Key holding and alarm response: a guide for businesses

What is a keyholder?

A keyholder is a person or company that holds the keys to a property and attends when the intruder or fire alarm activates. Alarm receiving centres and, in some cases, the police expect up-to-date keyholder details, and they may not attend an activation without a keyholder able to respond.

Why not use a member of staff?

• Safety: sending an employee alone to a possible break-in at night is a real risk.
• Reliability: staff may be unreachable, asleep or too far away.
• Cost: call-outs, overtime and lost sleep add up quickly.

A professional keyholder sends a trained, licensed response officer instead.

How a professional service works

1. Your keys are collected, coded and stored securely, so they cannot be linked to your address if lost.
2. Your alarm company lists the keyholding company as the contact.
3. When the alarm activates, a response officer attends, checks the premises and resets the alarm where possible.
4. If there is damage or a break-in, the officer can call the police, arrange emergency repairs and stay until the site is secure.
5. You receive a report of the visit.

What BS 7984 means

BS 7984 is the British Standard for keyholding and response services. It sets out good practice for how keys are stored and controlled, how alarm calls are handled, how officers respond and how visits are recorded. Ask any provider whether their service is delivered in line with BS 7984.

Who uses key holding?

Offices, shops, warehouses, schools, places of worship, landlords with empty property and homeowners who travel. For empty buildings see vacant property security, and for full details of our service see mobile patrols and key holding.

Frequently asked questions