Security and protection obligations of Romanian Companies - Security Plan. Personnel. Specific Rules

Security and protection obligations of Romanian Companies - Security Plan. Personnel. Specific Rules

Romanian companies have the legal obligation to organize and ensure the security and protection of their objectives, goods, and assets under the responsibility of those in charge of their management.

 

Security and Protection Activities aim to ensure the safety of people, objectives, goods, and assets, including supporting authorities in identifying those who commit crimes against persons and property.

In general terms, security and protection can be ensured either by specialized personnel employed directly by the company or by specialized security and protection companies.

Security personnel, whether internal or external, cannot be involved in forced actions, debt recoveries, labor conflicts, or opposing actions aimed at restoring public order by the authorities.

 

1. Specialized Personnel Employed Directly by the Company:

• Guards, doormen, access controllers, supervisors, value escorts, or persons designated by management with responsibilities for training, control, and coordinating security activities.
  
  Employment conditions for such roles:
  Romanian or EU/EEA citizen, over 18 years of age, medically fit, without criminal records for intentional crimes, and holding a professional certificate (issued by the DGPMB/IPJ from their home/residence area).
  
  A criminal record check is mandatory for employment (in line with GDPR regulations – a legal obligation), along with the professional certificate.
  
  It is also possible to hire someone without a certificate for up to 3 months while they are in the process of obtaining it, unless the law requires qualified personnel based on the activity's nature.
  
  ​Personnel must be equipped with uniforms, protective gear, distinctive insignia, and an identification badge containing their photo, full name, the name of the company they work for, the series and number of their professional certificate.
  
  The provision of firearms, rubber batons, small capacity tear gas sprays (100 ml), and other authorized defense means can only be done with police approval.
  
  It is prohibited to use or equip with hoods, face masks, or metal handcuffs.
  
  For units where the number of security posts exceeds 20, the management structure must include a chief of the security service and a shift supervisor.

2. Specialized Security and Protection Companies:

• Established according to the law.
• Holding a specific activity license issued by IGPR (General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police), with prior approval from the SRI (Romanian Intelligence Service).
• The leadership must also have obtained approval from the IPJ (County Police Inspectorate) or DGPMB (General Directorate of Bucharest City Police), depending on the company’s seat location.

Such companies may provide security services for environments, objectives, goods, values, intellectual property, transportation (including data transfers), individuals (bodyguards), as well as consulting services in their field of expertise (assisting with the preparation and implementation of security and protection plans, conducting risk analyses, evaluations, and reports).

Specialized companies must equip their personnel with uniforms, distinctive insignia (as determined in the approval procedure), identification cards, and means of intervention and individual defense, as required by law.

Security and protection measures and means must be based on a physical security risk analysis, carried out according to instructions from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (M.A.I.), specialist structures, or authorized experts.

If the analysis concludes that sufficient physical means and technical systems for alarm, monitoring, and intervention are in place, without the need for human security personnel, a security plan is not required.

Otherwise, security is organized and carried out according to the security plan, which must consider specific criteria regarding the nature of the objectives, goods, and values to be protected, location, size, and vulnerability of the unit, the number of shifts, access points, etc.
 

The security plan and the measures implemented must be proportional to the scope of the company's activity. In some cases, it may not be feasible to implement an organized security system, but the unit leader must ensure at least the minimum legal level of protection.
 

The security plan must be adopted and modified only with police approval.

The security plan should include details on:

• The characteristics of the objective.
• The required personnel for security, guard posts, or service rooms, and their placement.
• The specific responsibilities of the involved persons and the documents used in their activities (explicitly defined in the methodological norms).
• Norms regarding the specific training and control of personnel.
• Rules of access and circulation within the unit.
• Security facilities, installations, and technical means (e.g., fences, grilles, shutters, secure locks, security lighting, video surveillance systems/motion sensors).
  
  The existence of surveillance systems must be signalled through the unit.
  
  If criminal acts are recorded via closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, the monitoring entity must provide the video and/or audio recordings to the judicial authorities upon their written request.
   
• Spaces and facilities for ensuring the safety of weapons and ammunition used for security services (if applicable).
• Security and alarm systems (e.g., optical and acoustic signaling, detectors, panic buttons and pedals, access control, CCTV with recording and data storage capabilities).
  
  Note: The design, installation, modification, or maintenance of alarm systems against burglary must be done by IGPR-licensed companies or by individuals approved by IPJ/DGPMB.
  
  For certain objectives (e.g., warehouses with goods valued over 10,000 euros or equivalent, currency exchange points, pawn shops, units specializing in precious metal or stone jewelry, gambling establishments), the proposed alarm system installations must be approved by the DGPMB/IPJ according to the location of the objective.
   
• If the alarm system is connected to a monitoring center that transmits alarm signals
  
  Alerts will be monitored by the center, which can ensure rapid intervention by specialized personnel, with the possibility of requesting support from public law enforcement forces.

 

Specific Security and Protection Obligations Based on the Activity types:

 

Transporting Goods and Values:
Requires special, detailed security plans that specify the goods and values to be transported, environmental conditions, operational status, duration of transport, transport means, transport variants, security devices, and instructions for personnel involved.
The security plan must be updated only when modifications occur to the elements considered in the initial approved plan.
The plan must be submitted to the territorial police unit at least 15 days before the transport activity begins.

 

Security Conditions for Transporting Specific Value Margins:

• For goods valued at 500,000 euros or more (or equivalent), armored transport and armed guards (either military or specialized company personnel) are required by law.
• For goods valued between 150,000 and 500,000 euros, armored or semi-armored transport with armed guards is required.
• For goods valued between 10,000 and 150,000 euros, armored or specially equipped transport with qualified and certified security personnel is required.
• Transport of goods valued under 10,000 euros is not mandatory for security.

 

Transportation Vehicle Security

Vehicles must be equipped with security, alarm, monitoring, localization, and surveillance devices, and communication equipment on legally approved frequencies.
Transporters must ensure continuous monitoring of the transport and immediately notify the police if any danger arises.

 

For Public Locations

Administrators of public places such as hotels, motels, campsites, clubs, and entertainment venues must employ qualified and certified security personnel, as required by law.

 

Agricultural Landowners
Legal entities owning or exploiting agricultural land may organize field security either individually or in cooperation with others, as per the law.

 

Minimum security requirements for different functional areas and categories of units are established by Methodological Norms.

Specific minimum security requirements include:

• Banking institutions
• Cooperative organizations and non-banking financial institutions handling cash transactions
• Currency exchange companies
• Pawn shops
• Units engaged in precious metal or stone jewelry activities
• Firearm and ammunition retailers
• Fuel stations
• Commercial spaces larger than 500 m2
• Gambling establishments with on-site prize payouts
• Utility company cashiers
• Automated cash transaction machines

Failure to comply with legal obligations may result in fines ranging from 100 to 50,000 lei ( 20 EUR - 10.000 EUR) , depending on the specific offense, with the possibility of cumulative fines for distinct offenses.
 

A complaint can be filed against the violation report within 15 days of notification to the relevant court.

 

At Legal Pro Advisory, we offer advice on specific issues, drafting internal compliance documents, supporting licensing, certification, and approval procedures, and helping companies meet legal operational requirements while avoiding sanctions.  We also provide representation in disputes to challenge sanctions.