How to choose a security company

Security companies in Greece operate under Law 2518/1997. A company’s operating licence cannot be transferred, is valid for five years and is renewed only if the original conditions still hold (art. 2 §3) — so check its date, not just that it exists.

• Name and documents: the company must carry the phrase «ιδιωτική επιχείρηση παροχής υπηρεσιών ασφαλείας» (private security services company) in its name and its licence number on its documents (art. 4 §1α). If the offer does not show the number, ask why.
• Each guard’s work licence: security staff must hold a personal work licence, category A or B, valid for five years (art. 3).
• Declared staff: every month the company reports its staff to the police, with each person’s work-licence number and where they work (art. 4). Ask for the numbers of those who will guard your site.

Do not accept “we will send them after signing”. The check happens before the contract, not after. Civil liability insurance is not required by Law 2518/1997 — so agree it explicitly in the contract.

• Who will the guard or team be, and how stable will it be?
• Which supervisor checks the post, and how often?
• If the guard does not show up, how quickly does a replacement arrive?
• What are the written post orders, and who approves them?
• What report do I receive, how often, and what does it contain?
• How is an incident recorded, and how soon do I hear about it?
• How does the offer cover lawful pay for every hour — a 40-hour week, night, Sunday and holiday premiums?

The answers reveal more than any brochure. If an answer is “it has never been needed”, note it: that is where it will be.

Guarding has a structural problem: it happens when you are not there. So the real question is not “do you have supervisors?” but “what do I see in the morning about last night?”.

• Checkpoint patrols: the guard scans set points, so it shows when they passed where.
• Shift report: what happened, what was observed, what was handed to the next shift.
• Incident log: every incident with its time, description, actions taken and who handled it.

OVIT brings this evidence together in the Guardly platform, so clients see patrols, incidents and reports in the same picture as the operations team.

Greece’s Labour Code sets full-time work at 40 hours a week (article 189). So a post covered around the clock needs at least 168 ÷ 40 = 4.2 full-time positions, before leave, sickness and cover are counted.

Price does not tell you which company to choose; it only tells you which one to reject. Ask every offer to show how it covers lawful pay for the hours it takes on. If it cannot, or if it is too low to pay a guard lawfully along with supervision and insurance, reject it: the difference is missing somewhere — usually from the guard.

• The hours of cover, on a 40-hour full-time week per guard.
• Nights (22:00–06:00), with a 25% premium, and Sundays and public holidays, with a 75% premium.
• At least 4.2 full-time positions for every 24/7 post, plus leave and cover.
• The supervision and reporting it promises.

• Scope: posts, hours, duties — with the written post orders as an annex.
• Replacement: how quickly an empty post is covered.
• Reports: which ones, how often, in what form.
• Incidents: how and how quickly you are informed.
• Liability and insurance: who is liable for damage during guarding, and a civil liability policy with its amount and cover written into the contract — the law does not require one, so the contract is your protection.
• Personal data: who handles visitor and camera data, if any.
• Ending: notice period and a handover with no gap in cover.

• The offer is not broken down into hours and posts.
• The operating licence will “come later”, or its number is missing from the offer.
• There are no written post orders.
• The guard changes every week without notice.
• You receive no report unless you ask for one.