How to Hire a Security Guard in New Zealand: Licences, the PSPLA Register, and Booking Direct

Hiring security in New Zealand used to mean calling a company, taking whoever they sent, and paying a margin for the privilege. Here's how to do it properly.

Check the licence. Every legitimate security guard holds a Certificate of Approval (COA), and every legitimate security business holds a company licence — both issued by the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority (PSPLA), under the Ministry of Justice, and both checkable on the public PSPLA register. Guard Select's security licence is 26-141664. Anyone who can't show you theirs shouldn't be on your site.

Know who's actually turning up. With a traditional security company, you book a service and get whoever's rostered. On Guard Select you see the individual guard before you book — profile, COA classes, training record, and a reputation they own and stand behind personally.

Match the licence class to the job. Property guard for sites and premises, crowd controller for events and venues, personal guard for individual protection. Different classes, different skills. A marketplace lets you choose for the work, not take what's available.

Pay the guard, not the layers. When you book direct, your money goes to the licensed professional standing on your site — guards on Guard Select keep 97%. That's why experienced, motivated guards are moving here, and why the standard of who you can book keeps rising.

Be the change. Join the movement.

Yours faithfully,
Tarquyn Read
Founder, Guard Select