The right security company depends on the assignment. A condominium desk, an overnight warehouse post and an event entrance require different staffing and supervision. Use the ten checks below to compare providers against the same written brief. Record the evidence supplied, the duties covered and any unanswered questions before signing.
1. Verify the agency license (Class B) on the state portal
Every private security agency in Florida must hold a Class B license issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Division of Licensing, under Chapter 493 of the Florida Statutes. A Class B license covers one location; branch offices need a Class BB. Private investigation work needs a separate Class A agency license, so if you also need investigations, verify both.
Checking takes two minutes and you should do it before the first meeting:
- Ask the company for its Class B license number. A licensed agency gives it immediately; ours is B3100530 and it is in the footer of this site.
- Open the FDACS page Search for a Licensee and choose the agency, school or branch search.
- Enter the license number or the exact company name. The license prefix is the letter B followed by the digits.
- Confirm three things: the status is active, the licensed name matches the name on the proposal, and the address is the office you are dealing with. A license in one company’s name and a contract from another is a reason to stop.
Our guide to Florida security license classes explains what each letter means.
2. Verify officer licenses (Class D and Class G)
Every security officer in Florida must hold a Class D license, which requires 40 hours of training at a licensed school and a state exam. Every armed officer must also hold a Class G statewide firearm license, which requires 28 hours of range and classroom training and annual requalification. Individual licenses can be checked on the same FDACS portal by name. Ask how the company verifies licenses before an assignment, whether you can see the license of the officer posted at your site, and how it tracks Class G requalification dates. “They are all licensed” is not an answer; a copy of the license is.
3. Ask for a certificate of insurance before the first shift
Florida will not issue a Class B license unless the agency files proof of commercial general liability coverage with a combined single limit of at least 300,000 and keeps that coverage for the life of the license (section 493.6110, Florida Statutes). That is the legal floor, not the standard a serious client should accept: condominium associations, hotels, event venues and general contractors usually require higher limits, and so should you. Ask for a certificate of insurance naming your property or company as certificate holder, showing general liability and workers’ compensation, and ask who the carrier is. A company that hesitates is telling you something.
4. Ask who will actually be on your site
Ask whether the officers are employed by the agency or supplied by another company. Confirm who hires, briefs, supervises and replaces them. Request an explanation of license checks and site training. For a long-term post, ask how a regular roster and relief coverage will be maintained. If another agency is involved, identify it and verify its credentials too.
5. Ask how supervision works
The difference between a good and a bad security company is what happens when nobody is watching the officer. Ask: How often does a field supervisor visit the post, and at what hours? How do you know an officer is at the post and awake, and can I see the check-in records? Who do I call at 3 a.m. and how fast do they answer? A serious company has field supervisors, electronic check-ins or guard-tour scans, and a 24/7 dispatch line that a real person picks up. Ask to call it once before you sign.
6. Ask what happens when an officer does not show up
No-shows happen in every industry. What matters is the plan: how quickly is a replacement dispatched, who covers the gap in the meantime, how are you notified, and are you credited for uncovered hours? A company that staffs every post from a bench of trained relief officers answers this in one sentence. Get the answer in writing in the service agreement.
7. Ask about post orders and reporting
Every post should have written post orders: what the officer does, when, where, and who to call for each type of event. You should receive daily activity reports and immediate incident reports, with time stamps and photos where relevant, and you should be able to say how you want them delivered. Ask for a sample post order and a sample report from a comparable site, with the client’s details removed. If a company cannot show you either, it probably does not produce them.
8. Understand the full price
Compare fully loaded hourly rates, not headline numbers: overtime and holiday multipliers, short-notice surcharges, supervisor and vehicle fees, cancellation terms, minimum shift lengths and whether the quoted rate is for a Class D or a Class G officer. Our guide to security guard costs in Miami explains what drives the rate. Be suspicious of a quote far below everyone else’s: in a licensed, insured business with trained W-2 officers, a very low rate means something on this list is missing.
9. Read the contract
Read the term, renewal, cancellation and notice clauses before signing. Confirm the promised staffing, reporting and procedure for uncovered hours. Check the contracting entity against the license and insurance documents. Agree on access to reports and incident records, including what happens when the contract ends. Ask counsel to review terms you do not understand.
10. Check fit, not just credentials
A company that mostly guards warehouses may not be the right fit for a luxury condo lobby, and a nightclub door team is not a substitute for executive protection. Ask for references from clients like you: an HOA for an HOA post, a planner for event security, a marina for yacht work. Ask whether officers speak the languages your residents, guests or staff speak; in Miami that often means English, Spanish and, in some buildings, Russian or Portuguese. Ask to see how the company dresses and equips officers for a site like yours, because the officer in the lobby is part of your brand.
Red flags: walk away if you see these
- No license number offered, or a number that does not come up as active on the FDACS portal.
- The licensed name, the name on the proposal and the name on the insurance certificate do not match.
- A vague or missing insurance certificate, or one that names nobody as certificate holder.
- Cash-only payments or a rate far below the market.
- Officers subcontracted from companies you have never heard of.
- No written post orders, no sample reports, no supervisor you can call.
- Pressure to sign a long contract today, without a trial period.
Download the checklist
We put the ten checks and the red flags on one page you can print and take to a meeting with any security company: Florida Security Company Vetting Checklist (PDF). Journalists and property management associations are welcome to share it with attribution to FSO Guard.
How FSO Guard measures up
We wrote this checklist because we are happy to be measured by it. FSO Guard has operated since 2019 under Florida security agency license B3100530, employs its own Class D and Class G officers, carries general liability and workers’ compensation coverage and provides a certificate of insurance before the first shift, runs field supervision and a 24/7 dispatch line, writes post orders for every site and delivers daily and incident reports. Our officers work in English, Spanish and Russian across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. If you would like us to walk through the ten points for your building, venue or business, call 888.881.8099, use the SMS or send a request. For the full list of what we do, see security services; for a structured first look at your risks, see security consulting and risk assessment.
