{"id":235873,"date":"2026-08-31T14:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T12:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/?p=235873"},"modified":"2026-08-31T14:25:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T12:25:38","slug":"security-company-geneva-licence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/post\/security-company-geneva-licence\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting up a security company in Geneva: licence, examination and costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-box\">\n<p>Setting up a security company in Geneva requires a prior licence, granted by the Weapons, Private Security and Explosives Brigade of the cantonal police. The concordat that binds six French-speaking cantons requires a manager who has passed the concordat examination, civil liability cover of at least CHF 5 million and physical premises in the canton. The licence to operate costs CHF 500, the licence to hire staff CHF 300, the full examination CHF 500, and the title is valid for four years across all six cantons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"table-of-contents\">\n<h3>Contents<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#who-needs\">Who needs a licence<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#procedure\">The Geneva procedure, in order<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#examination\">The manager&#8217;s examination<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#fees\">Geneva fees and what they do not cover<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#premises\">The physical office the canton requires<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#events\">Hiring an officer for an event<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#staff-pay\">Licensing your officers and paying them<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#enforcement\">Inspections, withdrawal and fines<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"who-needs\">Who needs a licence<\/h2>\n<p>The Concordat on Security Companies of 18 October 1996 governs three families of activity: guarding or surveillance of movable and immovable property, protection of persons, and secure transport of goods or valuables. Six cantons are party to it: Fribourg, Vaud, Valais, Neuch\u00e2tel, Geneva and Jura.<\/p>\n<p>The concordat applies whether the work is carried out on public or private land, as a main or secondary activity, paid or unpaid, by staff or through installations such as an alarm centre. The condition that triggers the obligation is a service supplied to third parties under a contract of mandate.<\/p>\n<h3>Three situations founders underestimate<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A one-person business is caught.<\/strong> Someone practising alone must obtain the licence to operate exactly like any company.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A secondary activity is caught.<\/strong> A cleaning company that adds patrol rounds to its offering falls within the scope of the concordat.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shops and licensed premises are caught.<\/strong> An operator who hires its own door staff or its own loss-prevention officers must obtain a licence to hire security personnel, even though it is not a security company.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Conversely, an industrial or commercial company that assigns its own staff to protect its own premises, and for its own benefit alone, falls outside the scope.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"procedure\">The Geneva procedure, in order<\/h2>\n<p>In Geneva the Weapons, Private Security and Explosives Brigade is the authority in charge. It processes applications, keeps the list of licensed companies and carries out regular inspections to verify compliance with the concordat. It receives visitors by appointment only.<\/p>\n<p>The order of the steps matters, because each one conditions the next.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Incorporate the company<\/strong> with a corporate purpose that expressly covers the intended activities and articles of association granting sole signing authority to the future manager.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take premises in the canton<\/strong> and have a physical registered office in Geneva.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Negotiate the civil liability policy<\/strong> with minimum cover of CHF 5 million.<\/li>\n<li><strong>File the complete application<\/strong> for the licence to set up a security company and to hire personnel, following the calendar published by the brigade.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sit the concordat examination<\/strong>, which takes place after the file has been submitted and not before.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"important-box\">\n<h4>Important<\/h4>\n<p>The complete file must be received <strong>before<\/strong> the examination and in line with the dates of the official calendar. A file submitted outside the calendar waits for the next session, which delays by the same margin the date on which the company can invoice its first assignment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>What the authority looks at in the manager<\/h3>\n<p>The licence to operate is granted only if the manager is a Swiss national, a national of an EU or EFTA member state, or the holder of a permanent residence permit for nationals of other states. The manager must have legal capacity, be solvent or free of definitive certificates of unsatisfied claims, and offer every guarantee of good repute.<\/p>\n<p>Good repute is assessed under a directive of the Concordat Commission, which takes into account the seriousness of acts committed before the application, the subjective circumstances of those acts and the time elapsed since. It is therefore not a mechanical reading of the criminal record extract but an assessment, and it is prepared together with the file.<\/p>\n<h3>A drafting requirement that blocks files already submitted<\/h3>\n<p>The designated manager must be in a position to exercise their responsibilities and must hold sole signing authority. Joint signature by two people is accepted only where no sole signature exists in the company. Articles drafted without this precaution force a notarised amendment once the company is already registered, and the licensing file waits in the meantime.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"examination\">The manager&#8217;s examination<\/h2>\n<p>The examination covers knowledge of the legislation applicable to security companies. It is organised by the canton where the company or its branch has its seat, and both its content and its procedure are set by a directive of the Concordat Commission. Passing it is a condition of the licence to operate: without it, the file cannot proceed.<\/p>\n<p>The examination is divided into several parts, and failing one does not mean starting again. In Geneva, retaking a single part costs CHF 200 and retaking three costs CHF 500, the price of a full session.<\/p>\n<div class=\"conseil-rister\">\n<h4>RISTER recommendation<\/h4>\n<p>Treat the examination as the critical path of the project, not as a final formality. It is the only step that neither the corporate services provider, nor the lawyer, nor the insurer can absorb on your behalf: it rests on one identified individual, and the entire launch schedule depends on it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rister-cta-inline\">\n<p class=\"rister-cta-kicker\">Licence to operate<\/p>\n<p class=\"rister-cta-title\">The articles are drafted around the licensing file<\/p>\n<p>Sole signing authority for the manager, a corporate purpose covering surveillance, protection of persons or secure transport, physical premises in the canton: these are settled before the notary, not before the brigade. RISTER\u00ae incorporates your company with an eye on what the Geneva authority will require next.<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"rister-cta-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Request an initial discussion<\/a><br \/>\n    <span class=\"rister-cta-note\">A corporate services provider established in Geneva, 25 years of experience.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"fees\">Geneva fees and what they do not cover<\/h2>\n<p>The fees payable to the Geneva authority are limited. They represent only a fraction of the real cost of entering the trade, since the substance lies in the liability policy, the premises and the payroll.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rister-table-wrap\">\n<table class=\"rister-table\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Item<\/th>\n<th>Amount in Geneva<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Licence to operate<\/td>\n<td>CHF 500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Licence to hire personnel<\/td>\n<td>CHF 300<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Full concordat examination<\/td>\n<td>CHF 500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Retaking one part of the examination<\/td>\n<td>CHF 200<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Retaking three parts<\/td>\n<td>CHF 500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Recognition of licences<\/td>\n<td>Variable, depending on the licence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"rister-caption\">Source: Republic and Canton of Geneva, page updated on 4 February 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>The items that actually weigh<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Civil liability cover of CHF 5 million<\/strong>: a condition for granting the licence, a recurring annual charge, to be negotiated before the file is filed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Premises in the canton<\/strong>: a commercial lease, with the deposits and charges that come with it.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/service\/incorporating-company-in-switzerland-swiss-corporation-limited-liability-sole-proprietorship-geneva\/\">Incorporating the company<\/a><\/strong>: CHF 20,000 fully paid up for an LLC, or CHF 100,000 subscribed with at least CHF 50,000 paid up for a company limited by shares, plus notary fees and the commercial register fee.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Licence to hire, per officer<\/strong>: applied for individually, which turns each recruitment into an administrative step.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"premises\">The physical office the canton requires<\/h2>\n<p>Geneva makes the licence conditional on a physical registered office in the canton. A simple <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/service\/company-domiciliation-registered-address-switzerland-geneva\/\">registered address<\/a> does not satisfy this requirement for this activity, although it is accepted in many other sectors.<\/p>\n<p>This constraint has a scheduling consequence: signing the lease sits on the critical path of the project, alongside the manager&#8217;s examination. It also has a financial consequence, because it commits fixed costs before the first invoice.<\/p>\n<h3>How far the Geneva licence travels<\/h3>\n<p>A licence granted by a concordat canton is valid across all six signatory cantons for four years, renewable. A company with its seat in Geneva can therefore operate in Vaud, Valais, Neuch\u00e2tel, Fribourg and Jura without a new licensing procedure.<\/p>\n<p>One reservation remains: opening a branch in a concordat canton must be notified to the authority of the canton where it is located. And that reach stops at the borders of the concordat. Bern and Zurich, which apply their own regimes, require separate recognition or a separate licence.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"events\">Hiring an officer for an event<\/h2>\n<p>To hire a security officer temporarily for an event, the company must obtain a temporary hiring authorisation from the brigade. This dedicated procedure exists because event work relies on short-notice reinforcements that the ordinary officer-by-officer regime cannot absorb.<\/p>\n<p>For a Geneva company this route is not marginal. Trade fairs, congresses, sporting and cultural events concentrate a significant share of demand, and they do so in peaks of a few days. Planning for it means building an administrative lead time into a commercial cycle that is often decided late.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"staff-pay\">Licensing your officers and paying them<\/h2>\n<p>Every officer must be covered by a licence to hire security personnel, separate from the licence to operate. It is granted only if the officer is Swiss, an EU or EFTA national, holds a permanent residence permit or has held a residence permit for at least two years, has legal capacity, and has not been convicted in the ten years before the application of acts incompatible with the work.<\/p>\n<p>A branch manager must in addition have passed the same examination as the manager and be free of definitive certificates of unsatisfied claims. Any change in the composition of the workforce is notified to the authority immediately.<\/p>\n<h3>The collective agreement for the sector<\/h3>\n<p>The collective bargaining agreement for the private security sector has been declared generally binding. It applies to companies with at least ten employees and to members of the employers&#8217; association. It sets minimum wages, an annual working time of between 1,801 and 2,300 hours, and a time premium of 10 per cent for night, Sunday and public holiday work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rister-table-wrap\">\n<table class=\"rister-table\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Category<\/th>\n<th>Scope<\/th>\n<th>Minimum in the first year<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>A<\/td>\n<td>Monthly paid, 1,801 to 2,300 hours per calendar year<\/td>\n<td>CHF 54,270 for 2,000 hours a year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>B<\/td>\n<td>Monthly paid, 901 to 1,800 hours per calendar year<\/td>\n<td>CHF 35,560 for 1,400 hours a year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>C<\/td>\n<td>Hourly paid, up to 900 hours per calendar year<\/td>\n<td>CHF 24.15 per hour excluding holiday pay, scale raised by 2 per cent on 1 January 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"rister-caption\">Source: national collective bargaining agreement for the private security sector, in force since 1 July 2014, as at 1 January 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>To these minimums are added items that financial plans often omit: uniforms and equipment at the employer&#8217;s expense, an allowance of at least CHF 200 per month for holders of the federal certificate, four weeks of holiday from the first year, and sick pay and maternity benefits of at least 80 per cent from the second day.<\/p>\n<div class=\"conseil-rister\">\n<h4>RISTER recommendation<\/h4>\n<p>The ten-employee threshold is modelled before you hire. Moving from nine to eleven officers brings the entire payroll within the scope of the generally binding agreement, night premiums included. On a night guarding contract those 10 per cent are paid hours that are not billed, and they are hard to recover once the contract is signed. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/service\/general-administration-geneva\/\">payroll management<\/a> builds these parameters into the first payslip.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you top up your teams with temporary staff, the officer supplied must also be licensed, and the company supplying them falls under the Employment Services Act. Where the officers come from abroad, the notification and permit rules apply on top, and our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/service\/secondment-management-switzerland\/\">secondment management service<\/a> covers that side.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"enforcement\">Inspections, withdrawal and fines<\/h2>\n<p>The brigade keeps the list of security companies and carries out regular inspections to verify compliance with the concordat. Breaches translate into administrative measures and, where applicable, into criminal fines.<\/p>\n<h3>Administrative measures<\/h3>\n<p>The authority that granted the licence must withdraw it where the holder no longer meets the conditions or where it seriously or repeatedly breaches the applicable provisions. It may also issue a warning or a suspension of one to six months.<\/p>\n<p>One rule often goes unnoticed: the licence is also withdrawn where it ceases to be used, or where no use is made of it within six months of it being granted. A project that slips after the title has been obtained can therefore lose it.<\/p>\n<h3>Fines<\/h3>\n<p>A fine may be imposed on anyone practising as a security officer, branch manager or company manager without being licensed, on anyone using a dog without authorisation, and on a manager who employs unlicensed people or dogs. Negligence, attempt and complicity are punishable, and prosecution is time-barred after five years.<\/p>\n<h3>Weapons and equipment<\/h3>\n<p>The purchase and carrying of weapons are governed by federal weapons legislation. The concordat adds a rule of discretion: on public roads and in places open to the public, weapons are carried out of sight, except for the long weapons used for secure transport, which must remain in the vehicle. Equipment used by officers is subject to approval by the competent authority, and using a dog requires a separate authorisation.<\/p>\n<section id=\"faq\">\n<h2>FAQ: setting up a security company in Geneva<\/h2>\n<div class=\"question\">\n<h3>Which licence is needed to set up a security company in Geneva?<\/h3>\n<p>Two separate licences are required: one to operate the company and one to hire personnel. Both are issued by the Weapons, Private Security and Explosives Brigade of the Geneva cantonal police. The application is made on the official form, with a complete file received before the concordat examination and in line with the calendar published by the brigade.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"question\">\n<h3>How much do the licences cost in Geneva?<\/h3>\n<p>The licence to operate costs CHF 500 and the licence to hire personnel CHF 300. The full concordat examination costs CHF 500, retaking one part CHF 200 and retaking three parts CHF 500. These amounts do not include incorporating the company, the lease on the premises, or the annual premium for the CHF 5 million civil liability cover that the concordat requires.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"question\">\n<h3>Is the Geneva licence valid in other cantons?<\/h3>\n<p>It is valid in the six cantons party to the concordat, namely Fribourg, Vaud, Valais, Neuch\u00e2tel, Geneva and Jura, for four renewable years. Opening a branch in one of those cantons must nevertheless be notified to the relevant authority. Outside the concordat, in particular in Bern and Zurich, a separate licence or recognition is required.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"question\">\n<h3>Is a registered address enough for a security company?<\/h3>\n<p>No. Geneva requires a physical registered office in the canton before granting the licence to operate a private security company. Signing the commercial lease therefore sits on the critical path of the project, on the same footing as passing the manager&#8217;s examination, and it commits fixed costs before the first assignment is invoiced.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"question\">\n<h3>Can one person set up a security company alone?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, but that person is subject to the same regime as a company with employees. A one-person business must obtain the licence to operate, which means the individual must meet the conditions of nationality or permit, legal capacity, solvency and good repute, must have passed the manager&#8217;s examination, and the business must carry civil liability cover of CHF 5 million.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"question\">\n<h3>Does the collective agreement apply from incorporation?<\/h3>\n<p>The collective bargaining agreement for the private security sector, which has been declared generally binding, applies to companies with at least ten employees and to members of the employers&#8217; association. A business starting below that threshold is not bound by it on the strength of its activity alone, but crossing the threshold brings the entire payroll at once into a regime of minimum wages and premiums for night and Sunday work.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"sources\">\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ge.ch\/entreprises-securite-privees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republic and Canton of Geneva, private security companies<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ge.ch\/entreprises-securite-privees\/creer-sa-propre-entreprise-securite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republic and Canton of Geneva, setting up your own security company<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/silgeneve.ch\/legis\/?rsg_i2_14.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Concordat on Security Companies of 18 October 1996 (rsGE I 2 14)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vd.ch\/prestation\/demander-une-autorisation-dexploiter-une-entreprise-de-securite-et-ou-une-centrale-dalarme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Canton of Vaud, licence to operate a security company<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ne.ch\/autorites\/dsdc\/pone\/bases-legales-et-ethique\/entreprise-de-securite-privee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Republic and Canton of Neuch\u00e2tel, private security company<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fr.ch\/dsjs\/pol\/entreprises-de-securite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State of Fribourg, security companies<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ge.ch\/document\/cct-securite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Geneva labour inspectorate, collective agreement for the security sector, as at 1 January 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vssu.org\/fr\/convention-collective\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Association of Swiss Security Service Companies, collective agreement<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"conclusion-box\">\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Setting up a security company in Geneva depends less on capital than on sequence. The articles must grant sole signing authority to the manager, the corporate purpose must cover the activity, the premises must be in the canton, the CHF 5 million civil liability cover must be in place before filing, and the concordat examination cannot be caught up at the last minute.<\/p>\n<p>RISTER\u00ae is a corporate services provider established in Geneva for 25 years. We incorporate your company in anticipation of what the brigade will require next, and then take on the accounting, VAT and payroll of a business where payroll concentrates the risk. To scope your project, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/contact\/\">write to us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Setting up a security company in Geneva requires a prior licence, granted by the Weapons, Private Security and Explosives Brigade of the cantonal police. The concordat that binds six French-speaking cantons requires a manager who has passed the concordat examination, civil liability cover of at least CHF 5 million and physical premises in the canton. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":235864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classifiee"],"rank_math":{"rank_math_title":"Setting up a security company in Geneva: licence","rank_math_description":"Licence to operate, concordat examination, physical premises, CHF 5 million liability cover and Geneva fees: the real procedure, step by step.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"set up a security company in geneva"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235873"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235885,"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235873\/revisions\/235885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rister.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}