Patrol verification clause for security guard contracts

Updated October 22, 2026

A patrol verification clause makes the security company prove each round with a record the client can check, and ties the monthly fee to that proof. Below is sample language property managers can adapt for a security services agreement. Have your attorney review it before you use it.

What does the clause do?

• Defines proof. A round counts when each checkpoint is scanned, and each scan carries a time and a location.
• Gives the client access. The property manager can review the record at any time, without asking the security company for a report.
• Sets the standard. Scheduled scans come from the post orders: checkpoints multiplied by rounds.
• Prices a miss. Each day under 90% of scheduled scans reduces the monthly fee by $100.

How does the fee reduction work? A worked example

A community posts 10 checkpoints, and the post orders call for 6 rounds a night. Scheduled scans are 10 × 6 = 60 a night, and 90% of that is 54.

Two short nights that week reduce the monthly fee by $200.

How do you choose the numbers?

• The threshold. 90% leaves room for a dead phone battery or a checkpoint blocked by a delivery truck. A lower number tolerates more skipped checkpoints.
• The amount. Size the reduction against what you pay for a night of service. It should matter to the company, and be easy to defend as a fair estimate of what a missed round costs you.
• The day. Overnight shifts cross midnight. Say whether a "day" means a calendar day or a shift, and use the same definition in the post orders.
• The checkpoints. List them in the post orders exhibit, with the number of rounds per shift, so both sides count scheduled scans the same way.

Where should the clause go?

Put it in your next request for proposals, so every bidder prices it in. At renewal, add it as an amendment. For a contract already running, ask the security company to start scanning now and agree on the fee reduction at the next renewal.

What will the security company ask?

• What if a code is torn down? The property reprints it; a reprint is the same code. The clause can exclude a checkpoint the contractor reported damaged until it is replaced.
• What if a guard's phone dies? That is what the 10% margin covers. A company that loses phones every night has a staffing problem the clause should catch.
• Who owns the record? The client. The property manager's Accountaguard account holds it, and the contractor reviews it with the client.

Questions property managers ask