INDEPENDENCE

Certified Security Consultants shall be characterized by professional objectivity and accept no compensation or financial benefit other than their fees or salary, directly or indirectly, as a result of their recommendations to clients. Certified Security Consultants are independent and not affiliated with any manufacturer or vendor of security equipment, nor do they profit in any way from a client’s selection of vendors or contractors. Certified Security Consultants may not sell security equipment or provide any services such as, but not limited to sales and/or installation of, alarms systems, access controls, closed circuit television systems, contract security officers, undercover agents, bodyguards, or protection forces. Certified Security Consultants may not have any form of affiliation with a productor service that could be construed as a possible conflict of interest. Certified Security Consultant’s advice and recommendations are based solely on the needs of their clients. Any person who pays or accepts a fee, a commission, or other valuable consideration from an individual or organization whose equipment, supplies, or services that person might recommend in the course of his or her services to a client shall not become certified or continue as a Certified Security Consultant.

Persons engaged in or providing investigative services, criminal or civil, are not eligible for certification. Certified Security Consultants shall not be known as investigators and will not advertise themselves as such. They will not engage in any of the following activities: divorce, domestic investigations, surveillance, skip tracing, repossession of property, or stand-alone civil or criminal record checks. They will not provide undercover or bodyguard personnel. Nothing contained herein prohibits any CSC from complying with any law or regulation, by any governmental or regulatory body, which requires that Security consultants be licensed as Investigators or any other related license. Certified Security Consultants may "investigate" within broad parameters of the definition of the word, in order to determine the needs of their client. Certified Security Consultants investigate only for the purpose of developing information to complete their surveys, design, or testimony, contracting out traditional investigative work to private investigators or similar practitioners. It is understood that a greater level of investigation may be required of those who specialize in fields of financial fraud, art theft, corporate internal theft and fraud, securities fraud, terrorism-extortion, or similar environments, requiring specialized knowledge and experience outside the scope of the routine private investigator. Certified Security Consultants may not engage in detection of deception by providing polygraph services, pencil and paper honesty testing, voice stress analysis, handwriting or grapho-analysis, or by any other means. If a client requests these types of services, they are to be contracted out to qualified vendors.

Independence shall also include any other requirements as defined by IAPSC By-Laws.

Recertification Activities

To recertify you must attain 60 Recertification Activities during your three-year certification cycle to remain certified. Recertification Activities are earned only for security-, business-, or safety-related learning, teaching, or service activities that are not part of your regular job duties or company-specific training. See the Recertification Activities form  for eligible activities and possible points for each.

Code of Ethics

Certified Security Consultant shall adhere to the CSC Code of Conduct and Ethics.

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