Security Companies Singapore: Real Costs & How to Verify a PLRD Licence

Singapore’s private security industry is licensed and regulated by the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department (PLRD) — any legitimate company must hold a valid PLRD licence, which you can verify yourself in under a minute (see below). This guide covers real companies worth shortlisting by specialty, what security services actually cost, and how to confirm a provider is properly licensed before signing.

Which security companies should you actually consider in Singapore?

1. Secura Group — Largest Full-Service Provider

If you’re managing a commercial property, a mixed-use development, or anywhere that needs guarding, cameras and cyber risk covered under one accountable vendor, Secura is the name that keeps coming up — partly because its SGX listing means you can actually check its financials before signing a multi-year contract, which isn’t something you can do with a privately-held competitor.

2. ADP Securegroup — Event & Hospitality Specialist

This is who to call for a product launch, a concert, or a VIP visit rather than an ongoing office guard post — event security has different failure modes (crowd control, entry management, incident response in a live environment) than standard static guarding, and a company built around that scenario tends to plan for it better than one bolting event work onto a general contract.

3. SCHEMPP — VIP Escort & Executive Protection

Close protection is a genuinely different skill set from static guarding — reading a room, managing a moving VIP through a crowd, coordinating with a venue’s own security. If that’s the actual brief, a specialist beats a generalist agency that occasionally does executive protection as one line item among many.

4. Shine Security — AI Command Centre + Remote CCTV

The pitch here is essentially trading headcount for software — instead of paying for a guard to watch a monitor all shift, a command centre with analytics does the first pass and flags what actually needs a human response. Works well for larger premises where blanket guarding would be prohibitively expensive, less well where you specifically need a visible person at the door.

5. Applied Protection — Tech-Enabled Security Officers

This sits between Secura’s full-service breadth and Shine’s camera-first model — you still get a physical guard, but one who’s actively working the cameras rather than just walking a fixed patrol route, which can catch issues a patrol pattern alone would miss between rounds.

6. HomeSafe — CCTV Monitoring Specialist

If your property already has cameras installed and what you actually need is someone watching them 24/7 and calling the right people when something happens, a dedicated monitoring specialist like HomeSafe is usually the cheapest way to get that — you’re not paying the overhead of a guarding company’s headcount and shift-management costs for a service that’s fundamentally about watching a screen.

How much do security services cost in Singapore?

Nowhere close to a fixed number, because none of the six companies above publish per-contract pricing — this is standard for the industry since guard headcount, shift patterns, and site risk all change the number. Use the cost table above as your baseline expectation when requesting quotes, and get at least 2-3 quotes for comparable scope before committing.

How do you verify a security company’s PLRD licence?

1. Go to licence1.business.gov.sg and log in with Singpass
2. Click “Licensed Entities”
3. Select “Singapore Police Force — Enquire on Security Officer and Private Investigator Licences”
4. Search by the officer’s or company’s name to confirm current licence status, category, and renewal date

Through Singapore’s official licence registry, in under a minute. Any legitimate security agency operates under the Private Security Industry Act and should have no issue with you checking this. If a company is cagey about naming the officers assigned to your site, or their licence details don’t come up in the register, treat that as a serious red flag.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest security company in Singapore?

Secura Group is the largest publicly-listed security provider (SGX Catalist board), offering guarding, CCTV/access control systems, and cybersecurity through its Onesecure Asia arm.

How much does a security guard cost per month in Singapore?

A single guard covering one shift typically costs S$2,500-S$4,000 per month. 24/7 coverage, requiring multiple guards to rotate shifts, usually exceeds S$10,000 per month.

Why don’t security companies publish their pricing?

Pricing depends heavily on guard headcount, shift patterns, site risk profile, and contract length — factors that vary too much per client for a fixed price list to be meaningful. Request itemised quotes from 2-3 providers for the same scope to compare fairly.

How do I check if a security company is licensed in Singapore?

Log into licence1.business.gov.sg with Singpass, select “Licensed Entities,” then “Singapore Police Force — Enquire on Security Officer and Private Investigator Licences,” and search the company or officer name.

Which security company should I use for a one-off event?

ADP Securegroup and SCHEMPP both specialise in event, hospitality and VIP security rather than only static long-term guarding contracts, typically making them a better fit for a single event.