Licensing, staffing models and what a guarding contract really costs
Manned guarding is a regulated activity in most jurisdictions, and the licence is the first gate. Individual officers hold a licence for the activity they perform -- static guarding, door supervision, cash in transit, close protection -- and the company holds an approval of its own, with screening of employment history over a stated number of years before an officer is deployed. Buyers verify the licences rather than the assertion, and a bid based on a workforce that does not yet hold them is a delivery risk the evaluation is designed to find.
The price is a wage plus an on-cost, and the room for manoeuvre is narrow. Applicable wage floors, holiday and sickness cover, training time, and the relief factor needed to keep a post covered around the clock are close to fixed, so an unusually low bid is usually a signal about one of them. Where a contract is transferring from an incumbent, employment protection rules commonly move the existing officers across on existing terms, which fixes most of the cost before the bidder starts and makes the transferring staff information supplied at tender the most important document in the pack.
Specifications increasingly describe outcomes and the technology that supports them rather than hours on a gate. Assignment instructions, incident reporting, patrol verification, control room monitoring, response times to alarms and integration with electronic access and surveillance systems are all defined and measured. For sites with public access or vulnerable users, conflict management and safeguarding training are specified, and the buyer usually retains the right to require removal of an individual officer without cause, which the bidder has to be able to absorb.
This section describes how this category is bought generally, across the public buyers that publish it. The figures elsewhere on this page are measured for this market alone.
Who buys security services in France?
GlobalGov holds 1,081 security services records from 865 distinct buying organisations in France. The most frequent publishers are département de l'ardèche (12 records); conseil départemental des Yvelines (6 records); Agefiph (5 records); Monnaie de Paris (5 records); Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin SAS (5 records); soc de la mobilite de aggl toulousaine (5 records). Between them the 6 largest account for 3.5% of everything published, so buying here is spread across many separate authorities.
| Buying organisation | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| département de l'ardèche | 12 | 1.1% |
| conseil départemental des Yvelines | 6 | 0.6% |
| Agefiph | 5 | 0.5% |
| Monnaie de Paris | 5 | 0.5% |
| Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin SAS | 5 | 0.5% |
| soc de la mobilite de aggl toulousaine | 5 | 0.5% |
What are security services contracts worth in France?
527 of the 1,081 records publish a contract value. The median is $864,000 and the largest single published value is $756.0M. By size, 23 under $100k, 259 between $100k and $1M, 210 between $1M and $10M, 35 above $10M. The remaining 554 publish no value at all, so every figure here describes the priced subset only, and values are as stated by the buyer rather than as finally awarded.
| Contract size | Records | Share of priced |
|---|---|---|
| under $100k | 23 | 4.4% |
| between $100k and $1M | 259 | 49% |
| between $1M and $10M | 210 | 40% |
| above $10M | 35 | 6.6% |
How long do bidders get to respond to security services tenders in France?
Across the 383 France security services notices that publish both a publication date and a closing date, the median response window is 35 days. A quarter of them allowed 32 days or fewer and a quarter stayed open for more than 41. Short turnarounds are the exception rather than the rule here: only 2 (0.5%) closed within a fortnight of being published.
How often are security services tenders published in France?
France publishes about 13 notices a month in this category, 153 in the last twelve months. That is 18% fewer than the 186 published in the twelve months before that. Over the last three years there were 598, spread across 62 separate months of activity since 27 November 2019. January is historically the busiest month. No new notice has been published in this category since 26 May 2026, 128 days ago, so treat the figures above as a record of the market rather than as this week's pipeline.
How does France compare with other security services markets?
Among the 29 countries where GlobalGov holds a comparable security services market, France ranks 2nd by number of records. The largest is Netherlands (1,431 records against 1,081 here). Within France itself, security services is the 41st largest of the 86 procurement categories tracked here.
Where do the France security services records on this page come from?
These 1,081 records are collected from 2 official sources: TED (971), BOAMP (110). GlobalGov is an independent aggregator and is not affiliated with any of them; each record links back to the notice on its issuing portal. The set is rebuilt nightly, and the counts on this page were taken on 2026-10-01.
Most recent Security Services tenders in France
None of these are open for bids now — they are the most recent records GlobalGov holds for this market, kept here so the shape of a typical security services notice in France is visible. Set an alert to be told when the next one opens.
France – Guard services – GRT-AOR-MPL-2026-000315
France – Security services – Accord-cadre de services pour la télésurveillance du patrimoine et des installations de vidéosurveillance des programmes immobiliers des sociétés du Groupe 3F sur le périmètre national
France – Staff development services – Prestation de bilan de compétences
France – Personnel services except placement and supply services – AO_332648 - JOUE Référencement Portage Salarial
France – Recruitment services – Accord-cadre multi-attributaires à bons de commande avec répartition en « cascade » pour la prestation d'assistance au recrutement de personnel
France – Recruitment services – PRESTATIONS D'ASSISTANCE AU RECRUTEMENT DE CADRES DU SECTEUR DE LA SANTE (Y COMPRIS CADRES DIRIGEANTS)
Security services
Security guarding, on-site intervention and remote monitoring services for the infrastructure operated by yélo mobilités
France – Supply services of personnel including temporary staff – mission d?assistance au recrutement pour l?Université de Paris Nanterre
Other procurement categories in France
Vehicle MaintenanceArchitecture and EngineeringManagement ConsultingWaste ManagementFinancial AdvisoryCivil ConstructionVehicles and FleetBuilding ConstructionMaintenance & RepairOffice FurnitureSoftware DevelopmentRoads and Highways InfrastructureMedical EquipmentBuilding MaterialsHospital ConstructionAgricultural EquipmentFood Aid and NutritionIct EquipmentTraining and Capacity BuildingGround TransportSite PreparationFacilities and CleaningStaffing AugmentationFuel SupplyRenovation RehabilitationCatering ServicesFreight and LogisticsLaboratory EquipmentPharmaceuticalsUniforms ClothingCommunications PrTelecommunicationsEvent ManagementPrinting PublishingOil Gas UpstreamSchools and UniversitiesMail CourierRoad & InfrastructureAudit and AccountingCommunity DevelopmentResearch and StudiesIT ConsultingWater Supply ProjectsWeapons SystemsEnergyTransportationHelpdesk SupportPower TransmissionTraining & EducationSanitation SewerageConsultingMilitary LogisticsWarehousingDatabase ManagementCybersecurityMonitoring EvaluationElectrical InstallationLegal ServicesFacilities ManagementResearch & DevelopmentNetwork InfrastructureSurveillance & IsrProject ManagementISR and SurveillanceFinancial ServicesSurvey & MappingScientific ResearchEnvironmental ServicesHealthcare ServicesNaval SystemsEnvironmental AssessmentSolar EnergyBridgesWater TreatmentPpeMiscellaneous GoodsCloud InfrastructureOffice SuppliesAdult LiteracyMilitary AviationUrban PlanningMilitary VehiclesCloud ServicesMilitary ConstructionIt Support & Maintenance
Security Services procurement in other markets
Never Miss a France Government Contract
Finding France tenders usually means a local portal, a local registration and someone who reads the language. Get an alert you can read when a new security services opportunity is published there.
Start Free Trial