Nothing in the German security industry runs without § 34a of the Trade Regulation Act (Gewerbeordnung, GewO): it governs who is allowed to operate a security company and what qualifications the guards they deploy must have. For business owners it matters twice over, as a licensing requirement and as an ongoing organizational duty. Anyone deploying staff without the right qualification, or without clearance in the German security register, risks fines and, in serious cases, their standing as a reliable trader.
Instruction: the basic qualification
As a rule, security guards in Germany must attend an instruction course run by the local Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) (40 teaching hours). It covers the legal basics of the job: everyone's rights under German law, dealing with people, accident prevention, data protection. The instruction ends without an exam, attendance is simply certified.
Expertise exam: mandatory for certain activities
For activities with a higher potential for conflict, German § 34a GewO requires more than instruction: a passed expertise exam (written and oral, also administered by the IHK). This applies in particular to:
- Patrols in public traffic spaces, or on private property with genuinely public traffic (e.g. city patrols)
- Protection against shoplifting (store or retail detectives)
- Guarding the entrance area of nightclubs (door staff)
- Supervisory guarding of reception centers and shared accommodation for refugees
- Supervisory guarding of large events with restricted access
The German security register: registration before the first deployment
Since June 2019, Germany has operated a central security register (Bewacherregister). Security companies must register their guards there before they start working; the responsible authority checks reliability and qualification and clears the guard for deployment. Only once this clearance is granted may the employee actually be deployed. Changes, such as an employee leaving the company, must also be reported.
Further certificates in practice
Depending on the contract, further certificates come on top of the § 34a qualification, and regularly expire or need to be renewed:
- First-aid certificate (many clients require it to be current)
- Firearms training under § 7 of the German Weapons Act (WaffG) for armed duties
- Reliability check under § 7 of the German Aviation Security Act (LuftSiG) for aviation security roles
- Site-specific briefings, fire safety officers, first-aid training for events
The employer's organizational duty
Germany's Ordinance on the Security Industry (Bewachungsverordnung) requires companies to keep and retain records of their guards and their qualifications. In practice, that means: for every employee, the instruction or expertise certificate, register clearance, and every contract-related certificate must be documented and produceable during an inspection. This gets critical with certificates that have an expiry date, a missed deadline turns a qualified employee into a formal compliance gap.
That's exactly what the digital employee file in GuardEinsatz is built for: every certificate sits, structured, with the employee, expiring documents flag themselves automatically before the deadline, and scheduling checks qualifications against what each post requires. How the scheduling itself becomes legally sound is covered in the article on shift scheduling in the security industry.