Find out where you stand before the duty bites

Is this for you

The Act received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025 and commencement is expected in spring 2027. The Home Office statutory guidance tells you what the duty requires, and the Security Industry Authority will regulate compliance. The Act leaves it to you to show that your arrangements were in place. Section 27(5) says that proof of having acted in accordance with the guidance may be relied on as tending to establish that no contravention occurred, and a dated, independent record of what was in place is how you show it.

Three products

One for each tier and one for events. The product is fixed at scoping from the tier the premises falls in, and every product scores the same twenty controls.

• Enhanced premises assessment

  For enhanced duty premises. A site visit set by the assessor, with direct verification: the lockdown timed with the staff actually on duty, the public address and radio channels tested live, and front-line workers asked to describe their own part in their own words.

  Reaches the Mark, Conditional or Not Confirmed, with a confidence level.

• Qualifying event assessment

  For a qualifying event. Assessed across the document stage, the build, the show and the close-out, so the record reflects the event as it actually ran.

  Reaches the Mark, Conditional or Not Confirmed, with a confidence level.

• Standard premises declaration

  For standard duty premises. A desk review with a remote interview. It confirms the four procedures exist and that workers have been briefed on them, and it is carried out entirely at the desk, so it reaches an outcome without a score or a confidence level.

  Reaches Declared or Not Declared. Wherever Declared is claimed, the holder must state that no site visit was made.

What is examined

Twenty controls in five sections, published in advance in the Control Set. Sections P1 to P3 apply to every assessment. P4 and P5 apply to enhanced duty premises and qualifying events only.

1. P1Scope and registration4 controls. What the premises are, which tier, who is responsible, what the SIA needs to be told
2. P2Public protection procedures6 controls. The four procedures, whether the set is appropriate, and workforce readiness
3. P3Governance2 controls. The designated senior individual and, where they arise, structural conditions
4. P4Public protection measures5 controls. Four measure categories and the vulnerability assessment they derive from. Enhanced and events
5. P5Documentation and records3 controls. The statement, the machinery that keeps it current, and the record set. Enhanced and events

How it runs

The same seven steps under both schemes. Every one happens in the Westmark hub, and every screen says whose turn it is and what is waiting. From agreement to outcome we plan on four to eight weeks, set with you at scoping.

1. Westmark and you

   Scope

   What premises you hold, the expected attendance, and which tier and product fit.

2. Westmark, then you

   Quotation and agreement

   Issued in the hub and accepted on screen. Nothing is signed until both are in writing.

3. Westmark

   Assessor assigned

   Authorised for the scheme and the tier, and independent of any advice you have had.

4. You

   Self-assessment

   Plain questions in the hub, one for each control. It tells the assessor where to spend the time.

5. Your assessor

   The assessment

   On site for enhanced premises and events, remote for a standard declaration. Anything adverse is put to you before it settles.

6. A second assessor

   Technical review

   Somebody independent of the assessment confirms the record or returns it with reasons.

7. Westmark

   Outcome and register

   Documents issued in the hub, the entry published, and the claim wording sent to you.

How assessment works, in full

The outcomes

Enhanced premises and qualifying events reach one of three scored outcomes, each with a confidence level. A standard premises declaration reaches one of two.

• Protected Premises Mark

  Overall 80 per cent or above, no section below 50, no disqualifying condition, procedures consistent across the operating pattern.

  On the register for twenty-four months, with an annual declaration at twelve.

• Protected Premises Conditional

  Overall 60 to 79 per cent, or the Mark thresholds met but for a section floor or an inconsistency. Improvement actions attached, completable within three to six months.

  A positive outcome, published on the register with the actions shown.

• Not Confirmed

  Below 60 per cent, or a disqualifying condition met.

  Nothing appears on the register.

• Declared

  Standard premises declaration only. Every assessed control scores 1 or above and no disqualifying condition is met.

  Rests on a desk review and a remote interview, with no score or confidence level, and the claim must say that no site visit was made.

• Not Declared

  Any assessed control scores 0, or a disqualifying condition is met.

  Not published. You may submit again after three months.

What it costs

Fees follow the product and the expected attendance recorded at scoping. The full fee is quoted in writing before the Assessment Agreement is accepted, and it is the same whatever the outcome.

Standard premises declaration

Half an assessor day, carried out remotely

Enhanced premises, under 5,000 expected

One day on site, half a day at the desk

Enhanced premises, larger or several buildings

Two to three days on site, with desk time to match

Qualifying event

Two days across document stage, build, show and close-out

A portfolio

Charged per premises. Councils and multi-site operators can licence the tool for the whole portfolio

Getting ready

Most responsible persons find gaps on a first read of the Control Set, and scoping, which is where they surface, costs nothing. Where you want help, Westmark introduces you to a Licensed Partner: a consultancy Westmark has approved, whose consultants work with your people so the procedures, training and briefing records are written around this premises and belong to you.

Documents for this scheme

• The duty, in plain EnglishWhat the 2025 Act asks, who it reaches, and what cannot be certified. (PDF, opens in a new tab)
• Protected Premises Mark brochureSix pages. The duty, the products, the day itself. (PDF, opens in a new tab)
• Assurance StandardVersion 0.9. What the assessment covers and how it is run. (PDF, opens in a new tab)
• Control SetVersion 1.0. All twenty controls and their scoring. (PDF, opens in a new tab)