Security vetting for public contracts: SC, DV and BS 7858

Which contracts ask for what

The rest of this guide takes each in turn. The short version: do BPSS (and BS 7858, if your market asks for it) now, because it is in your control; plan for CTC, SC or DV in your mobilisation timetable, because it is not.

BPSS: the baseline you can do now

The Baseline Personnel Security Standard is four pre-employment checks (identity, right to work, three years' employment history and unspent criminal record), carried out by the employing organisation or a screening firm it uses. It is not a national security vetting clearance, but identity and right to work must be checked before any application for SC or DV starts. What the checks involve, the form, how long it takes and what it costs are in our guide to BPSS clearance.

On defence work the MOD asks for the same core checks on every supplier employee with access to OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE material: identity, right to work and employment record, with criminal record checks where the law allows (Industry Security Notice 2026/04, paragraph 17). On other contracts, the tender's security requirements say whether the buyer screens your staff or you do it and keep the records.

BS 7858: screening for security work

BS 7858:2019, published by BSI, is the British Standard code of practice for screening individuals working in a secure environment. BSI describes it as written for the security sector, including firms in the Security Industry Authority's Approved Contractor Scheme, and for other organisations where an insider could put people, data or assets at risk, such as facilities management and local government. It goes further than BPSS: buy a copy from BSI if you need the detail, as the screening period and checks are set in the standard itself.

It is not a law in itself. The SIA licenses individuals, not companies, and its Approved Contractor Scheme is voluntary, but a security company in the scheme is required to work to BS 7858 or an appropriate industry equivalent (SIA freedom of information answer). That is why buyers of security services so often ask for it. Two rules from the SIA's guidance on outsourced screening matter if you pay someone to do it:

• “Outsourcing your screening does not outsource your responsibility”: you still have to make sure it meets BS 7858, and some parts of the standard cannot be outsourced.
• Check that the business doing your screening has BS 7858 certification, or that its staff hold BS 7858 training.

Open guarding, patrol and CCTV contracts are on our security tenders page.

DBS checks on education, health and care contracts

Contracts that put your staff in schools, hospitals or care settings may ask for a standard or enhanced DBS check. These are only for eligible roles, for example in healthcare or childcare. Under GOV.UK's guide for employers, if you do fewer than 100 checks a year you must use an “umbrella body” to request them, and enhanced and standard checks usually take around 8 weeks. From 5 October 2026 the DBS fee is £20 for a basic or standard check and £41 for an enhanced check, and the organisation processing it may add its own administration fee. Checks for volunteers are free.

National security vetting: the levels

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV), part of the Cabinet Office, is the single government provider of national security vetting (UKSV on GOV.UK). The levels below are taken from its clearance levels guidance. Each level builds on the one before it, and each starts with BPSS.

Who applies for SC and DV: not you

A person cannot apply for national security vetting themselves, and a company cannot simply ask UKSV to vet its staff: every application comes from a registered sponsor. UKSV's guidance for applicants says you start with a sponsor, and for contractors and consultants the organisation which owns the requirement for clearance acts as the sponsor. The clearance belongs to the sponsor, not the person. Sponsors must hold a registered account, approved by a Departmental Security Authority or, at a firm with Facility Security Clearance, by its Site Security Controller (guidance for sponsors).

UKSV's guidance for contractors and hiring managers sets out what matters most to a small supplier:

• You do not need to hold national security clearance to bid for UK government work.
• Contracting procedures make sure there is no competitive advantage in already holding clearances.
• Requests for clearances must be raised during the contractual process, so the buyer, or the prime contractor if you are a subcontractor, sponsors your staff once the work needs it.
• Individuals should not be expected to hold an existing clearance to apply for posts that need vetting, except short-term posts that must be filled urgently, and advertising only for people already cleared is against government policy.
• No central rule stops you employing someone while their clearance is pending: it is a risk decision for the area concerned.

Facility Security Clearance (formerly List X)

Clearing people is separate from clearing premises. The MOD's Industry Security Assurance Centre explains that Facility Security Clearance (FSC), formerly known as List X, is for suppliers formally assessed as fit to hold SECRET (foreign CONFIDENTIAL) material or above on their own premises. In its words, “FSC is not available on request”: it must be sponsored by a contracting authority, such as an MOD project team, another government department, or a prime contractor that already holds FSC.

The MOD's FSC policy and guidance (version 1.4, March 2024) adds three points for a small supplier:

• You do not have to hold FSC to bid, and holding it gives no preference in the tender (paragraph 7.2).
• Where you would only need to hold classified material once the contract starts, you can be invited to tender on the basis that the award depends on FSC being granted (paragraph 11.5).
• The MOD makes no charge for FSC, but any changes to your site, systems or administration to meet the standard are at your own cost (paragraph 7.1).

On defence work the contracting authority sets out what is classified in a Security Aspects Letter, and a supplier that subcontracts classified work issues its own letter to its subcontractor (ISN 2026/04). If your staff will only work on the buyer's premises and systems, you will often not need FSC at all.

How long it takes

The best public benchmark for vetting is the National Audit Office's January 2023 investigation. The report found UKSV last met its CTC and SC target in July 2021 and fell to 15% of clearances within 25 days in September 2022, and that DV fell to 7% within 95 days in April 2022. We found no more recent official performance figures. Plan for SC to take weeks and DV months, and say so in your mobilisation plan.

What it costs

• BPSS: about £20 a person done in house, or a screening provider's fee; providers' published prices are in our guide to BPSS clearance.
• BS 7858: no official price. Screening providers set their own, and some publish them (see the directory below).
• DBS: £20 for a standard check and £41 for an enhanced check from 5 October 2026, plus any administration fee.
• CTC, SC and DV: we found no official price a supplier pays. The NAO says UKSV's customers fund the service in proportion to their use of it. Who bears any vetting costs on a contract is a matter for the contract, so if the tender does not say, ask in a clarification question before you price.
• Facility Security Clearance: no charge from the MOD, but you pay for any changes to your site.

The cost a small supplier most often forgets is time: people who cannot start on the contract until they are cleared. Our pricing guide covers how to allow for it.

What you can and cannot do yourself

How tenders ask, and how to answer

Requirements often appear in the specification or as a pass or fail question, worded something like:

• "All supplier personnel must hold BPSS before starting work."
• "All security officers must be screened in accordance with BS 7858."
• "Key personnel must hold SC clearance, or be able and willing to obtain it."
• "Confirm that named staff are eligible for SC and describe how you will manage the vetting process."

"Able and willing to obtain" is the phrase that matters. It means the buyer will sponsor clearance once you are appointed. If a tender insists on staff who are already cleared, and you think that shuts out capable suppliers, it is reasonable to ask the buyer whether eligibility will do: government policy says individuals should not be expected to hold an existing clearance to apply for posts that need it.

A good answer covers five things:

• what is already done (BPSS or BS 7858 completed, with records kept);
• who owns security in your firm;
• what is still to happen and who starts it (the buyer's sponsor request);
• how long you have allowed for it in mobilisation; and
• what staff do in the meantime.

The answer works because each claim can be checked: what is done, who owns it, what is still to happen and what happens in the meantime. For more on structuring answers, see writing a tender response.

If your staff are not yet cleared

• Do BPSS now for anyone you might name in a bid. It is in your control and it is the base for every other level.
• Check eligibility honestly. Long periods abroad, gaps in employment history or financial problems do not automatically rule someone out, but they slow things down. Know before you name someone as key personnel.
• Name a security lead who will handle sponsor requests and keep records.
• Do not let someone leave mid-process. UKSV advises applicants not to leave their current job or contract until the sponsor confirms clearance is granted. When someone moves employer, the new organisation checks their vetting status before relying on it.
• Weigh it in your bid or no-bid decision. If the contract starts in two weeks and needs DV from day one, a new supplier is unlikely to make it. Our bid or no-bid guide sets out how to decide.

When paying someone helps

Screening one or two people to BPSS is straightforward to do yourself. A screening provider earns its fee when you need to screen many people quickly, when the work needs BS 7858 and you are not set up to do it to the standard, or when candidates have lived abroad. A security consultancy can help when a defence contract brings a Security Aspects Letter or Facility Security Clearance and you have never handled classified material. Before you pay, ask:

• Is the price per person fixed, and does it include the DBS fee and VAT?
• For BS 7858, is your screening certified to the standard, and which parts stay with me?
• Will I get the records, such as the BPSS Verification Record, to keep and show the buyer?

And walk away from anyone who says they can get you SC or DV clearance: they cannot.

Vetting sits alongside the other standing requirements in our before you bid checklist. You can find defence, policing and justice opportunities in the tender finder, and terms you meet in tender documents are explained in the tender glossary.

Sources

• UK Government Baseline Personnel Security Standard, version 7.0 (Cabinet Office, June 2024)
• National security vetting: clearance levels (UKSV, updated 23 September 2024)
• United Kingdom Security Vetting: applicant (UKSV, updated 26 July 2024)
• United Kingdom Security Vetting: sponsor (UKSV, updated 11 November 2024)
• UKSV: referees, hiring managers, contractors and consultants (UKSV, updated 27 November 2024)
• Industry Security Assurance Centre (Ministry of Defence, updated 15 April 2026)
• Facility Security Clearance policy and guidance, version 1.4 (Ministry of Defence, March 2024)
• Industry Security Notice 2026/04: Security Aspects Letters and contractual security conditions (Ministry of Defence, 17 June 2026)
• BS 7858:2019 Screening of individuals working in a secure environment (BSI)
• SIA approved contractors and outsourced pre-employment screening (Security Industry Authority, 17 June 2024)
• Do security companies have to vet their staff in line with BS 7858? (Security Industry Authority, 17 November 2023)
• Check someone's criminal record as an employer (Disclosure and Barring Service)
• DBS reduces fees for checks and Update Service from 5 October 2026 (Disclosure and Barring Service, 9 September 2026)
• Investigation into the performance of UK Security Vetting (National Audit Office, January 2023)

All opened and checked on 29 October 2026.