What a Deployment Letter Is and Who Receives It
A deployment letter is the document that converts a signed security contract into named guards on named posts. There are two versions. The agency-to-client deployment letter confirms to the client which guards have been deployed at which site, on which posts and shifts, from which date, under which supervisor. The agency-to-guard posting order tells the guard where to report, when, to whom, and what the post requires.
Both matter because the contract itself rarely names guards. A client agreement will say 'six unarmed guards and one supervisor on 12-hour shifts at the Sector 44 warehouse'. The deployment letter is what makes that specific, and it is what a client's facility manager, a PSARA inspector or a labour officer will ask for when they want to know who was supposed to be on post on a given day.
The deployment letter also starts the attendance and billing record. The guards named in it are the guards who should appear in the site attendance register and on the invoice. If someone else appears, the letter is the reference that shows it was a replacement or an error. The guard deployment glossary entry covers the term; this article covers the paperwork.
- Agency to client: confirms the specific guards, posts, shifts, dates and supervisor
- Agency to guard: posting order with reporting instructions and duties
- Bridges the contract's headcount to named individuals
- Reference document for attendance, invoices and inspections
- Reissued on any change of deployment, not amended by WhatsApp
Mandatory Contents
A deployment letter that omits the shift timings, or names the site but not the posts, creates ambiguity that will be used against the agency in the first dispute. The list below is the minimum. Add client-specific requirements (badge numbers, vehicle passes, access zones) where the contract calls for them.
Two fields are frequently missed. The reporting supervisor with a phone number is what lets the client escalate without calling the agency's office. The effective date and, for temporary deployments, the end date are what make the man-day count on the invoice checkable. If the letter is open-ended, say so explicitly ('until further notice or replacement by written order').
- Client name, site name and full site address
- Contract or purchase order reference and date
- Each post by name (Main Gate, Basement B2, Reception, Patrol) with manning hours
- Each shift with exact timings (08:00–20:00, 20:00–08:00) and the guard assigned to it by name and ID
- Reliever arrangement for weekly offs
- Supervisor of record with mobile number and site-visit frequency
- Duties in outline or by reference to the post order
- Uniform, ID card and equipment issued
- Effective date and end date (or 'until further notice')
- Signature of the authorised agency officer and the PSARA licence number
Sample Deployment Letter: Agency to Client
The letter below is a complete sample for a housing society site with three 24×7 posts on 12-hour shifts, using placeholder names. Replace bracketed values with your own. Keep it on the agency letterhead with the PSARA licence number in the footer.
To: The Secretary, [Society Name], [Address]. Subject: Deployment of security personnel at [Society Name] with effect from [date]. Reference: Our agreement dated [date] and your purchase order [number].
Dear Sir or Madam, further to the above agreement, we confirm deployment of the following security personnel at your premises with effect from [date]. The deployment strength is six unarmed guards, one reliever and one supervisor, covering three posts on a 24×7 basis in two 12-hour shifts. Post 1, Main Gate: Day shift 08:00–20:00, [Guard name, ID]; Night shift 20:00–08:00, [Guard name, ID]. Post 2, Rear Gate: Day shift, [Guard name, ID]; Night shift, [Guard name, ID]. Post 3, Basement Parking: Day shift, [Guard name, ID]; Night shift, [Guard name, ID]. Reliever: [Guard name, ID], covering one weekly off slot per day as per the attached duty roster.
The site supervisor of record is [Name, mobile number], who will visit the site at least once per shift and is your first point of contact for any operational matter. All personnel have completed antecedent verification and training as required under PSARA and hold agency photo identity cards. Duties at each post are as per the post orders handed over to your office. Attendance will be recorded at each post through our attendance application and a monthly site-wise attendance statement will be shared with you before invoicing. Any change of personnel will be intimated in writing. For [Agency name], [Authorised signatory, designation]. Enclosures: duty roster for [month]; copies of guard ID cards; post orders.
Sample Posting Order: Agency to Guard
The posting order is shorter and written for the guard. It should fit on one page, be handed over in person or in the app, and be acknowledged. Where the guard is more comfortable in Hindi or the local language, issue a bilingual version; the acknowledgement is only meaningful if the guard understood it.
Posting Order. To: [Guard name], Employee ID [number]. You are hereby posted at [Client name, site address] with effect from [date]. Post: [Post name]. Shift: [08:00–20:00 or 20:00–08:00]. Weekly off: [day], covered by reliever [name]. Reporting supervisor: [Name, mobile]. Report to the site 15 minutes before shift start in full uniform with your agency ID card. Mark your attendance through the attendance app at the post on arrival and departure; do not leave the post until relieved. Duties are as per the post order attached. Any incident is to be reported immediately to the supervisor and recorded in the incident report. Non-reporting without prior sanctioned leave will be treated as absence. Acknowledged: [Guard signature, date]. Issued by: [Officer name, designation].
The post order glossary entry explains what the attached post order should contain: the specific duties, access rules and emergency contacts for that post. The posting order says where and when; the post order says what.
- One page, bilingual where needed, acknowledged by the guard
- Site, post, shift, weekly off, reliever, supervisor with number
- Reporting time, uniform, ID card, attendance method
- Reference to the post order for duties
- Consequence of non-reporting stated plainly
Deployment Plan and Strength Chart
The deployment plan is the agency's internal master: every site, every post, every shift, the guards assigned and the relievers, with the totals that drive recruitment and billing. It is the document the roster is built from and the section 15 register's client list is drawn from. The security guard deployment sheet template provides the layout; the logic is below.
For each site, list posts down the left. For each post, columns for manning hours, shift pattern (2 × 12 or 3 × 8), guards per shift, total regular guards, reliever share, supervisor share, and total deployed strength. Sum per site and per client. A three-post 24×7 site on 12-hour shifts shows 6 regular guards, 1 reliever (the 3 × 0.33 rounded up), and a fractional supervisor if the supervisor covers several sites. The duty roster guide explains the guard-count arithmetic in detail.
Keep the plan versioned. When a client adds a post or drops a night shift, issue a new version with an effective date. The difference between versions is exactly what the change-of-deployment letter must communicate and what the invoice must reflect from that date.
- Rows: site and post; columns: hours, pattern, guards per shift, regulars, relievers, supervisor, total
- Totals per site and per client for recruitment and billing
- Reliever share = 0.33 per 12-hour 24×7 post, 0.5 per 8-hour 24×7 post
- Supervisor share where one supervisor covers several sites
- Version and date every change; the roster and invoice follow the current version
Change-of-Deployment and Replacement Letters
Guards move. A guard resigns, a client asks for a particular guard to be withdrawn, a reliever becomes permanent, a post is added. Each of these needs a short written intimation to the client, because the deployment letter named specific people and the attendance and invoice will now show different ones.
A replacement letter states: with effect from [date], [outgoing guard name, ID] is withdrawn from [post, shift] at [site] and [incoming guard name, ID] is deployed in his place; the incoming guard has completed verification and training; all other terms of the deployment letter dated [date] remain unchanged. A change-of-deployment letter for an added or removed post repeats the affected post lines from the original letter with the new configuration and states the revised deployment strength and billing effect.
Send these before the change takes effect where possible and always within the same day. Clients who receive a replacement letter accept the new face at the gate; clients who do not may refuse entry, and the post goes unmanned while everyone makes calls.
- Replacement: outgoing guard, incoming guard, post, shift, effective date, verification confirmation
- Change of deployment: affected posts, new configuration, revised strength, billing effect
- Issue before the change or same day, in writing
- Attach the incoming guard's ID card copy
- Update the deployment plan version at the same time
Keeping Deployment Records for PSARA and Billing
Deployment letters, posting orders, plans and change letters are records the Controlling Authority can ask for and that a client's auditor will want when reconciling invoices. File them by client and by month, with the deployment plan version in force for each period. The PSARA compliance checklist shows where these sit in the wider record set.
Agencies running more than a handful of sites eventually find that the plan in Excel, the letters in Word, the roster on WhatsApp and the attendance in a register cannot be kept consistent by hand. Attend Mitra's security guard deployment management software holds site-wise deployment with post assignment per guard, so the deployment plan is a live view, the posting order is what the guard sees in the app, and guard attendance with GPS and selfie is checked against the post the guard was deployed to. Site-wise man-hour exports then match the deployment record without a reconciliation step. The multi-site guard tracking guide covers the operational side once the deployment is live.