Guarding contract: the terms that must be in it

• Posts: each post by name and location (e.g. “main gate”, “perimeter patrol”).
• Schedule: hours per day, including Sundays and public holidays, in a table. Not “24-hour guarding” without a breakdown.
• Post orders: what the guard does, what they do not do, whom they call. As an annex, with a procedure for every change.
• Changes and extra hours: how you request extra cover, with how much notice, at what price.
• Exclusions: whatever is not included, stated explicitly.

• Replacement time: the maximum time from a guard’s no-show until someone else is on the post.
• Notification: who tells you and how, whenever the post is empty even briefly.
• Uncovered hours: that they are not invoiced, and what credit or penalty applies.
• Team stability: notice before a permanent change of guard, and a briefing for the new guard on the post orders.
• Work licences: that every guard on your site holds a personal work licence, category A or B (Law 2518/1997, art. 3), and that you are given its number.

• Reports: which ones (shift, patrol, monthly summary), how often, in what format, and where you see them.
• Incidents: what counts as an incident, how quickly you are told, by whom, and when a written report follows.
• Escalation: an ordered contact list for day, night and holidays.

Keep the KPIs few, and measure them from records, not estimates:

• Hours covered ÷ hours contracted.
• Patrols completed ÷ patrols scheduled, per checkpoint.
• Incident notification time.
• Replacement time.
• Reports delivered on time.

OVIT gives clients patrols, incidents and reports in one live picture through the Guardly platform, so the KPIs are measured from the same records you see.

• Liability: which damage the company answers for, with what cap and which exclusions.
• Policy: type, amount of cover, insurer, term.
• Proof: a copy or certificate of cover at signing and at every renewal.
• Notice: a duty to tell you if the policy lapses or changes.

Civil liability insurance is not a duty under Law 2518/1997; it is a term you negotiate. Have your lawyer review the caps and exclusions alongside the policy itself.

The Hellenic Data Protection Authority states that Directive 1/2011 still applies alongside the GDPR and Law 4624/2019, that no permit or notification to the Authority is needed, and that cameras may not be used to monitor or evaluate employees (art. 27 Law 4624/2019). The contract should state:

• Roles: who is the controller for the cameras and visitor logs, and whether the guarding company processes data on your behalf.
• Access: who sees the live feed, who exports footage, and how that is logged.
• Retention: under article 8 of Directive 1/2011, footage is deleted within 15 working days at most if no incident occurs; footage of an incident against the controller may be kept 30 days, and of one involving a third party, 3 months.
• Signs: clearly visible, placed before anyone enters camera range, naming the controller, the purpose and a contact for data-subject rights (art. 12) — and who puts them up.
• Employees: that the guard uses the cameras to protect the site, not to monitor or evaluate your staff.

• Subcontracting: only with written consent, only to a licensed company, with the same obligations and the main contractor still liable to you.
• Same staff, same checks: a work-licence number for every guard, whoever employs them. Every company reports its staff and their posts to the police each month (Law 2518/1997, art. 4).
• Price review: when (e.g. once a year, or when the minimum wage changes — the current one applies from 1 April 2026, Joint Ministerial Decision 8934/27.3.2026), by what formula, with how much notice.
• Extra hours: prices for extra cover, nights, Sundays and holidays, agreed in advance.

• Notice: a period for both parties, written as a number of days.
• Termination for breach: e.g. repeated uncovered hours or undelivered reports, after written warning.
• Handover plan: an overlap of at least one shift between the outgoing and incoming guard.
• Return: keys, cards, codes — signed for, and codes changed after the handover.
• Records: reports, incident log and post orders handed over; data returned or deleted as agreed.

This guide is not legal advice. Use it as a checklist and have a lawyer review the final text of the contract.

For what to ask before you reach the contract, see questions to ask before signing. For your own site, request an offer or see our guarding services.