Security post orders: free template and how to write them

It is 05:50 on a Monday. A guard who has never seen the site before is standing at the gate of a distribution center, relieving a night guard who has already left. A truck is waiting. The driver says he is "always let in at six". Does the new guard open the gate? The answer should not depend on who happens to be on the phone. It should be written down, in plain words, at the post.

That is what security post orders are for. This guide explains what they are and what real ones contain, then gives you a template to copy for any site. It also covers something no other guide we found does: what the rules in the US and Canada actually say about post orders.

What post orders are

Post orders are the written instructions for one security post: what the guard at that post does, when, how, and who to call. They cover the routine (open the gate at 06:00, patrol the lot every two hours) and the exceptions (what to do when the alarm trips, when a trespasser refuses to leave, when the client calls). They are written for the guard who has never been to the site, because one day that guard will be the one on duty.

Most companies split them in two:

• General orders apply at every post: uniform, conduct, how to report, what a guard may never do. Write them once and attach them everywhere.
• Site-specific orders apply to one post at one site: the gate, the patrol route, the client's contacts, the alarm code procedure, the delivery rules.

Two public examples show the pattern. The District of Columbia's Department of General Services publishes sample post orders for contract guards at its parks and recreation sites, with a general section, a definition of each post, responsibilities, uniform and equipment, unacceptable conduct and a use-of-force section. A Florida community district publishes the approved post orders its security contractor wrote for a gated community: site-specific orders first, then rules of conduct, emergency contacts, a response plan for violent incidents, radio procedure and report procedure. Both are worth reading before you write your own.

Who requires post orders

Mostly your clients, not the government. We read the guard training and conduct rules for California, New York, Illinois and Virginia, as much of the Texas and Florida rules as we could open, and the regulations for Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Only California names post orders: its Bureau of Security and Investigative Services lists "Post Orders & Assignments" as an elective topic in its security guard training course list, up to four hours. The other rules we read do not mention post orders.

Contracts are where the requirement usually comes from. Some public-sector clients write post orders into the deal. The Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, for example, requires its security contractor to write post orders covering general and site-specific procedures, submit them within 14 days of the award, get the client's approval before using them and review them regularly (security services scope, 2023). A US Department of Homeland Security guard contract says the post orders "define the specific duties" and that guards shall not deviate from them (Federal Protective Service statement of work). Private clients rarely write it down, but they expect the same thing, and the first question after an incident is "what did the post orders say?"

So treat post orders as a contract document: written with the client, approved by the client, dated, and kept where the guard can read them.

What real post orders contain

Across the public examples above, the government and corrections standards that cover post orders, and the guides other software vendors publish, the same sections keep appearing. Here is the list, with what each one is for.

Two of those sections, the review date and the signed acknowledgement, come from the standards that take post orders most seriously. Detention standards for US immigration facilities require post orders to be reviewed at least once a year and signed by every officer before they work the post (ICE detention standard 2.9, Post Orders). Montana's state prison defines post orders as "a written description of the post duties and responsibilities" and requires an annual review (Montana State Prison procedure 3.1.2A). Those are corrections documents, not private security, but the habit they describe, review every year and have every guard sign, is the one that keeps post orders current.

The post orders template

Copy the template below for each post and change everything in [brackets]. Keep the general orders the same across your sites and change only the site-specific part. If a section does not apply to a site, write "Not applicable at this site" rather than deleting it, so the guard knows it was considered.

Filling in the brackets

Walk the site with the client before you write a word. Stand at the post at the time of day the guard will be there. Ask the client what went wrong under the last contractor; the answer usually becomes section B9.

Write the use-of-force and detention section (A4 and A5) to the law where the site is, and have it checked. The safest default for most sites is the one in the template: observe, report, call police, do not detain. If a client wants more than that, it needs training, insurance and a lawyer's eyes before it goes in the orders.

If your guards are unionized, check the collective agreement before you put duties in writing. If the client's contract sets its own requirements for post orders or incident reporting deadlines, copy them into the orders word for word.

How to write post orders that get read

1. One subject eachEach order covers one thing. "Gate procedure" and "Delivery procedure" are two orders, not one. A guard looking for the delivery rule at 06:00 should find it in ten seconds.
2. Write for 03:00Short sentences. Numbers, not adjectives: "every two hours", not "regularly". Give names and phone numbers. If a step needs a decision, write both outcomes.
3. Put the order firstStart each item with what to do, then the reason if one is needed. "Lock the gate at 18:00. The client's insurer requires it after hours."
4. Use the 24-hour clockThe District of Columbia's sample post orders require it, and so should you: 18:00 cannot be misread the way 6:00 can.
5. Make the emergency section completeUS workplace rules describe what an emergency action plan must contain, including: how to report an emergency, evacuation routes, how to account for people after an evacuation, who performs rescue or medical duties, and who to contact for more information (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.38). That rule applies to employers' own plans, not to post orders as such, but it is a good checklist for section B5.
6. Get the client to signApproved post orders give you both the same record. When the client later asks why the guard did not let the truck in, the answer is a signed page.
7. Version and date themEvery copy carries a version number, an effective date and a next-review date. Remove old copies from the post so only one version is in circulation.
8. Review on a schedule and after every changeAt least once a year, and whenever the site, the client's contact, the alarm system or the law changes. Review them after every serious incident, because the incident is telling you what the orders missed.
9. Have every guard signThe first time a guard works a post, they read the orders and sign Part C. Keep the signed page in their file. Nobody can say "I was never told."

Mistakes we see most

• The binder nobody opens. Forty pages at the post, none on the guard's phone. If the orders are not on the guard's phone or at the post, nobody reads them.
• Instructions that break the law. "Detain shoplifters until police arrive" written by someone who never checked whether the guard may. Have the use-of-force and detention sections checked where the site is.
• Copy-paste from another site. The alarm company's number is for the wrong site, the muster point is a parking lot that does not exist.
• No date, no owner. Three versions in circulation and nobody knows which one is current.
• Written once, in 2019. The client contact left two years ago and the gate code changed, but the orders still say 2019.

Canada: what the Ontario, BC and Alberta rules say

None of the regulations we read for the three big provinces mentions post orders, but each sets rules of conduct that your general orders should repeat, so that a breach of your orders is also visibly a breach of the law.

• Ontario. The Code of Conduct regulation under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005 requires every guard to act with honesty and integrity, comply with all laws, treat everyone equally, avoid profane or abusive language, refrain from unnecessary force, keep information learned on the job confidential and cooperate with police where the law requires it. It bars being unfit for duty through alcohol or drugs. Ontario's training syllabus for security guards does not mention post orders.
• British Columbia. The Security Services Regulation sets out a code of conduct the registrar can attach to any license (section 14): honesty and integrity, no unnecessary force, confidentiality, fitness for duty. Section 7 requires licensed businesses to keep records, including a report on every incident where a security worker used force, for at least two years. It does not mention post orders. Section A5 of the template already requires a written report of every use of force; keep those reports for at least two years.
• Alberta. Licensed security businesses must submit a code of conduct to the Registrar for approval (Alberta's code of conduct guideline). The province's Security Services and Investigators Act policy manual does not mention post orders. Your general orders are the natural place to restate the code you filed.

Some Canadian public clients say "site-specific instructions" rather than "post orders". The City of Winnipeg's security services tender, for example, has the instructions reviewed and updated by the contract administrator, which is the client approval step in Part C of the template.

Post orders in GuardChek

In GuardChek, post orders live on each site's record, next to the schedule, the emergency contacts and the registered vehicles. Each order has a title ("Gate procedure", "Delivery rules"), the instructions, and an optional attached file, so the client's own document or a site map can travel with it. Guards open the site's post orders in the GuardChek app on their own iPhone or Android, with the site information for each shift, so the orders are where the guard is.

The rest of the orders are backed by the software too: guards clock in by GPS inside the site's geofence, patrol routes are NFC checkpoints scanned with the guard's phone, daily activity and incident reports are filed with photos from the app, and the pass-down can be written into the daily activity report instead of a notebook that walks away. See our published pricing.

Frequently asked questions

What are post orders in security?

Post orders are the written instructions for one security post: the guard's duties by time, the access rules, the patrol route, the emergency procedures, who to call, what the guard must never do, and how to hand over to the next shift. Most companies keep general orders that apply everywhere and site-specific orders for each post.

Who writes post orders, the client or the security company?

Usually the security company writes them, with the client, and the client approves them. Some public contracts spell this out: the contractor writes them, submits them within a set time, and uses them only after the client approves.

Are post orders required by law?

Not by name, in the places we checked. California lists "Post Orders & Assignments" as an elective guard training topic. Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta set codes of conduct for guards and licensed businesses, and the rules we read do not mention post orders. Clients and contracts are what require them, and they are the first document anyone asks for after an incident.

How often should post orders be reviewed?

At least once a year, and whenever the site, the contacts, the alarm system or the law changes, and after any serious incident. Public-sector standards that cover post orders require an annual review and a signed acknowledgement from each officer.

How long should post orders be?

As short as the site allows. Each order covers one subject so a guard can find the delivery rule in ten seconds. If an order needs more than a page, it is probably two orders.

Is there a free post orders template I can download?

Yes. The template on this page is free to copy, and the same wording is in the Word file linked above it, ready to edit. Keep Part A for every site and change Part B for each post.

Should guards sign post orders?

Yes. The first time a guard works a post, they read the orders and sign an acknowledgement, and the signed page goes in their file, so there is no dispute later about what they were told.

Sources

Checked on October 26, 2026. Rules change, so check the current rules where your guards work.

• California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, security guard training courses: "Post Orders & Assignments" listed as an elective topic, up to four hours.
• OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.38, Emergency action plans: the minimum elements of a written emergency action plan.
• District of Columbia Department of General Services, sample post orders for contract security personnel: structure, 24-hour clock, incident report contents.
• Baytree Community Development District (Florida), approved post orders: site-specific orders, rules of conduct, emergency and reporting procedure.
• Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, security services scope of work (2023): contractor writes post orders, submits within 14 days, client approves, regular review.
• US Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service guard services statement of work: post orders define the duties; guards shall not deviate from them.
• ICE Performance-Based National Detention Standards 2011, standard 2.9 Post Orders: annual review, signed acknowledgement before assuming a post.
• Montana State Prison, procedure 3.1.2A Post Orders: definition of post orders and annual review.
• Ontario Regulation 363/07, Code of Conduct, under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, 2005.
• Ontario, training syllabus for security guards.
• British Columbia, Security Services Regulation (B.C. Reg. 207/2008): code of conduct, records, uniforms.
• Alberta, guidelines for developing a code of conduct and the Security Services and Investigators Act policy manual.
• City of Winnipeg, security services request for proposal 931-2022: site-specific instructions reviewed by the contract administrator.