Before choosing a physical security partner, ask for evidence of the exact service being proposed, the entity responsible for delivering it, the relevant qualifications, the agreed coverage and the reporting process. A broad promise to protect a site is difficult to evaluate until those responsibilities are written down.
Working through this in production? See how we run a DSE's developing physical-security approach and its availability boundaries.
Use the questions below to prepare a buying brief and an evidence register. They help organize a commercial discussion; they do not determine legal eligibility or prescribe security staffing, equipment or physical response.
Start with the site and the contract
Hypothetical buyer example: an operations lead is comparing two proposals for an office shared with other tenants. One proposal describes visitor-process support; the other describes a wider service but leaves the landlord’s responsibilities unstated. Comparing the headlines hides the difference in scope.
Ask both providers to identify the sites, hours, activities, exclusions and dependencies in their proposals. Ask who controls the relevant building systems and which decisions require landlord approval. Write down what the buyer must provide before delivery can begin. An unanswered dependency belongs in the open-questions list, not inside an assumption about coverage.
The same discipline applies to information-system providers. Our SaaS vendor security review checklist explains how to connect evidence to a buying decision. Physical-service evaluation needs its own qualified review; a software assurance report cannot establish physical-service qualifications.
Ask who contracts, who delivers and who decides
Identify the legal entity issuing the proposal, the contracting party and any subcontracted delivery entity. Ask which party supervises delivery, receives concerns and supplies reports. If someone describes a referral relationship, ask who holds the customer contract. If someone describes managed delivery, ask which responsibilities remain with the buyer and which are contractually assigned elsewhere.
Ask for the escalation route and its actual availability. Distinguish an agreed contact process from a response-time commitment. Ask what happens when the usual contact is unavailable and how subcontractor or personnel changes are disclosed. Do not infer continuous coverage from a phone number or sales description.
For the cyber side of the relationship, vCISO, MSP and MDR responsibility boundaries provide a useful starting comparison. Record physical responsibilities separately before deciding how the two providers will coordinate.
Verify qualifications against the specific proposal
For Georgia engagements, the Georgia State Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies provides company and employee licensing resources, rules and a license-search route. Its current FAQ distinguishes company and employee requirements and explains that employee licenses or registrations are not transferable between employers.
Ask the provider for the exact entity, applicable credential identifiers and evidence matching the proposed role. Have a qualified reviewer determine which requirements apply to the engagement, verify current status through the Board’s linked search and record the check date. A screenshot, an individual’s prior employment or a general claim of experience should not substitute for this review.
This article makes no determination about a provider’s eligibility, any exemption, armed-service authorization or an appropriate contracting model. Resolve applicability with the Board and qualified counsel or licensing expertise before relying on it.
Planning artifact: the partner evidence register
Use one row per unanswered requirement. The buyer should set the acceptance criteria with the appropriate reviewers rather than treating this sample as a universal approval standard.
| Buyer question | Evidence to request | Review owner |
|---|---|---|
| What is included and excluded? | Site-specific scope and dependencies | Operations and facilities |
| Which entity delivers? | Contracting and subcontracting roles | Procurement and counsel |
| Which qualifications apply? | Identifiers and current official verification | Qualified licensing reviewer |
| What coverage is committed? | Written hours, service area and escalation terms | Operations |
| What insurance supports the scope? | Current evidence and relevant scope review | Insurance adviser |
| What reports will we receive? | Redacted sample, recipients and cadence | Contract owner |
Beside each row, record its status, evidence location, unresolved question and decision date. An unverified answer stays unverified. Keep sensitive credential and personnel documents in approved storage; the register can reference them without copying them into a widely shared proposal.
Ask how reports distinguish observations from conclusions, who can receive personal information and how information sharing follows the agreed privacy and retention rules. Confirm who coordinates with IT when an event affects both site access and business systems. Our physical and cyber handoff guide supplies a responsibility map for that conversation.
Scope, review and sources
This educational checklist was synthesized with AI assistance from the linked sources and the buyer questions above. It has not received specialist physical-safety or provider-specific legal review. It is not a recommendation of a provider, a credential attestation or a physical-response procedure.
DSE is developing a partner-enabled physical-security approach. Physical-security delivery is not currently available through DSE’s website, and this article does not establish a secured partner or a contracting commitment.
Primary sources checked October 11, 2026: the Georgia Board page and its FAQ. Neither displays a publication or revision date. Their current licensing resources inform the verification questions; our sample evidence register is an original planning aid, not a statement of Georgia legal requirements.