organisation ready, ask whether you can confidently demonstrate the following:
- Is our labour-provision structure clear?
- Are responsibilities formally assigned?
- Do we understand customer requirements?
- Are worker roles correctly defined?
- Are SIA licences checked and monitored where required?
- Are right-to-work checks controlled?
- Is screening completed correctly?
- Can we demonstrate applicable BS 7858 screening?
- Are employment-status arrangements understood?
- Are PAYE and payroll arrangements controlled?
- Are terms and conditions documented?
- Are working hours monitored?
- Are minimum-pay requirements controlled?
- Are workers appropriately trained?
- Can we demonstrate competence?
- Are PPE responsibilities clear?
- Are personnel files complete?
- Are customer agreements controlled?
- Are complaints and incidents recorded?
- Is personal information appropriately protected?
- Are documents version-controlled?
- Can we demonstrate that procedures operate in practice?
- Does management regularly review compliance?
If several answers are “no”, “partially” or “we think so”, those are the areas to investigate before external assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions About BS 10119
What is BS 10119?
BS 10119:2026 is the British Standard titled “Provision of labour to the security and events sectors — Code of practice.” It provides best-practice recommendations relating to supplementary labour provision within security and events.
When was BS 10119 published?
BS 10119:2026 was published on 30 June 2026.
Is BS 10119 the same as COP 119?
The terms relate to closely connected labour-provider compliance subject matter, but BS 10119:2026 is the national British Standard. Existing certificate holders should confirm transition arrangements with their certification body.
Is BS 10119 the same as NCP 119?
No. NCP 119 is associated with NSI. Earlier security-industry labour-provider assurance work, including NCP 119, helped form the foundations from which BS 10119 developed.
Does BS 10119 replace COP 119?
BS 10119 establishes the British Standard for this area, but certification transitions do not necessarily happen immediately. Existing certificate holders should follow guidance from their certification body.
Is BS 10119 mandatory?
BS 10119 is a code of practice rather than legislation. However, buyers, principal contractors, frameworks or certification arrangements may make compliance commercially important.
Who needs BS 10119?
It is particularly relevant to businesses supplying supplementary labour within the security and events sectors and to organisations procuring that labour.
Does BS 10119 apply only to SIA-licensed security officers?
No. Labour provision can involve licensed and unlicensed roles. Whether an individual requires an SIA licence depends on the activities they actually perform.
Does BS 10119 replace an SIA licence?
No. Individuals carrying out licensable security activity must continue to meet applicable SIA licensing requirements.
Is BS 10119 the same as SIA ACS?
No. ACS assesses eligible security contractors through the SIA Approved Contractor Scheme, whereas BS 10119 relates specifically to labour provision within the security and events sectors.
Does BS 10119 involve BS 7858 screening?
Security screening requirements may include BS 7858 where applicable. Organisations should check the official standard and determine the requirements relevant to their workforce and services.
Can I prepare for BS 10119 myself?
Yes. A consultant is not mandatory. Organisations can obtain the official standard and manage their own preparation. External support may be useful where the business lacks internal compliance expertise or available management time.
How long does BS 10119 preparation take?
There is no universal timescale. It depends on the size and complexity of the business and the quality of its existing policies, processes, records and evidence.
How much does BS 10119 certification cost?
There is no single universal price. Costs may include the standard itself, certification-body charges, assessment, preparation work, consultancy and ongoing certification costs where applicable.
Final Thoughts: BS 10119 Is About the Labour Behind the Security Service
When a customer contracts a professional security company, it is relying on more than the individual standing at the gate, reception desk or event entrance.
It is relying on the systems behind that person.
When part of the workforce is supplied by another organisation, another layer enters that chain.
Who recruited them?
Who screened them?
Who checked their right to work?
Who verified their SIA licence?
Who trained them?
Who employs or engages them?
Who pays them?
Who monitors their working hours?
Who controls their records?
And can the labour provider demonstrate that those controls actually took place?
BS 10119:2026 provides the security and events sectors with a recognised framework for approaching those questions more consistently.
For labour providers, it creates an opportunity to strengthen systems and demonstrate professionalism.
For contractors purchasing labour, it creates a stronger basis for evaluating organisations entering their supply chain.
Professional labour provision requires professional controls.
Preparing for BS 10119? Start by Finding the Gaps.
You do not need to guess whether your security labour business is ready.
ESC Support can review your current compliance position, identify gaps in documentation, personnel files and operating processes, and help you understand what needs to be addressed.
From screening and SIA licence controls through employment documentation, training, policies, records and assessment preparation, our focus is on building systems that work in your real business.
Get compliant. Win contracts. Keep your accreditations.