It is a condition of the licence that a front line licence holder must wear their licence where it can be seen at all times when engaging in designated licensable activity, unless they have reported it lost or stolen, or it is in our possession.

Your licence can be revoked or suspended if you do not do so. You can also be prosecuted, as contravening licence conditions is a criminal offence under Section 9 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

Some people wear a photocopy of the licence because they are worried that the real thing will be lost or broken while at work and they believe they will have to pay for a replacement. This is incorrect: we don’t normally charge for replacing a licence (although we may if we receive repeated requests from the same individual).

Some people believe that they will be unable to work while they wait for the replacement – again, this is incorrect. If you are waiting on a replacement licence from us you can still work lawfully, though you should print out your entry on our register of licence holders and carry it with you along with some form of photographic ID. This will enable you to prove that you are licensed if you are asked to do so by an SIA investigator or one of our enforcement partners (for example, a police officer or a local authority licensing officer).