Door Supervisor Sign-In: Building a Register That Holds Up
Every door supervisor on your premises should be logged by name, SIA licence number, and time on duty. Here is how to do it without adding paperwork.
If the licensing authority asks who was on your door on a specific night six months ago, you need an answer in minutes. That answer is a door supervisor register - a signed, timestamped record of every SIA-licensed staff member who worked at your premises.
Most venues think they have one. Most have a clipboard with illegible initials. The difference matters.
What a proper register contains
For every door supervisor on every shift:
- Full name (not "Jamie" - Jamie Ross)
- SIA licence number (8 digits, on the physical badge)
- Start time (when they came on duty, not when the shift was scheduled to start)
- End time (when they actually finished)
- Position (main door, VIP entrance, roaming inside, smoking area)
- Employer (agency name or "direct employ")
- Signature confirming the above
That is what a clean entry looks like. Every other version - "8 lads on tonight", "the usuals", "DB + SL" - leaves you defenceless.
Why the SIA number matters
Your licence condition almost certainly includes: "All security personnel engaged at the premises shall hold a valid SIA licence."
"Hold a valid SIA licence" is a specific, verifiable fact. The SIA publishes a public licence checker. Anyone can look up a licence number and confirm it is current.
If your register does not capture the number, you cannot prove the condition was met. "He showed me his badge" is not evidence three months later.
Agency versus direct employ
If you use a door agency, the agency should supply a nightly manifest. Keep it. Reconcile it against the register of who actually turned up.
Common gap: agency sends the manifest for four staff. Only three arrive. The fourth is replaced by someone else the agency sourced at short notice. Nobody updates the manifest. You are left explaining a discrepancy in a review.
Rule: the person standing on your door goes in your register. The agency's paperwork is secondary.
Badge checks
Best practice is a physical badge check at the start of every shift, logged against the register:
- Badge displayed on outer clothing (SIA requirement)
- Licence number matches the register entry
- Photograph on the badge matches the person presenting it
- Expiry date is in the future
30 seconds per badge. Five staff in 3 minutes. A separate column in the register ticks "badge verified".
The common pitfalls
"They popped out for 20 minutes"
If a door supervisor leaves the premises for any reason, log it. Time out, time in, reason. If something happens in those 20 minutes, you need to know the door was short-staffed and by whom.
Shift handover
A replacement arrives at 22:00. The morning shift signs off. The replacement signs on. Both are on the register. Not one overwriting the other.
The promoter brings "his own security"
Sometimes a promoter or a private hire client brings additional security. These people are still subject to the same rules if they are acting in a door supervisor capacity on your premises. Check their SIA credentials. Add them to the register. No exceptions.
After-hours private events
The register does not stop at closing time. If door staff remain on-site for a private function, they remain on the register until they leave.
What the licensing authority is actually testing
Three things, in order:
- Do you have the register at all?
- Is it accurate on the nights in question?
- Does it match the badge numbers of the people on your premises?
The third is the killer. An authority can ask who Jamie Ross is on the register, then ask you to produce Jamie Ross. If Jamie Ross is not the person who was on the door that night, you have a problem.
Digital versus paper
A phone or tablet at the door, with a scan-the-badge or enter-the-number flow, produces a cleaner register than any paper clipboard.
- Timestamps are automatic and unalterable
- Signatures are captured digitally
- Badge photos can be attached to the register entry
- Each shift exports as a PDF
- Cross-referencing with incident logs happens automatically
None of this is required. All of it is cheaper than defending a review with a damaged paper log.
Holocron's door register captures name, SIA number, start and end times, position, and a badge photo for every staff member on every shift. Incident logs automatically link to the door supervisors who were on position when the incident happened. Exportable as a single PDF for any authority that asks.