The post orders template
Post orders are the site’s instructions: what the guard must do, when, who to call and where the limits are. Most post orders fail for one of two reasons. They are a 40-page binder nobody has opened since the contract started, or they live in a supervisor’s head.
This template fits on three or four pages. Fill it in with the client during the site walk, number every version, and have each guard sign the current one before their first shift.
POST ORDERS · [Client] · [Site name, address] Version __ · Effective ________ · Approved by (client) ________ (firm) ________ Safety-critical changes since last version: ______________________________ 1. SITE AT A GLANCE Hours of coverage: ________ Posts: ________ Guards per shift: __ Site description (buildings, floors, parking, entrances): __________________ Map / floor plan attached: [ ] yes Keys and access cards issued: __________ 2. CONTACTS AND ESCALATION (who to call, in order) Emergency: 911 · then supervisor ________ (phone) · then client ________ (phone) Building engineer / maintenance on call: ________ Alarm monitoring company + account no.: ________ After-hours client contact for non-emergencies: ________ Escalate to the client within __ minutes for: _____________________________ 3. DUTIES BY TIME OF DAY 06:00–18:00 ___________________________________________________________ 18:00–06:00 ___________________________________________________________ Opening routine: ________ Closing / lock-up routine: ________ 4. ACCESS CONTROL Who may enter, when, and how they are identified: __________________________ Visitor and contractor sign-in: ________ Deliveries after hours: ________ People banned from site (list kept at: ________) 5. PATROLS Rounds: __ per shift, window __:__–__:__ Checkpoints: see attached list At each checkpoint check: ________________________________________________ 6. EMERGENCIES Fire / alarm: ____________ Medical: ____________ Water / gas / power: ____________ Intrusion or break-in: ____________ Evacuation assembly point: ____________ Location of fire panel, first aid kit, AED, shut-offs: ____________________ 7. REPORTING Daily activity report: by __:__ to ________ Incident reports: within __ hours; call supervisor first for ____________ What the client is told directly, and what goes through the supervisor: ________ 8. AUTHORITY AND LIMITS Guards are not police officers. Arrest only as allowed by s. 494 of the Criminal Code, and hand the person to police without delay. No searches of people or bags without consent. Bag checks as a condition of entry: ask, and if refused, refuse entry and log it; never search. Force: only what is necessary to protect yourself or others; report any use. Personal information (visitor logs, CCTV, ID): use only for site security; never photograph or share it outside the reporting system. 9. EQUIPMENT AND UNIFORM Issued equipment: ________ Uniform: ________ Phone / radio check: ________ 10. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have read version __ of these post orders. Name ________ Date ________
Download the Word version
Post orders, the shift passdown and the 30-day new-site checklist as Word pages you can fill in, print, or adapt for each client.
- WordPost orders pack3 templates, 6 pages · 18 KB
Why binders and group chats lose contracts
Clients rarely cancel over one incident. They cancel after months of small signs that the guards don’t know the site: a contractor let in without checking, the wrong person called at 2 a.m., an instruction the client gave in May that nobody on nights ever heard about.
The binder in the guard shack can’t keep up with those changes, so supervisors push updates through group chats. Chats are fast, but handover notes get buried under schedule questions, nobody can tell which instruction is current, and when a guard leaves, the site’s history leaves with their phone. Client access codes and photos of people end up on personal devices, which is hard to square with your obligations under PIPEDA, the provincial privacy laws and Québec’s Law 25.
What goes in each section
- Site at a glance. Enough for a relief guard who has never been there to orient themselves in five minutes, with a map.
- Contacts and escalation. Names and numbers in the order to call them, and the situations that require calling the client directly. Check the numbers by calling them.
- Duties by time of day. Opening and closing routines, recurring tasks, what changes on weekends.
- Access control. Who may enter, how they are identified, what to do with deliveries and contractors after hours.
- Patrols. Number of rounds, time windows and what to check at each checkpoint, not just where to scan.
- Emergencies. One short procedure per type, and where the fire panel, first aid kit, AED and shut-offs are.
- Reporting. When the daily report is due, when an incident report is required, and who tells the client what.
- Authority and limits. The legal limits, written plainly. See the next section.
- Equipment and uniform, and the acknowledgement line with the version number.
See also: How to write a daily activity report · Incident report template
Write the legal limits into the orders
Clients sometimes ask guards to do things the law doesn’t allow, and new guards sometimes believe they have powers they don’t. The post orders are the place to settle it, in writing, before it matters.
In Canada, guards have the arrest powers of any citizen under section 494 of the Criminal Code and must hand an arrested person to police without delay. They have no general power to search people or bags; a bag check as a condition of entry works only with consent, and the answer to a refusal is to refuse entry, not to search. Force must be limited to what is necessary, and any use of it reported.
Add your province’s rules: what guards may carry, uniform and vehicle markings that must not suggest police, and how visitor logs, ID and camera footage are handled as personal information. This is general information, not legal advice; have your lawyer review the authority section once and reuse it on every site.
Shift passdowns that survive the next shift
A passdown is not a chat message. It is a short, structured note the incoming guard reads and initials, and every open item stays open until someone closes it, even if it takes three shifts.
- One item per line, with an owner. “Loading dock door D2 not latching, maintenance ticket 4471, owner: supervisor.”
- Separate the passdown from the chat. Use the chat to talk; use the passdown for anything the next shift must know.
- Client instructions change the post orders, not just the passdown. Anything that should still apply next month goes to the supervisor for a new version.
SHIFT PASSDOWN · [Site] · [Date] · Outgoing ________ → Incoming ________ OPEN ITEMS (one per line · owner · stays open until resolved) [ ] __________________________________________ owner ________ [ ] __________________________________________ owner ________ SYSTEMS Alarm panel: normal / faults: ________ Doors not latching: ________ CCTV: all cameras up? ________ Lights out on patrol route: ________ PEOPLE Expected visitors / contractors next shift: ________ Banned or flagged persons seen today: ________ KEYS AND EQUIPMENT All keys / cards accounted for: [ ] yes [ ] no: ________ Phone / radio charged: [ ] yes CLIENT REQUESTS New instructions received today (who, when, what): ________ (Anything that changes the post orders goes to the supervisor, not just here.) Incoming guard: I have read this passdown. Initials ____ Time __:__
Prove the orders were read
- 1Number every version and keep the previous ones. When something goes wrong, you need to show which instructions applied that night.
- 2Get an acknowledgement before the first shift, and again for every safety-critical change.
- 3Ask two questions on supervisor visits: “Who do you call if the alarm panel shows a fault?” “What do you do if someone refuses a bag check?”
- 4Show the client the record at the quarterly review: current version, who has acknowledged it, and what changed.
A 30-day onboarding checklist for a new site
The first month decides how the client sees the whole contract. Use it to show that you listen and that your guards know the site.
NEW SITE · 30-DAY ONBOARDING CHECKLIST
BEFORE THE FIRST SHIFT
[ ] Site walk with the client: entrances, risks, alarm, shut-offs, parking
[ ] Post orders drafted, reviewed and approved by the client (version 1)
[ ] Contacts and escalation list confirmed by phone
[ ] Checkpoints placed and tested; patrol windows agreed
[ ] Keys, cards and alarm codes received and logged
[ ] Guards assigned are licensed for the province and trained on the site
[ ] Client told what the daily report contains and when it arrives
WEEK 1
[ ] Supervisor on site for the first shift and one night shift
[ ] Daily review of reports and passdowns; fix vague entries the same day
[ ] Post orders updated with what the first week revealed (version 2)
WEEKS 2 TO 4
[ ] Unannounced supervisor visit, day and night
[ ] Tour logs compared with the client's access or camera logs once
[ ] 30-day review meeting with the client: coverage, patrols, incidents,
what the client wants changed
[ ] Record the client's answer to: "What would make you renew?"
Early signs a client is about to leave
Guards often see it before managers do. Take these seriously when they show up together:
- The client starts checking everything, questioning log entries and asking for reports they never read before.
- Instructions change every few days, or arrive through the guards instead of through you.
- Requests to remove a specific guard come more than once.
- Your contact goes quiet, or a new property manager arrives and asks for “a copy of everything”.
- Someone mentions a tender or a review of the security contract.
How GuardDesk handles post orders and passdowns
In GuardDesk, post orders are written per post and versioned. Guards see the current version on their phone and acknowledge it, and a safety-critical change requires a new acknowledgement. The handover board carries open items from shift to shift until someone resolves them, with an owner and an urgency, and each item is marked either internal or visible to the client.
See also: The GuardDesk guard app · Sample daily report
Questions owners ask
What are post orders in security?
Post orders are the written instructions for a specific site and post: duties by time of day, access control, patrols, emergency procedures, reporting, contacts, and the limits of the guard’s authority. Each guard should read and acknowledge the current version before working the post.
How often should security post orders be updated?
Whenever the site or the client’s instructions change, and in any case at a scheduled review, for example every quarter. Number each version, keep the old ones, and require a new acknowledgement for safety-critical changes.
Is it safe to use WhatsApp for security guard passdowns?
Group chats are fine for conversation but poor as a record: notes get buried, you can’t tell which instruction is current, and the history stays on personal phones when guards leave. Client access codes and photos of people also end up on personal devices, which creates privacy-law risks. Use a structured passdown that stays with the site.
How do you make sure guards actually read the post orders?
Keep them short, require an acknowledgement of the current version before the first shift and after each safety-critical change, and ask guards one or two questions from them during supervisor visits.
Why do clients cancel security contracts?
Usually after an accumulation of small failures rather than one incident: guards who don’t know the site, instructions that never reached the night shift, vague reports and slow responses. Current post orders, structured passdowns and regular reviews address most of them.
Sources
General information for security firm owners and managers, not legal advice. Rules change: confirm with the regulator or your lawyer before relying on them. Checked October 14, 2026.