In brief
- BS 10800:2026 (Provision of security services) and BS 7499:2026 (Provision of static guarding security services) replace the 2020 editions, which BSI withdrew on 24 August 2026.
- Both revisions were informed by the review of recommendations from the Manchester Arena Inquiry, alongside wider changes in the sector.
- The areas strengthened are risk and threat assessment, preparedness, counter-terrorism awareness, business continuity and organisational learning.
- BS 7499:2026 is realigned to the new BS 10800, with updated recommendations for assignment instructions and stronger site record requirements.
- For employers, the practical effect is a move from reacting to incidents to being able to show, on paper, that you were prepared before they arose.
Why the standards were revised
The 2020 editions were written before the Manchester Arena Inquiry reported and before the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, known as Martyn's Law, reached the statute book. The Inquiry's findings on the security operation at the Arena went to the heart of what a guarding contract is for: whether risk was assessed, whether staff were trained and briefed to notice and act, whether the providers on site worked as one team, and whether anyone learned from what went wrong.
BSI says the intention was not simply to update existing content. The revisions were designed to strengthen the areas that have become central to effective security management, so that a provider can align strategic decisions with what happens on the ground.
How the two standards fit together
BS 10800 sits at the top of the security services hierarchy. It sets the overarching recommendations for any organisation providing security industry services: governance, management, staffing and operation. BS 7499 applies those principles specifically to static guarding, covering the management, staffing and operation of a guarding service. The service-specific standards (door supervision, keyholding, mobile patrols, CCTV control rooms and others) reference BS 10800 rather than repeating it, and NSI has confirmed the remaining standards will be aligned to it over the coming years.
In practice this means a guarding company works to both documents at once: BS 10800 for the business, BS 7499 for the post.
What has changed in BS 10800:2026
BSI describes the 2026 edition as helping organisations:
- Identify and assess risks more effectively. Risk and threat assessment is the headline enhancement. The expectation is a documented assessment that considers the threat picture, not only the hazards on site, and that drives how a service is designed and resourced.
- Strengthen governance and accountability. Clear ownership of security decisions at management level, with the records to show who decided what and why.
- Improve coordination between teams and providers. Communication within the organisation and with the other providers and the client on a site, including how everyone will work together in an emergency.
- Enhance training and operational competence. Competent personnel management: recruitment, screening, induction, training records and continuing competence, with counter-terrorism awareness as a named expectation.
- Learn from incidents and drive continual improvement. Business continuity planning and organisational learning, so that incidents, near misses and exercises feed back into procedures and training.
What has changed in BS 7499:2026
- Alignment with BS 10800:2026. The general management clauses now sit in BS 10800. BS 7499 concentrates on the guarding operation itself.
- Updated assignment instruction recommendations. Assignment instructions are expected to reflect the site risk and threat assessment and to tell the officer what to do, not only what to watch.
- Enhanced site record requirements. Stronger expectations for what is recorded at the post, so that a provider can evidence afterwards that the service ran as agreed.
- Counter-terrorism awareness and preparedness. The Inquiry's lessons appear in the guidance on briefing officers, on noticing and reporting suspicious activity, and on how a guarding team fits into the wider emergency response on a site.
BSI's published revision plan for BS 7499 also set out to make risk assessment a thread through the whole document, to have site surveys take account of other service providers and how they interact (including in an emergency), to address active days against dark days at a venue, to bring proactive intelligence and human factors into operational planning, and to count the people deployed on a contract rather than the people employed. We will confirm the final wording of these points against the published text and update this briefing.
What it means for employers and the sector
Approved Contractor Scheme. The SIA's Approved Contractor Scheme is assessed against BS 10800 and the relevant service standards. Expect assessments to move to the 2026 editions. Ask your assessing body for its transition date.
Certification. NSI and SSAIB certify guarding companies against BS 10800 and BS 7499. Certificates against the 2020 editions will need to migrate. The BSIA's Security Officer Services criteria already require members to conform to the latest edition.
Contracts and tenders. Buyers who specify "BS 7499 compliant" will, from now on, mean the 2026 edition. Tender scoring built around governance, continuity and incident learning will reward the companies that can show it.
Martyn's Law. The Act's duties are expected to commence in 2027. Clients in the standard and enhanced tiers will look to their guarding provider for the preparedness the new standards describe. Working to the 2026 editions now is the simplest way to be ready.
A practical checklist
- Review and re-issue your site risk and threat assessments, and show how each one drives staffing, patrols and equipment.
- Name the manager accountable for each contract and record how security decisions are made and reviewed.
- Rewrite assignment instructions so they follow from the risk assessment and cover coordination with the client and other providers, including emergencies.
- Check what your officers record at the post, and whether those records would prove the service ran as agreed.
- Refresh training and competence records. Include counter-terrorism awareness for every deployed officer and keep the evidence.
- Write or update the business continuity plan for each contract: cover, communications, escalation and recovery.
- Put an incident and near-miss review loop in place, with actions tracked to completion.
- Speak to your certification body about the timetable for moving to the 2026 editions.
What we have not yet verified
Train your directors and managers
Our BS 10800 and BS 7499 courses explain how the two standards work in practice, and the counter-terrorism awareness, business continuity and incident reporting courses already map to the areas the new editions strengthen. Our new course, BS 10800:2026 and BS 7499:2026: Awareness for Directors and Managers, covers what changed from 2020, module by module, with the takeaways for each role and a 30 day action plan. Company members can assign courses from the dashboard and evidence completion in the training matrix.