Mobile Security Patrols

A mobile patrol is the right answer for a large share of sites, and the wrong one for a smaller share that buy it anyway. It is worth being clear about which is which, because the difference is usually whether the risk is concentrated in moments or spread across the night.

Andor Group provides mobile security patrols across the south of England, covering construction sites, vacant buildings, commercial premises and compounds. Officers are SIA licensed, visits are scanned at fixed points using geo-fenced QR tags, and every attendance is timestamped and visible to you through the HitDesk client portal.

What a patrol visit actually involves

A defined route, not a drive past

Each site has an agreed set of check points covering the perimeter, access points, compound, plant and any location where there has been a previous problem. Officers scan each point, which produces a record of where they went and when, rather than a note saying the site was visited.

Checks that catch the slow problems

Alongside intrusion, patrols pick up the things that quietly cost money: hoarding panels moved by a delivery and not replaced, gates left unsecured at the end of a shift, water running, lighting failed, plant left unlocked, or signs that someone has been sleeping in a part-complete building. These are reported with the visit, so they are fixed on Monday rather than discovered later.

Lock-up, unlock and response where agreed

Where it forms part of the agreed scope, patrol officers can secure a site at the end of the working day and open it in the morning, and attend in response to an alarm activation. Both are set out in the assignment instructions rather than assumed.

Irregular timing is the point

A patrol that arrives at eleven, one and three every night trains anyone watching in exactly when the site is unattended. We vary visit times within the agreed window so the pattern cannot be learned, while keeping the route itself efficient. Randomising the hour is what creates uncertainty for an intruder; randomising the road only adds mileage.

This is also why visit count alone is a poor way to specify a patrol contract. Four unpredictable visits are worth more than six predictable ones, and the specification should say when the risk actually sits — typically the first hours after the site closes, and the period before dawn.

Proof of attendance

The most common complaint about patrol contracts across the industry is not knowing whether visits happened. Geo-fenced QR tags fixed at the check points are scanned on each round, so attendance is verified by location and time rather than by a signature in a book kept on site.

Those records appear in the HitDesk client portal as the shift progresses. If a visit is missed you can see it that night, which is the only point at which anything can be done about it.

Where a patrol is the right answer, and where it is not

Patrols suit sites where the residual risk overnight is real but moderate: a site with a sound perimeter, nothing exceptionally valuable left in the open, and no history of repeated intrusion. They suit portfolios of smaller sites in one area, where the cost of a permanent officer at each is impossible to justify. They suit quiet phases of a project, before enabling works or during a shutdown.

They are the wrong answer where the risk is continuous. A site being repeatedly targeted, or holding high-value plant in the open, needs a static officer, because a patrol simply documents the loss that occurred between visits. Where a site has good sightlines and power, remotely monitored CCTV may give continuous coverage for less than a patrol round. For an empty building awaiting occupation, the answer usually sits under vacant property protection.

We would rather tell you a patrol is not enough for your site than take the contract and be explaining an incident later.

Licensing and accreditation

Every patrol officer holds a valid SIA licence for the role. Andor Group holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001, certified for security guarding services, together with SafeContractor accreditation and SSIP approval under the Deem to Satisfy process, and is a Constructionline Gold member, having also completed Constructionline’s Social Value assessment. We work to BS 7499 for static site guarding and mobile patrol services, BS 10800 for the provision of security services, BS 7984 for keyholding and response services, and BS 7858 for security screening, with BPSS clearance where a contract requires it. Employer’s liability, public liability and professional indemnity insurance are each held at £10 million. Certificate numbers, scopes and expiry dates for every accreditation are set out on our accreditations page, and copies are available on request.

What we need to set up a patrol round

To specify a patrol properly we need the site address and access arrangements, where the check points should sit, the hours the site is unoccupied, any history of intrusion or specific concerns, who to call and in what order when something is found, and whether lock-up, unlock or alarm response form part of the scope.

We then agree the visit window and frequency against the actual exposure rather than a standard package, install the check point tags, and write the assignment instructions before the first visit.

Common questions

How many visits a night do we need?

It depends on where the risk sits rather than on a standard package. Most construction sites are covered by two to four visits, weighted to the hours after closing and before dawn. We would rather set that from your site’s exposure than sell a fixed number.

Are visits at the same time each night?

No, deliberately. Times are varied within the agreed window so the pattern cannot be predicted by anyone watching the site.

How do we know the patrol actually attended?

Geo-fenced QR tags at each check point are scanned during the round, producing a timestamped, location-verified record visible in the HitDesk client portal during the shift.

Do you respond to alarm activations?

Where that is part of the agreed scope, yes. Response arrangements, including keyholding and what the officer is authorised to do on arrival, are set out in the assignment instructions before mobilisation.

Is a patrol cheaper than a static officer?

Per night, usually. Whether it is better value depends on the risk. If a site is being targeted, the cost of the losses between visits will exceed the saving, and a static officer is the cheaper option overall.

Can you cover several sites for us?

Yes, and that is where patrols are most efficient. Where we already cover sites in an area we have officers who know the roads, the access constraints and the local response arrangements, which makes the cover better as well as the routing tighter.

Discuss cover for your sites

Tell us where the sites are and what is on them, and we will tell you honestly whether a patrol is the right specification. See the full range of construction site security services, or get in touch on 020 4602 3974 or at sales@andorgroup.com.