BS 10119 Explained: What the New Labour Provision Standard Means for Security Companies

If your security business supplies officers, stewards or door staff to other contractors, or buys in extra labour to cover your own contracts, BS 10119 is a standard you need to know about. It turns the industry’s COP 119 code of practice into a full British Standard, and it’s set to become the benchmark buyers look for when they use supplied labour.

I have worked in the security industry since I was 18 and have audited labour providers against COP 119, so this guide is written from the audit side of the table. It covers what BS 10119 is, who it applies to, what it expects, and how the move from COP 119 works.

What is BS 10119?

BS 10119:2026 is a British Standard code of practice published by BSI on 30 June 2026. Its full title is Provision of labour to the security and events sectors. Code of practice.

BSI describes it as giving recommendations for the management, resourcing and staffing of an organisation providing bought-in labour that supplements a security or events workforce. That labour can be licensed or unlicensed, and employed or supplied. The aim is to let buyers use supplementary labour without compromising security or safety, and to cut out the “rogue labour” that has caused problems across the sector for years.

Like BS 7858, it’s written as recommendations rather than legal duties. Once a buyer, a framework or your certification body asks for it, though, an auditor will treat those recommendations as requirements.

Where BS 10119 came from

Many security businesses will already know the content under another name. The Code of Practice for the Provision of Labour in the Security and Events Sectors has been certified as COP 119, and the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) publishes an identical version as NCP 119. It was written to tackle problems that kept turning up in the labour supply chain, including missing BS 7858 screening, weak SIA licence controls, cash-in-hand pay, and breaches of minimum wage, working time and right to work rules.

That code was reviewed, strengthened and taken through the BSI process to become BS 10119. NSI has said the foundations of the new standard originated in its own code, and the development was chaired by the person who originally conceived NCP 119.

Who BS 10119 applies to

The standard is aimed at both sides of a labour supply arrangement. BSI lists its intended users as providers of security and events staff, event and property managers, and contractors procuring supplementary labour. In practice that means:

• labour providers supplying security officers, door supervisors, stewards or crowd management staff to other companies
• security contractors who buy in labour to cover peaks, events or gaps on their own contracts
• event organisers and venue operators who take staff through a supply chain
• facilities and property managers who procure security labour directly

It’s about the supply of labour from one organisation to another. It is not a standard for running a full guarding contract, which is where BS 7499 and the SIA’s Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) come in.

What BS 10119 expects

BSI’s summary groups the content around understanding stakeholder needs, defining roles and authority, staff screening, training, protective equipment, employment terms, and documentation and records. Building on COP 119, these are the areas where an auditor will spend most of their time.

A properly run company

Expect to show a clear management structure, named people with defined responsibilities and authority, suitable premises and insurance, sound financial management, a complaints process, and written contracts with your customers. The contract should make it obvious who employs, screens, trains, pays and supervises each worker, and who is accountable when something goes wrong.

Screening and licensing

Workers in security roles should be screened to BS 7858. SIA licences need to be checked against the register before deployment, monitored for expiry, suspension or revocation, and matched to the activity the person is actually doing. BS 10119 doesn’t replace individual SIA licensing in any way.

Right to work

Your process should cover the type of check, when it’s done, what evidence is kept, and how you follow up time-limited permission. Use current Home Office guidance, and remember that a right to work check is a legal duty in its own right, with significant civil penalties for getting it wrong.

Pay and employment terms

This is where COP 119 made its name, and it remains central. Workers should be paid through PAYE, at or above the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage, with holiday pay, workplace pension and working time controls in place. Each worker should have written terms and conditions, and their employment status should be clear rather than buried in an informal arrangement.

Training, health and safety and PPE

Staff need the training for the role and site they’re deployed to, a health and safety induction, and the right protective equipment. Records should show who was trained, on what and when.

Records that prove it

An auditor will sample worker files, payroll and deployment records to see that your procedures work in practice. Sample sizes scale with the size of your workforce, so a larger provider should expect more files to be checked.

How BS 10119 fits with the SIA ACS

The two are not interchangeable, and one doesn’t replace the other. The ACS assesses a security contractor’s whole operation against the SIA’s own approval standard. BS 10119 looks at the systems around supplied labour.

They do fit together well. A labour provider doesn’t need ACS approval to supply an approved contractor, but the approved contractor still has to carry out due diligence on that supplier. A BS 10119 (or COP 119) certificate gives the buyer independent evidence that the screening, licensing, pay and right to work checks they would otherwise have to verify themselves are in place. NSI has also updated its guarding approval criteria to cover how its approved companies use labour providers.

Moving from COP 119 to BS 10119

Publication did not automatically convert existing COP 119 or NCP 119 certificates. Each certification body sets its own transition arrangements, and the dates differ. Two published examples show how much they vary:

• NSI opened a 12-month transition from 30 June 2026. Companies transition at their next scheduled audit, and NCP 119 is withdrawn on 30 June 2027.
• Amtivo began assessing new applicants against BS 10119:2026 from 1 September 2026, with existing COP 119 certificates remaining valid until 30 September 2027, subject to audits.

Whoever your certification body is, ask them for their transition timeline in writing. In most cases the transition audit can be combined with your next surveillance or recertification visit, which saves arranging a separate visit.

How to prepare

• Buy a copy of BS 10119:2026 from BSI and read it against your current procedures.
• Carry out a gap analysis, ideally six to nine months before your transition deadline.
• Map your supply chain, so it’s clear who employs, screens, pays and supervises every worker.
• Check a sample of your own worker files for screening, licence, right to work and payroll evidence before an auditor does.
• Update your customer and worker contracts so roles and responsibilities are written down.
• Add BS 10119 to your internal audit programme and management review.

In my experience, labour providers rarely fail on intent. They fail on evidence: a licence that expired without anyone noticing, a screening file with a gap, or a worker who can’t be traced back to a payroll record. If you can produce the paperwork for any worker on any shift, you’re most of the way there.

Frequently asked questions

Is BS 10119 a legal requirement?

No. BS 10119 is a code of practice, not legislation. It becomes commercially important when buyers, principal contractors or frameworks ask for it. Some of what it covers, such as right to work checks, minimum wage and SIA licensing, is a legal duty in its own right.

Is BS 10119 the same as COP 119?

BS 10119 is the British Standard successor to COP 119 and NCP 119. It covers the same ground, but it was reviewed and strengthened during its development, so check your system against the new standard rather than assuming your COP 119 procedures are enough.

Does my COP 119 certificate still count?

For now, yes, as long as you keep up your scheduled audits. Existing certificates run until your certification body withdraws COP 119 or NCP 119, which is 2027 for the schemes published so far. Confirm the exact date with your own certification body.

Do I need BS 10119 if I already have SIA ACS?

Not necessarily, but it depends on what you do. If you supply labour to other companies, BS 10119 is the standard buyers will look for. If you buy in labour, asking your suppliers for BS 10119 certification is one of the easiest ways to evidence your supplier due diligence.

Talk to CAW Consultancy about BS 10119

Whether you’re moving from COP 119 or going for BS 10119 for the first time, we can carry out your gap analysis, write or update your procedures, and get you ready for audit. If you’d rather keep your evidence in one place, CAW Digital can set your system up paperless, and our sister company Screen My Staff handles BS 7858 screening for labour providers and the contractors they supply. You can also build your team’s audit knowledge through the ISO Training Institute.

Call us on 01257 824481 or visit www.cawconsultancy.co.uk to talk it through.