National Security Inspectorate re-appointed by Regulator as ACS assessment body
Subject to contract, from 1 April 2017 the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) has been re-appointed as an assessing body for the Security Industry Authority’s (SIA) Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) and as a provider of a ‘Passport’ route to ACS compliance. As of this date, the NSI will be offering even more choice for guarding services companies in terms of how they can obtain and maintain ACS approval.
The NSI provides assessment services to the widest variety of guarding solution providers, ranging from small and local specialist operators through to many of the largest national operators. Most have chosen to hold NSI Guarding Gold with an integrated NSI ‘Passport’ to ACS approval. This provides a cost-effective solution for businesses wanting to demonstrate both commitment to the holistic values embodied within the ACS and the rigour of comprehensive compliance with British Standards and the ISO 9001 standard for Quality Management Systems.
The NSI ‘Passport’ route to ACS approval also provides cost benefits in terms of holding multiple approvals with the NSI.
A popular arrangement among typically more regional providers is to appoint the NSI to conduct assessments as part of the ACS ‘Standard’ route approval. Now, the NSI is offering these companies a new ‘middle way’: NSI Guarding Silver with the NSI’s ‘Passport’ to ACS. This means companies can now ‘upgrade’ to an NSI Guarding Silver approval with a ‘Passport’ to ACS approval, demonstrating full compliance with British Standards over and above the standard ACS without necessarily seeking approval to ISO 9001 at the same time. This will prove a valuable and cost-effective stepping stone for companies wanting to differentiate themselves from the ‘Standard’ route to ACS approval and give end user buyers additional confidence in their service providers’ ‘commitment to compliance’ with British Standards.