What is a keyholding service?

Keyholding means a security company holds keys to your property and attends when the alarm activates, so that somebody checks the building without you having to go yourself or the police being involved. In the UK it is covered by BS 7984, and staff should be screened to BS 7858.

It answers a practical problem: an alarm activates at 3am, the ARC cannot reach you, and there is no police response because the activation is unconfirmed. Without a keyholder, nothing happens until morning.

A keyholding provider attends, walks the perimeter, checks for signs of entry, resets the alarm if it is a false activation, and secures the building or escalates if it is not. For commercial sites this also covers opening and locking up, and attending for other reasons like fire alarm activations or floods.

Two things to check. First, screening: BS 7858 covers vetting of people who will hold keys to your property, and you want it. Second, response time and geography: a keyholding contract is only as good as the distance from the nearest patrol to your building at 3am on a Sunday, so ask what the realistic attendance time is for your postcode rather than the headline figure.

Keyholding and police response are not alternatives — many sites have both, with the keyholder handling everything that does not meet the confirmed-activation bar.