The new standard consists of a certifiable quality standard for private security companies that deliver services for critical infrastructure protection (CIP), and specifies service requirements for quality in organisation, processes, personnel and management when delivering services in CIP.

EN 17483-1 targets those organisations dealing with the security of critical infrastructure: operators of Critical Infrastructure, to help them when selecting apt security-providers as contractors; private security companies, to show they offer a service of high value; and, more broadly, anyone who is directly or indirectly involved in or affected by a procurement process for the protection of critical infrastructure.

The importance of EN 17483-1 is due to the fact that it provides the general foundation of a complete standards system for critical infrastructure protection: on it, several sector-specific standards will be developed. In particular, it gives the main overarching requirements for the provision of private security services for CIP, thus providing guidance to both public and private customers of private security through different key cross-sectoral quality criteria, thus allowing them to select a high-quality provider. Finally, the new standard enables contracting parties to issue clear and detailed specifications of their requirements to prospective tenderers, thus generating a higher quality response.

EN 17483-1 was developed by CEN/TC 439 ‘Private Security Services’, whose Secretariat is currently held by Austrian Standards. CEN/TC 439 will also oversee the development of future additional sectoral standards (EN 17483-X), for example in aviation security, port and maritime security, energy, etc. in order to meet the market needs for quality standards.