CPV 79-7 Investigation and security services

About CPV 79-7

CPV 79-7 is the Common Procurement Vocabulary group covering investigation and security services. It sits inside the business services division and covers security delivered as a service, distinct from the equipment used to provide it, which sits under CPV 35.

The group covers manned guarding and static security, mobile patrols and keyholding, alarm and CCTV monitoring, event and crowd security, access control staffing, cash in transit, corporate investigation, and security consultancy and risk assessment.

It falls within the light touch regime, which means the financial threshold before full procurement obligations apply is considerably higher than for general services. That gives buyers greater freedom to design their own process, and in practice produces more variety in procedure than a supplier will encounter in most markets.

Active CPV 79-7 tenders

Live activity is steady and driven by contract expiry rather than by new demand, since almost every public building that needs security already has it. Guarding contracts typically run three to five years, so the market recycles continuously.

Public space CCTV monitoring is a distinct stream, procured by councils either as a staffed control room service or as a monitoring contract attached to an existing control room. Event security is seasonal and often procured through frameworks that councils and venues call off from as events arise.

Active sub-category	Typical procurement route	Primary buyer pattern
Manned guarding, static sites	Light touch open procedure	Council, NHS body, university
Mobile patrol and keyholding	Framework or term contract	Estate owner with dispersed sites
CCTV and alarm monitoring	Bespoke competition	Council or large estate
Event and crowd security	Framework call-off	Council, venue, cultural body
Investigation and consultancy	Below-threshold or framework	Department, council, regulator

Top buyers procuring CPV 79-7

The buyer base is broad but weighted towards organisations with public-facing estates. In our own corpus the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office appears most frequently under this group, which reflects overseas post security, alongside South Ayrshire Council, the British Council, Newry Mourne and Down District Council, and the Scottish Government.

Domestically, the significant buyers are councils securing civic buildings, depots, and public spaces; NHS trusts, where security work carries substantial conflict resolution and mental health awareness content; universities, which secure large campuses with resident populations; and central government departments securing their estates. Housing providers buy concierge and estate security in higher-density stock.

Typical contract values under CPV 79-7

The median notice sits above a million pounds, which reflects the labour-intensive nature of guarding: a single manned post covered around the clock consumes several full-time equivalents and costs a substantial sum annually before any other site is added.

That labour intensity is the defining commercial feature. Pay rates dominate cost, and because the sector has historically competed on price with low margins, buyers have become increasingly concerned about what a low bid implies for wages, training, and turnover. Real living wage commitments now feature routinely in specifications, and some buyers set pay floors directly, which compresses the scope for price competition and shifts the contest towards service quality and staff retention.

Compliance and certifications for CPV 79-7 bidders

Security Industry Authority licensing is mandatory for licensable activities, covering both individual operatives and, where the supplier holds it, approved contractor status. Buyers verify licences and increasingly require approved contractor scheme membership as a condition of bidding rather than as a scored advantage.

Beyond licensing, buyers expect vetting to the relevant British Standard for security screening of personnel, and for many public sites this goes further, with enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks where staff work near children or vulnerable adults. Healthcare settings require conflict resolution and, increasingly, mental health awareness training as specified competencies. Control room operations attract requirements around the relevant standards for monitoring centres and, for public space surveillance, compliance with the surveillance camera code and data protection obligations. Suppliers should expect TUPE to apply on almost every recompetition, and the quality of TUPE handling and the resulting effect on continuity of service is frequently scored.

Frequently asked questions

Does the light touch regime make this market easier to enter?

It makes the process more variable rather than easier. Buyers have greater freedom in how they run competitions above the higher threshold, which means procedures differ noticeably between organisations, and a supplier cannot assume the process will resemble the last one. It also means more below-threshold direct awards, which favours suppliers with existing relationships. New entrants should read each set of instructions carefully and should not assume standard timescales or standard documentation.

Why do buyers care so much about pay rates in security contracts?

Because they have learned that the lowest price produces the highest turnover, and turnover produces poor service. A guarding contract awarded at a rate that leaves no margin above minimum wage results in staff churn, gaps in cover, and officers unfamiliar with the site, which are precisely the failures buyers experience. Many public buyers now specify a pay floor, require evidence of the rates in the price build-up, and monitor them during the contract. Suppliers bidding below a sustainable rate are increasingly excluded rather than rewarded.

How different is NHS security work from general guarding?

Substantially, and suppliers underestimate it. Hospital security involves frequent contact with distressed, intoxicated, or acutely unwell people, and the required competence is closer to de-escalation and conflict resolution than to conventional guarding. Buyers specify training accordingly, expect officers to work alongside clinical staff under agreed protocols, and evaluate the supplier's approach to restraint and to incident reporting. A supplier whose experience is retail or commercial guarding will not compete well without evidencing this specific capability.

How much does TUPE affect bidding?

A great deal, because on a recompetition the incoming supplier inherits the existing workforce with their existing terms. That constrains the cost base and limits how much a challenger can undercut an incumbent, since most of the cost transfers. It also creates risk if the transferring information is incomplete or inaccurate, which is common. Bidders should scrutinise the employee liability information carefully, price the transferring terms rather than their own standard rates, and address the transition explicitly in the submission, since buyers score how well the supplier will manage the handover for staff.