How to Establish a Private Security, Guarding or Cash-in-Transit Company

SIRA's website describes its aim as applying recognised standards to security systems, offerings and personnel in Dubai. It lists the commercial activities subject to its law and keeps a directory of companies providing security systems and solutions. It also has a section addressed to security guards. Its legal library holds agency, local and federal legislation and regulations.

Start with SIRA's list of security activities and read it against your business plan line by line. Each entry has its own activity number and requirements. A service that is on the list needs approval. A service that is not needs a written answer from SIRA that it falls outside, not an assumption.

The same applies to labels. Supplying watchmen under a "facilities" or "manpower" description does not move guarding outside the regime, because the function performed is what counts. Consulting on security design is a different thing from deploying people, and that is a factual line to establish with the agency before you recruit.

If you plan to work outside Dubai, ask the authority of that emirate what it requires. Do not carry SIRA's rules across.

Treat each of the four models as its own approval question.

Manned guarding. The product is people. Your plan has to show where they come from, how they are trained and supervised, and what they wear and carry.

Event and venue security. The same people-based product, but with peaks. A single festival contract can need many more staff than your permanent roster. Decide whether surge staffing comes from your own employees or a subcontractor, and check what SIRA allows before you promise it in a tender.

Systems and monitoring. Installation and control rooms involve equipment and customer data. Camera footage and access logs are personal data, so Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 applies; it covers processing inside and outside the UAE and requires consent unless an exception applies. Decide where recordings are stored and who can view them.

Cash-in-transit. Valuables in motion bring vehicles, crews, insurance and custody controls. It is the line most worth ring-fencing in its own company, so that its liabilities, insurance and fleet do not sit alongside a guarding business. A ring-fenced operation is easier to insure, approve and bank, much as a gold or precious-metals trading company separates its stock-holding risk.

The people are approved as well as the company. The licensed employer applies on SIRA's e-services portal for each person's Security Cadre Card, valid for two years. A Security Guard needs the approved course, a Dubai Police good conduct certificate and a physical fitness certificate valid for 3 months, within an age range of 21 to 60. Confirm course dates before you recruit.

Then do the arithmetic that most new operators skip. Count the posts in your first contract, include shifts, days off and leave, and work out how many cleared people that needs. Compare the figure with the number you can realistically have approved by the contract start date. If the gap is large, the contract date is wrong, not the arithmetic.

Confirm the work permit and labour contract steps for a staffed business with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE). Visas, accommodation and wages begin before the first invoice. That cost is the budget, and it is the reason the trade licence is the smaller number.

Put the signing entity and the employing entity together. The company that signs the security contract should employ the guards, hold the approvals and carry the insurance the contract assumes. A holding company or overseas parent can sit above it with a real role, but clients and authorities look through a structure where the contracting company is a shell.

Banks read a payroll-heavy business with liability exposure. They ask about the contract pipeline, wage administration, insurance and, for cash-in-transit, the controls around other people's money. Our work on corporate bank account readiness builds this file.

Bring a pack that reconciles. The roster should match the posts promised. Wages should fit the contract price. The insurance should match the risk written into the client agreement. Where valuables move, the bank will want controls it can audit.

Tenders are where weak structures fail. Government and critical-infrastructure clients ask for proof of approvals, staff credentials and insurance at submission, so build the compliance pack before you bid. A business plan and supporting documentation set prepared for that purpose doubles as the bank file.

Cost depends on the route and the activity. Velarozone's own fee is itemised in the engagement letter, and how Velarozone works explains what it covers. Any SIRA fee or insurance premium should be taken from the agency or insurer directly.