When you apply for a private security licence or certificate you need to prove you have the training or skills (competency) for the classes of work you will be doing.
| If you want to work as a: | You need to show: |
|---|---|
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you’ve done the set training Note: PSPPI (Minimum Training) Regulations amended in relation to Property Guards who are only working as monitoring officers |
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you have the training or skills needed or are receiving on the job training |
The New Zealand Security Association in conjunction with E Tu, Worksafe New Zealand and others in the security industry have developed Good Practice Guidelines for security guards. it is intended as a guidance document to help security providers manage the risk within the guarding industry.
Good Practice Guideline (external link)
You must have training to work as a crowd controller, property guard or personal guard.
Property guard work includes two functions. On-site guard work and monitoring security systems remotely, for example working in a control room monitoring cameras or alarm systems. Amendments to the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators (Minimum Training) Regulations 2013 have excluded the function of monitoring systems remotely from requiring the minimum training to be done. This type of work will be commonly referred to as a Monitoring Officer which is now a permit class type that you can apply for.
You only need to train once. You don’t need to do it again to renew your licence or certificate.
Once you’ve done your training, you must upload your NZQA record of achievement. You will then get a new badge to replace your temporary badge.
Before you upload your record you will need:
Upload your record of achievement(external link)
You can apply for a temporary certificate of approval so you can work while you train. In most cases, this will take 10 days to come through. It lasts for 3 months. If you haven’t done your training by then you need to apply for another one.
If your application includes the classes: security technician, security consultant, private investigator, repossession agent or monitoring officer, you may need to meet the skills requirements for each of these categories before you can be issued a temporary certificate.
Request a temporary certificate of approval
You need 3 unit standards. These add up to 12 credits.
You are considered to have met these unit standards if you hold
You don’t need NZQF (unit standard 27364) if you:
If you trained overseas you should contact the NZQA to see if your qualification is accepted in New Zealand
Contact the NZQA(external link)
The PSPLA works to ensure that all people working in the security industry have the proper skills to undertake the categories of work they are licensed for. To work as a private investigator, security technician, repossession agent or security consultant, you must show that you are either:
You need to supply evidence to support your application for each of these classes of work. Evidence of competency for the classes of security technician, security consultant and private investigator has been required since July 2016 and for monitoring officer and repossession agent since May 2019 so even if you already hold a licence or certificate, if it was issued before July 2016 you will be asked to supply evidence. You will only need to supply this evidence once unless you were an apprentice when you first applied for a certificate. Next time you renew your licence, the Authority will already have it on file.
You can show this through the following:
Note: National Certificate in Electronic Security Level 3 and 4 will remain valid for a period of time as they are replaced by the New Zealand Certificates in Electrotechnology Level 3 and Electronic Security Level 4.
∗ In addition to this qualification you need to provide a letter from a licenced private investigator confirming that your training has been, or is being, supplemented by on-the-job training.
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