Should your own staff be your keyholders?

When companies have their own in-house keyholders, it’s usually the same couple of people in line to take the call-out on a Sunday evening, because they live nearby, because they’re a manager, or just because that’s how the rota works. This may work fine until someone is sick or on holiday, or until a lack of a real policy is raised at a health and safety meeting.  

When done right, it may make sense for your staff to be your keyholders. On the other hand, a professional service might be wiser, depending on your circumstances. The answer depends on attendance time, cover, legal duty, and cost. This guide works through each of these to help you make the right call for your organisation. 

Nominated staff or a professional service?

There are two arrangements, and they work quite differently.

A nominated staff keyholder is an employee - often a manager or supervisor - who’s asked to hold keys and respond to alarms outside their normal duties. Generally, they don’t have a separate contract for this responsibility. 

A professional keyholding service, on the other hand, is where a contracted third-party security provider holds the keys and attends alarm activations, so the call-out no longer rests on your own staff. 

Side by side: how to make the decision

What the police require of a keyholder

If your alarm is registered for a police response, the keyholder requirements are set out by the National Police Chiefs' Council in Police Requirements for Security Systems, section 2.8. They dictate a minimum of two keyholders who are contactable by phone, able to attend promptly, who have adequate transport to get to the premises at all hours, and who have access to all relevant parts of the building. And if a keyholder is not available for any reason, there must be a replacement. In practice, that means someone reliable has to be reachable and ready to go at any hour, including nights, weekends and holidays.

Repeatedly failing to attend when the police request it can put that police response at risk (NPCC, section 2.8). A keysafe won't meet the requirement either. The NPCC is explicit that it isn't an acceptable alternative to a named keyholder.

Please note, while this section explains what the requirement is and who it applies to, it is not a verdict on your own arrangement. Check your setup with your own provider or adviser.

False alarms could cost you a police response too

There’s another, separate risk, this time around misbehaving alarm systems themselves. Under the same NPCC rules, an intruder alarm system that produces two false calls in a rolling 12-month period earns a written warning, and police response is withdrawn after a third (sections 3.2.2 and 3.2.3). Hold-up alarms are stricter still: a warning after the first false call and withdrawal after the second (sections 3.4.2 and 3.4.3).

Getting this response reinstated requires an organisation to demonstrate that the cause of the false alarm has been fixed and there must be 90 days clear of further false alarms. And if the reinstatement process hasn't started within six months, the unique reference number (URN) that entitles the system to a police response is deleted altogether (section 3.6.1).

This means that even with reliable keyholders, a faulty alarm system with a poor record can lose a police response entirely. 

Your duty of care when someone responds alone

Whether an employee or a contracted officer attends a call-out, your health and safety obligations don’t stop just because this is out of hours. As the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states, ‘As an employer, you must manage any health and safety risks before people can work alone.’ And this applies to keyholders going to your premises late on a Friday or over a bank holiday weekend as much as it applies to any lone worker.

The question of pay is often overlooked too when organisations have their own keyholders. Here’s how it breaks down according to gov.uk's guidance on minimum wage hours:

• Time spent on standby or on-call at or near the workplace counts toward minimum wage hours
• Time on call at home generally does not 
• There's a separate exception where suitable sleeping facilities are provided 

Companies with informal processes often get this wrong and consequently face a genuine compliance gap. 

Insurance matters here too. Some policies have specific requirements about how keyholding is arranged, so read the wording before you assume you're covered.

To be sure of your obligations you should discuss your situation with your own health and safety lead, adviser, or insurer. 

Learn more about Securitas' lone worker monitoring service.

What a staff keyholder actually costs

The real cost of a staff keyholder is made up of more parts than most budgets show.

For example, a manager called out once a week at an unsocial-hours premium, plus their mileage at the HMRC-approved rate of 55p a mile for a 10-mile round trip, plus the time cost of organising cover when they’re ill or on holiday equals a considerable, recurring cost that probably doesn’t appear on any budget line as it’s just absorbed into someone’s daily role. 

You can rework this with your own numbers: your unsocial-hours rate, your actual call-out frequency, the typical distance travelled, and what it costs when the usual person isn't available. 

That gives you a number you can put next to a contracted quote.

When your own staff are the right choice

Plenty of businesses are fine as they are. Yours probably is if:

• It's a single site
• The premises are low-value or low-risk
• There's no police-response alarm requiring NPCC compliance
• The nominated staff genuinely live close by
• There's a real rota with real cover
• Lone working has been properly risk-assessed and documented

Questions to ask a keyholding provider

If you think a professional service might be suitable for your organisation, there are some key questions to ask to make sure they’re the right people to trust:

• Are your officers Security Industry Authority (SIA) licensed?
• What third-party certification do you hold, and to which standard?
• What screening standard are your officers vetted to?
• How do you prioritise call-outs, and what attendance can you realistically offer for our sites?
• How is the Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) arrangement structured?
• What audit trail exists for key access?

Two standards come up often enough to know before you meet providers. These include BS 7984-1:2016, which covers general recommendations for keyholding and response services, and BS 7984-3:2020, which covers the provision of mobile security services specifically. 

A provider should be able to confidently discuss their relevant accreditation and experience with you. We’ve written a piece on how to choose a security provider that you may find useful.

Making the decision

Deciding whether to have nominated staff keyholders or a professional keyholding service really comes down to four things:

1. Attendance
2. Cover
3. Duty
4. Cost

Work through those four honestly for your own premises and the answer usually picks itself.

If you would like to discuss a professional service, book a keyholding site survey with Securitas and get your cover arrangements and access requirements assessed against your sites.

Please note, this is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is a keyholding service?

It’s where a contracted third-party security provider holds the keys and attends alarm activations on your behalf. This is an alternative to an employee informally holding this responsibility.

Can anyone be a keyholder?

Anyone can hold a set of keys, but there are strict NPCC conditions for alarms requiring a police response: there must be at least two keyholders, each contactable at all hours and able to attend promptly, with adequate transport and access, and genuine cover when someone is unavailable.

Does a keyholder get paid more?

Not necessarily. Whether there’s additional on-call or out-of-hours pay depends on the arrangement. Time on standby near the workplace generally counts toward minimum wage hours, while time on call from home often doesn't. 

Can a keysafe replace a keyholder?

No, not for a police-response alarm system. The NPCC clearly states that a keysafe is not an acceptable substitute for a named, contactable keyholder.

What happens to police response if we get too many false alarms?

For an intruder alarm, two false calls in a rolling 12-month period trigger a written warning, and police response is withdrawn after a third. Hold-up alarms are stricter: a warning after the first, withdrawal after the second. Reinstatement means fixing the cause and running 90 days clear of false calls.