What Is NSI NACOSS Gold?
Who are NSI?
NSI stands for the National Security Inspectorate. They are widely recognised as the leading certification body for the security sector in the UK. This means that they audit and closely monitor their approved companies (such as Guardian Security & Fire) to ensure that all of them are maintaining the high standards required to achieve the certificate in the first place.
NSI has been doing this for over 40 years and their ambition is to raise standards and provide businesses and homeowners who choose NSI-approved companies the reassurance and peace of mind that they are getting the best service available in the market.
What checking is done before NSI status is awarded?
Companies that have been successfully accredited have voluntarily invited NSI to audit their business and check that their products and services comply with industry standards. As it is voluntary, access is normally forthcoming (it certainly was from us) and the audit is very thorough. Below is a list of the things NSI insist and check on:
The company is financially viable – NSI checks the company’s finances
- It has all the necessary insurance
- The owners/managers are of good repute
- The company operates from suitable and secure premises
- It can provide sufficient cover/support
- It has an appropriate means of dealing with complaints
- The company operates to industry best practice
- The company can demonstrate technical and managerial competence
- It must operate a 24-hour call-out service and respond to emergencies within a 4-hour period
- The company must offer a maintenance contract with the system
Luckily, when we joined NSI way back in 2004, we had all these processes in place so the process was fairly painless.
Why should I use an NSI-approved company?
There are a number of benefits to using an accredited company. Below we list the main ones:
- All staff are vetted, including the engineers, so you know that whoever comes to your business or home has been security screened to British Standard 7858.
- Every installation by an accredited company comes with an NSI Certificate of Compliance. This can be shown to all insurance companies as evidence that it has been installed to all the necessary standards. It also gives you peace of mind you are getting work to a high standard.
- You may be entitled to a discount on your insurance if your alarm comes with a certificate of compliance. This is because insurers know that NSI rigorously inspects the work of its member companies and this lessens the risk to the insurer.
How easy is it to become NSI accredited?
To gain NSI Gold accreditation, like Guardian Security, it takes about 6 months of work, audits and process adaptation to align with the very specific requirements of the accreditory body. This is a lot longer and harder than NSI Silver which is aimed at new entrants to the industry (young businesses) and seen only as a basic accreditation.
At Guardian, we are very proud to be one of a very small number of NSI Gold security companies in the South East. We recognise that in our line of work the only thing we have to separate us from the rest is Service, Service, Service and we work very hard to make it as good as it can be. Some of our customers throughout London and the South East have been kind enough to comment on our service levels and you can read their testimonials HERE.
We hope this article was helpful. We write them for you so please let us know what you think by posting a comment below or by getting in touch direct. You can find our contact details here.
The Guardian Security team.