Entrusting monitoring of a construction site, retail site or villa engages your responsibility. If the provider you appoint is not compliant, you risk indirectly employing unlicensed officers, with legal and insurance consequences at your expense. Prior checking is not optional: the law gives you rights, so use them.
This article details which documents to request, where to check them and what a client can legitimately require before signing. The vocabulary used is that of the French Internal Security Code, to avoid confusion between notions that look similar but are not equivalent.
CNAPS and the legal framework for private security
CNAPS, the French National Council for Private Security Activities, is the public authority regulating the sector since 2012. It issues licences, checks operators and sanctions breaches. Any company carrying out manned guarding, site guarding or physical protection activities falls within this framework.
Article L.612-14 of the French Internal Security Code prohibits an unauthorised company from carrying out these activities. It also prohibits employing an officer without a valid professional licence card. A client that knowingly uses a provider outside the framework exposes itself too, which justifies upstream verification.
Three control levels coexist: the company, its manager and each officer working in the field. Checking one without the others leaves a blind spot.
The company operating authorisation
Every security company must hold an operating authorisation issued by CNAPS. This title carries a standardised number, typically AUT followed by a series of digits. It is the first document to request, and it must appear on quotes, contracts and commercial documents.
The number links back to the real company, its SIREN and the authorised activities. A company can be authorised for manned guarding without being authorised for cash-in-transit or airport security: the authorisation defines the scope. For example, VIGISUD operates under operating authorisation AUT-067-2123-12-11-20240963424.
- Operating authorisation number (AUT-... format)
- Company legal name and registered address
- Activities covered by the title
- Absence of current suspension or withdrawal
Manager approval
Company authorisation is not enough. The manager or managers must hold personal manager approval, issued after a probity and aptitude check. This approval confirms that the person leading the activity meets the conditions required by law.
Ask for the approval number of the manager signing the contract. Withdrawn or non-renewed approval weakens the whole chain: without an approved manager, the company cannot legally operate its security activity, even if its operating authorisation appears valid.
Professional licence cards for officers
Every officer working on site must hold a valid professional licence card. This individual title is issued after qualifying training and an administrative check, then renewed periodically. An officer without a valid card cannot work, and the company deploying them is at fault.
As the client, you can request the list of officers assigned to your site with their card numbers. This check is particularly useful on sensitive assignments: isolated construction sites, events, night monitoring of retail sites or villas. On the Côte d'Azur, where seasonal pressure pushes some operators to recruit quickly, this control protects you.
- One professional card number for each officer present
- Validity on the assignment date
- Consistency between the declared officer and the officer actually on site
CNAPS online services: check online
CNAPS provides public online services that allow title validity to be checked. With an authorisation, approval or card number, you can confirm within minutes that the document exists, is active and matches the announced company or person.
This cross-check avoids fake documents and expired titles presented as valid. It takes little time and provides useful traceability in case of a dispute or insurance check. Keep a dated copy of your verifications in the provider file.
What the client can require before signing
You are entitled to request the full set of documents before any commitment. A serious provider supplies them without reluctance because transparency is part of the job. Refusal or persistent vagueness on these points should alert you.
Beyond CNAPS titles, two documents complete the check: an up-to-date professional liability insurance certificate adapted to the activity, and a written contract specifying scope, schedules and means. For an intervention on the French Riviera or in Var, also verify that the company really covers your area.
- Operating authorisation for the company
- Approval of the signing manager
- Professional licence cards for assigned officers
- Up-to-date professional liability insurance certificate
- Written contract detailing the service
