Security company rankings: what they measure and what they don’t

To put companies in order you need one figure common to all of them. The quality of guarding at each site is not such a figure: it is not published and not measured the same way. So rankings rely on what is available — usually financial data or staff numbers.

• Which figure was measured? Turnover, employees, something else?
• From what source? Published data, or the companies’ own statements?
• For which year? An old figure describes a company that may have changed.
• Which companies were included? If only those that replied or paid are in, the order does not describe the market.

Size is a question, not an answer. A large company may have more people for cover — but your site may be one of many. A small one may know every post — but may have no one to send when the guard is absent. Either way, ask:

• Who exactly will guard my site, and who replaces them when they are absent?
• Which supervisor is responsible for my post, and how many other posts do they cover?
• Who answers at night when something happens?

Turnover does not show whether guards are paid lawfully for every hour. You check that in the offer — see when a very low quote is rejected.

• Legality in date: the operating licence is valid for five years and renewed only if the conditions still hold (Law 2518/1997, art. 2 §3), and every guard needs a personal work licence (art. 3). A ranking does not check this for you — check the licence.
• Stable people: how often the guard at your post changes.
• Supervision: whether the supervisor visits and how you see it.
• Evidence: patrols, shift reports, an incident log — see measurable security.
• Incident handling: what happens in the first minutes and what changes afterwards.

These can be measured — but at your site, with performance indicators written into the contract, not with a list.

Ask the same three questions of all three:

1. Who publishes it? If that is not shown, treat it as advertising.
2. What was measured, and how? If it states no criteria, the order is an opinion.
3. Did anyone pay, or is there a connection? If a place can be bought or the publisher is linked to a company, the order is not independent.

More on lists and reviews in which is the best security company.

Size only changes which questions come first. With a large company, ask how close the supervisor and team are to your site. With a small one, ask how absences and leave are covered. The other questions are the same for all — see the questions to ask before signing.

1. Take a few names from the ranking that work in your area and with sites like yours.
2. Rule out any that does not show its operating licence and work licences.
3. Ask all of them the same questions and request sample reports.
4. Reject any offer that does not cover the hours lawfully.
5. Choose on supervision, evidence, people and the contract — see how to choose a security company.

OVIT does not ask you to choose it because it appears somewhere. It shows you patrols, incidents and reports in the Guardly platform, so you can judge on evidence. Ask for a proposal and check us against the same criteria.