Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Department of Public Safety

Massachusetts Security Contractors License

S-License and Certificate of Clearance

     In addition to an electrical license - Anyone who wishes to engage in the business of installing, repairing, maintaining, or selling any Security Systems, CCTV/Surveillance Systems, Access Control Systems, Door Entry Systems must obtain an S-license from the Department of Public Safety.

     The S-license was formerly known as the “Security Systems Contractor’s License.”  The name was recently changed so as to avoid confusion with a wholly different license of a similar name issued by the Board of State Examiners of Electricians.  “Security systems” include any electrical device that is set up to survey or detect intrusion.
      In order to obtain an S-license, a person must hold a valid electrician’s license of any grade and complete the Department’s application process.  You may obtain an application for an initial issuance or renewal by clicking on the appropriate link below.   

      Anyone who holds an S-license may employ as many workers as they deem necessary.  However, every individual employed by an S-license holder (regardless of the employee's position within the company) must obtain a Certificate of Clearance prior to engaging in any work for them.  In order to obtain a Certificate of Clearance for his or her employees, the S-licensed employer must perform a criminal background check on each prospective worker.  The S-licensed employer must then submit an attestation including the results of the background check to the Department.  You may obtain the complete Certificate of Clearance application package, including instructions on how to conduct criminal background checks, by clicking on the “Certificate of Clearance application” link below.

     Though the S-license program has been enhanced and some changes made to the application process, all existing S-licenses, “Security Systems Contractor’s Licenses,” and Certificates of Clearance shall remain valid and do not have to be renewed until they expire.  Renewals must conform to the new requirements.  The laws pertaining to S-licenses and Certificates of Clearance may be found in the Massachusetts General Laws chapter 147, sections 57 through 61. All applications, inquiries or suggestions should be mailed to:  

      Department of Public Safety
S-License
One Ashburton Place Room 1301
Boston, MA 02108

Chapter 147: Section 57. Installation, repair or maintenance of security systems; licensure; exceptions

Section 57. The words “security system”, as used in sections fifty-seven to sixty-one, inclusive, shall mean wires, conduits, apparatus, devices, fixtures, or other appliances installed and interconnected electrically or electronically to permit access control, proprietary signaling, surveillance and the detection of burglary, intrusion, holdup, or other conditions requiring response or the transmission of signals or audible alarms.

No person, firm or corporation shall engage in, advertise, or hold himself or itself out as being engaged in the business of installing, repairing, or offering maintenance for security systems, notwithstanding the name or title used in describing such business, unless licensed for such purpose as provided in sections fifty-eight and fifty-nine of this chapter and section three of chapter one hundred and forty-one. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

Nothing in this section shall apply either to the work of companies subject to regulation by the department of telecommunications and energy and incorporated for the transmission of intelligence by electricity in installing, maintaining or repairing wires, apparatus, fixtures, or other appliances used by such companies and necessary for, or incident to, their business, whether or not such wires, conduits, apparatus, fixtures or other appliances are on its own premises; or the work in connection with the installation, construction, maintenance, repair and renovation of telephone equipment or computer systems by a person, firm or corporation primarily engaged in the telecommunications or information systems industry.