Private Investigators and Security Guards (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No. 4)
New minimum charges for licensed security guards: US$335 for 24-hour contract guard cover, US$365 day and night, US$170 to hire a firearm, and an issuance fee climbing from US$100 in year one to US$300 by year five.
The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage has replaced the charging schedule for the private security industry, repealing paragraph 2 of the Third Schedule to the 2007 regulations and substituting a new one. These are minimum charges — a security company may not undercut them.
On the licensing side: inspection fee US$20, application fee US$20, issue or renewal of a certificate of approval US$20, and a duplicate licence or certificate US$25. The issuance fee escalates with each year of operation: US$100 in the first year, US$150 in the second, US$200 in the third, US$250 in the fourth and US$300 in the fifth. Renewing late, after 1 January of each year, costs US$300.
On the service side: 24-hour contract guard coverage is US$335, and US$365 where it is day and night. A temporary guard covering 8am to 5pm for five working days a week is US$25. Any guard hour beyond a 12-hour shift is US$5 an hour, and a guard searching a client's employees is US$10 an hour. Inspection visits at one visit a month are US$30. One dog for not more than 12 hours, day and night, is US$205. Controlling undercover employees in a client's employ is US$20, cash-in-transit casual delivery is US$60 and other conveyance is US$30. Hire of a firearm is US$170, and hire of a time clock or radio is US$65 each.
The fees may also be paid in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate, so a client is not obliged to find US dollars.
The regulations repeal the Private Investigators and Security Guards (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 (No. 3), published in S.I. 105 of 2021 — the previous schedule.
One caveat on reading the schedule: it labels contract guard 24-hour coverage as "daily", which at US$335 a day would be far out of line with the temporary guard rate of US$25 for a five-day week. The figure is much more consistent with a monthly charge. Clients and operators should confirm the basis before contracting on it.
What changed
- Paragraph 2 of the Third Schedule to the 2007 regulations is repealed and replaced with a new schedule of minimum charges
- Contract guard 24-hour coverage set at US$335, and US$365 for day and night coverage
- Issuance fee escalates from US$100 in the first year of operation to US$300 in the fifth
- Late renewal after 1 January each year costs US$300
- Hire of a firearm set at US$170; time clock and radio at US$65 each; one dog for up to 12 hours at US$205
- Cash-in-transit casual delivery set at US$60 and other conveyance at US$30
- Fees may be paid in local currency at the prevailing interbank rate
- The Private Investigators and Security Guards (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 (No. 3), S.I. 105 of 2021, are repealed
Who this affects
- registered private security companies
- clients contracting guard, dog and cash-in-transit services
- security guards and their employers negotiating rates
- the regulator licensing private investigators and security guards
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.