Close protection vs security guard: what is the difference, and which do you need?
A close protection officer protects a person and moves with them; a security guard protects a place and stays with it. Both are licensed in the UK by the Security Industry Authority, under different licences. A Security Guarding licence covers guarding premises or property against damage, theft, unauthorised access or disorderly behaviour. A Close Protection licence covers guarding people against physical assault or injury, and the SIA’s guidance states that it also lets the holder work as a security guard or a door supervisor. The reverse does not apply: a guarding licence does not cover close protection. A guard works a post, a patrol and a log. A close protection officer works to one person’s diary: the route, the car, the venue checked before arrival. If the concern is an office, a site or a vacant building, a guarding company is the right call. If it is a person, it is close protection. Many households need neither, and a survey of the home comes first.
Two licences, two kinds of work
The SIA licenses five kinds of manned guarding: cash and valuables in transit, close protection, door supervision, public space surveillance (CCTV) and security guarding. Every SIA licence belongs to a person, never to a company. A guard supplied under a contract needs a licence that covers security guarding. Anyone contracted to guard a person against assault or injury needs a Close Protection licence, whatever their job title.
The training sits at different levels. A Security Guarding licence rests on the Level 2 Award for Working as a Security Officer in the Private Security Industry; a Close Protection licence on the Level 3 Certificate for Close Protection Operatives Working in the Private Security Industry. To renew, each also needs the matching Level 2 refresher award.
The SIA’s guidance on which licence you need says a Close Protection licence “also allows you to perform the licensable activity of a door supervisor and a security guard”. On 28 August 2026 the SIA opened a consultation, closing on 23 October 2026, which asks whether this licence integration should end. What the close protection licence requires, and how to read a licence on the register, are covered in their own guides.
What each does, day to day
What is protected. A guard protects premises or property: a building, a site, what is inside it. A close protection officer protects a person, and the family or colleagues with them.
Where the work happens. A guard works one site, from a post or on a patrol route. A close protection officer works wherever the principal goes: the car, the office, a restaurant, the school gate.
What sets the hours. For a guard, the site’s rota, often fixed shifts around the clock. For a close protection officer, the principal’s diary, so cover can be one evening, a travel day or a month.
What the preparation looks like. For a guard, site instructions, the access list, the patrol and the log. For a close protection officer, the route and its alternates, the venue walked before arrival, timings agreed with the driver and the household.
The practical difference shows when the principal leaves the house. A guard stays with the building, so the house is still watched while the family is out. A close protection officer goes with the principal. Where the house itself needs cover while the family is publicly away, that is away-day property watch. What the words mean is set out in bodyguard or close protection officer, and the roles on a larger detail in who is who in a protection detail.
What each costs
Close protection is priced by the officer-day: £300–£1,000 a day in the UK, with most London assignments £400–£600. Two officers are two day rates. Hourly, weekly and monthly figures, and what moves a price inside them, are in the close protection cost guide.
Guarding is quoted by a guarding company for the site: the posts, the hours and the rota that covers them. We do not provide guarding contracts for sites and do not publish guarding rates. Ask two or three guarding companies for written quotes and compare the total for the hours the site needs, not the headline rate. A post covered around the clock is several people on a rota, not one.
Which fits which situation
An office, a site or a vacant building. Offices, construction sites, car parks and vacant buildings are guarding work. We do not provide static guarding; go to a guarding company and ask for officers licensed for security guarding.
A licensed venue or a public event. Door supervisors and stewards, supplied by the venue or by a company that specialises in them. We do not provide door supervision.
A private occasion with guests who draw attention. A wedding, a party or a premiere where the concern is particular people and a guest list: event security, with close protection for named guests inside the event.
A person with a profile, a specific concern or a period of attention. Close protection, sized to the hours that carry the exposure: travel days, evenings, the school run.
A family home under attention. Residential security officers for the weeks that need them, or a residential security team where cover must be continuous.
When you need both, and when you need neither
On a larger property or at a business, the two can sit side by side: guards on the gate or the reception desk all year, supplied by a guarding contractor, and an officer who travels with one person on the days that call for it. The two work best briefed together: the gate knows when the car is due and who is in it, and the officer knows who is on the gate tonight. A week of arrivals should pass without the gate once having to ask who is in the car. That is the standard we work to.
Most households need neither. The exposure is usually ordinary — glazing, locks, a routine anyone could learn, an alarm nobody watches — and none of it needs a person on a post or at your side. A residential security survey walks the property as someone hostile would and ends in a written report with every finding graded. Often the answer is better doors and lighting, a monitored alarm and a few changed habits, with no officer at all. The self-assessment is a sensible place to start, and the FAQ covers when full-time protection is needed.
Common questions
Can a security guard work as a bodyguard?
Not on a Security Guarding licence. Guarding a person against physical assault or injury under a contract is close protection, and it needs a Close Protection licence whatever the person’s title or experience. Someone employed directly by the family or company they protect does not usually need a licence at all, though it is still worth asking for one. On the SIA register, the sector should read Close Protection.
Can a close protection officer do security guarding work?
Yes, at present. A Close Protection licence also covers security guarding and door supervision, so an officer can lawfully stand a guarding post. Whether that continues is the subject of the SIA consultation that closes on 23 October 2026; the SIA expects to publish final specifications in winter 2026, ahead of new qualifications later in 2027.
Do I need a guard or close protection for a party at home?
It depends on what the worry is. If it is the house — uninvited guests, cars, the contents — a guarding company can post someone at the entrance. If it is particular guests, or a guest list that attracts attention, it is event security with close protection for the people concerned. The wedding security guide takes the same question for a wedding.
Written by the founder, First Class Executive Security
30+ years in the security industry, 20+ in close protection
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