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Checking a guard or a security company in California

This page is for whoever is doing the checking — a client, a property manager, a company vetting a subcontractor. It tells you what a guard and a guard company are supposed to hold in California, and walks you to Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS)’s own records to confirm it.

tessura is not a California agency and issues nothing. Every link below goes to the regulator, and the regulator’s answer is the one that counts.

Getting licensed yourself instead? The California requirements, training hours, and application steps →

Check the guard

California issues a credential to the guard, so you can check the person in front of you.

What they should hold

Every guard working a postSecurity Guard Registration (Guard Card)8 hrs of training · state exam · 32 more hrs within 6 months of being issued · renews every 2 years
If they carry a firearmExposed Firearms Permit14 hrs of training · state exam · renews every 2 years
If they are your own in-house staff, not a contractorProprietary Private Security Officer (PSO) Registrationrenews every 2 years

Armed work: Armed guards need a separate BSIS Exposed Firearms Permit: age 21+, a 14-hour course (8 classroom + 6 range), a firearms assessment, and requalification twice a year.

Ask for the number

Six or seven digits with no letter prefix, e.g. 1441140. There is no "G" prefix on a California guard registration, despite what many hiring guides claim.

Live DCA License Search results for License Type "Security Guard", read independently by two runs: 1441140, 1472236 and 1671608 in one, and 1360269, 6619119 and 763433 in the other. The six-digit example is why this is stated as a range rather than a fixed width.

How to check it

  1. Ask the guard for their Guard Registration Number and full name as printed on the BSIS card, and ask whether they also hold an Exposed Firearm Permit if they will be armed.
  2. Open search.dca.ca.gov and in the 'Boards and Bureaus' dropdown choose 'Security and Investigative Services, Bureau of'.
  3. In the 'License Type' dropdown that then filters, choose 'Security Guard'. For an armed officer repeat the search afterwards with 'Exposed Firearm Permit' — the guard card alone never authorises a firearm.
  4. Enter the Guard Registration Number in 'License Number', or the guard's First Name and Last Name if you do not have the number, complete the 'verify you are human' challenge, and search.
  5. Also search 'Private Patrol Operator' under the same bureau for the security company that employs the guard, so you know both the firm and the individual are licensed.
  6. On the record, confirm the status reads current/clear rather than expired, suspended or revoked, and confirm the expiration date is in the future — BSIS states that working on an expired registration is unlicensed activity.
Open the DCA License Search →

Shows licence status · shows the expiry date · expects you to pass a “verify you are human” check.

If the lookup finds nothing: BSIS: (800) 952-5210 or bsis@dca.ca.gov; mailing address PO Box 989002, West Sacramento CA 95798-9002 (published on the BSIS security guard renewal application). Bureau site: https://www.bsis.ca.gov/

Check the company

California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) licenses the firm itself here. This is the check most people skip, and it is usually the more important of the two.

What the firm must holdPrivate Patrol Operator (PPO)Issued by California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS)

We hold this state’s roster, so you can search it here first: 5,248 companies that California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) listed as currently licensed when we read it on September 14, 2026.

Search California licensed companies →

Our copy is a snapshot. For anything you are about to sign, confirm it at the regulator using the steps below.

How to check it

  1. Ask the company for the exact legal name on its licence and its Private Patrol Operator (PPO) number. A company that cannot produce a number for a licence it claims to hold has told you something.
  2. Open the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) lookup and search for that name.
  3. Search the legal name, not the name on the uniform or the invoice. Brand names, DBAs, and the name on the truck are often not the licensed entity.
  4. Read the status and the expiry date, not just the presence of a record. An expired or suspended licence still returns a result.
  5. If nothing comes up, ask which entity holds the licence and in which state, then check that name. If the answer does not resolve, treat the licence as unconfirmed and call California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) before signing.
Open the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) lookup →

Ask for insurance properly

A licence says the state let them operate. Insurance is what stands between you and a claim, and it is the easier of the two to fake — a certificate is only true on the day it was printed.

California requires it by law

$1,000,000 commercial general liability for any one loss or occurrence (bodily injury including death, or property damage). Must be written on an "occurrence" basis — claims-made cover is not accepted.

A policy on file is a condition precedent to issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, renewal and continued maintenance. The insurer must list BSIS as certificate holder for policy-status notifications and report the insured, licence number, policy number, coverage dates and cancellation date.

If it lapses: BSIS gives written notice and 30 days to produce proof; after that the licence is automatically suspended by operation of law until proof is filed.

So the licence check above is worth repeating. Because a lapse here suspends the licence by operation of law rather than merely breaching a contract, a company that quietly dropped its cover after signing with you should eventually stop reading as currently licensed in the roster above. That is not instant, and a bad status has other causes, so it tells you to ask — not what happened. Re-checking costs you nothing.

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§7583.39–7583.40 — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=7583.39

A certificate of insurance (COI) that names your business as an additional insured, not just the certificate holderCertificate holder means you were mailed a copy. Additional insured means their policy actually answers for you if you are pulled into a claim.
General liability, and workers’ compensation at your state’s statutory limitsIf a guard is hurt on your property and the company carries no workers’ comp, the claim tends to land on you. Ask for commercial auto too if they run patrol vehicles.
The policy number and the effective and expiry dates, on a certificate dated within the last monthAn undated or months-old certificate is the single most common tell. The dates let you ask the insurer about the right policy.
The name, agency, and direct phone number of the broker who issued it — then call themThe broker can confirm the policy is in force today. The certificate PDF cannot, and a forged or stale one looks identical to a real one.
A contract term requiring written notice to you before the policy is cancelled or non-renewedStandard certificates promise notice to the insured, not to you. Putting the duty on the company in the contract is what makes a mid-term cancellation a breach.
A fresh certificate part-way through the term, not only at signingRe-asking at 60 or 90 days costs you an email and defeats the whole get-the-COI-then-drop-it pattern.

tessura does not verify anyone’s insurance and has no access to insurers’ records. This is guidance for doing it yourself, not a statement about any company on this site. It is also not legal advice — for a contract of any size, have your own counsel or broker set the limits.

Where this comes from

California requirements last reviewed August 28, 2026. Rules change — the regulator’s page is authoritative if it disagrees with ours.

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