Office Building Security Guard Cost, Is It Worth It?

a couple of tall buildings sitting next to each other

Is Hiring Security Guards Worth It for Your Office Building? A Cost-Benefit Breakdown

Yes, and most office building managers who hesitate aren't weighing the full picture. The office building security guard cost typically runs between $25–$55+ per hour in Los Angeles County depending on coverage hours and scope, but that number means nothing in isolation. What matters is how that cost compares to the financial exposure you already carry without a guard program: tenant turnover from safety complaints, uninsured losses from theft or vandalism, liability claims from incidents with no documented response, and the slow bleed of unmonitored access that erodes property value. When you run the actual numbers, the question isn't whether you can afford security, it's whether you can afford to keep operating without it.

The property managers who struggle to justify security guard cost for an office building are almost always looking at the line item in a vacuum. They see a monthly invoice and compare it to… nothing. No incident happened last month, so the expense feels discretionary. But that's the same logic that makes people cancel insurance after a quiet year. The risk didn't disappear, it just hasn't materialized yet.

What changes the conversation is reframing security as risk transfer, not just labor. A well-run unarmed guard program doesn't just put a body in your lobby. It gives you:

Documented access control enforcement
Verifiable patrol coverage with timestamps and GPS
Incident reporting with defined escalation timelines
A supervision system that holds officers accountable shift after shift

That's not a cost center, that's an operational layer that protects revenue, reduces liability, and gives you proof of due diligence if anything goes sideways.

The real question isn't "is hiring security guards worth it", it's whether the security program you're evaluating actually delivers measurable outcomes, or just gives you a warm body and a false sense of coverage. The difference between those two options is where ROI lives or dies.

What Most Office Building Managers Get Wrong About Security Costs

The biggest mistake in evaluating office building security guard cost is treating it as a standalone line item instead of mapping it against the costs it displaces. Most facility and property managers have never actually calculated what unmanaged risk is costing their building, because those costs are scattered across different budgets and rarely attributed to the absence of security.

Tenant turnover is the clearest example. When a tenant doesn't renew, the stated reason is usually "fit" or "growth." But dig into satisfaction surveys or exit interviews and you'll find safety perception ranks consistently among the top drivers:

Feeling unsafe in the parking garage after hours
Complaints about loitering near building entrances
Concerns about uncontrolled after-hours access
Incidents in common areas with no documented response

One mid-size tenant leaving a Class B office building in Los Angeles County can cost $50,000–$150,000+ in vacancy loss, TI costs, and broker commissions. That dwarfs a year of guard coverage.

The security guard ROI for a commercial property also becomes obvious when you factor in insurance. Many commercial property insurers in California offer premium reductions or more favorable terms when a building can demonstrate a professionally managed security program. The gap between "we have cameras" and "we have a managed guard program with weekly KPI scorecards and supervisor check-ins" is material in an underwriter's risk assessment.

Checklist: 5 Hidden Costs of NOT Having Security at Your Office Building

Use this checklist to build your internal business case. Each item represents a cost category that's likely already hitting your building's P&L, just not labeled as a "security" expense.

Tenant Turnover and Vacancy Loss Tenants who feel unsafe don't renew. Safety perception directly affects retention, especially for buildings with after-hours activity, shared parking, or ground-floor retail. Calculate: what does one mid-size tenant departure actually cost your building in lost rent, downtime, and re-leasing expense?
Liability and Legal Exposure If someone is assaulted, injured, or harassed on your property and you can't demonstrate reasonable security measures, you're exposed. In California, premises liability claims for inadequate security can result in six- and seven-figure settlements. The absence of documented patrol logs, incident reports, and an escalation protocol weakens your legal position significantly.
Insurance Premium Creep Buildings with incident histories or no documented security protocols pay more, or face coverage restrictions. A single claim can spike your renewal. A professional guard program with real-time reporting and patrol verification gives your insurer evidence of proactive risk management.
Incident Response Time and Damage Amplification Without a guard on site, who responds when something happens at 2 AM? A broken window, a trespasser in the garage, a water leak spotted on patrol, every hour of delay amplifies the cost. Guards trained on your building's specific post orders and escalation chain respond immediately and document everything.
Theft, Vandalism, and Property Damage Package theft from lobbies, graffiti in stairwells, vehicle break-ins in the garage, copper wire theft from mechanical rooms, these aren't rare events in LA County commercial properties. Each one costs money to repair and erodes tenant confidence. A visible, accountable guard presence is the single most effective deterrent.

Action Step: Walk through this checklist with your finance team. Assign a rough dollar figure to each category based on your building's last 24 months. You'll likely find the total exceeds the annualized cost of a guard program by a significant margin.

How to Evaluate Whether a Security Program Will Actually Deliver ROI

Not all security guard programs are equal, and the wrong one can actually make your cost-benefit equation worse, you pay the invoice but still carry the same risks because the program isn't managed, supervised, or documented. Here's how to separate a measurable security program from "security theater."

A program that delivers real security guard ROI for a commercial property should give you four things you can verify:

Patrol verification with timestamps and geolocation showing that routes were actually walked
Real-time incident reporting so you know what happened on every shift without waiting for a weekly recap
Supervisor check-ins at least weekly with a documented checklist and instant client notification
Monthly KPI scorecards that track guard performance against defined standards

If a provider can't show you these four things with actual systems, not just promises in a proposal, you're buying a warm body, not a program. And a warm body doesn't move the ROI needle.

Justify the Investment: What to Bring to Your Leadership Team

If you're the facility manager or property manager tasked with building the case for security, here's how to frame it so your owner, VP of Operations, or regional director can make a fast, confident decision:

Frame it as risk transfer, not new expense. Show the costs you're already incurring (use the checklist above) and position the guard program as the mechanism that reduces or eliminates them. Leadership responds to "this replaces $X in exposure" faster than "this costs $Y per month."

Quantify the exposure you can't insure away. Tenant turnover, reputation damage, and the operational cost of managing incidents without a professional response system are real expenses that don't show up on your insurance policy.

Ask your provider to show their systems before you sign. A provider that offers weekly supervisor check-ins with instant client notification, real-time reporting, patrol verification, and monthly KPI scorecards isn't just selling labor, they're selling accountability. That's the difference between a cost and an investment.

Frame it as risk transfer, not new expense. Show the costs you're already incurring (use the checklist above) and position the guard program as the mechanism that reduces or eliminates them. Leadership responds to "this replaces $X in exposure" faster than "this costs $Y per month."
Quantify the exposure you can't insure away. Tenant turnover, reputation damage, and the operational cost of managing incidents without a professional response system are real expenses that don't show up on your insurance policy.
Ask your provider to show their systems before you sign. A provider that offers weekly supervisor check-ins with instant client notification, real-time reporting, patrol verification, and monthly KPI scorecards isn't just selling labor, they're selling accountability. That's the difference between a cost and an investment.
Request a Free Security Audit a 30-minute call where a security professional walks through your building's specific risk profile, identifies gaps, and gives you a concrete recommendation. No obligation, no generic pitch.

Questions to Ask Any Security Provider Before Signing

Before you commit budget, pressure-test any provider with these questions, they'll tell you quickly whether you're getting a real program or just filling a post:

"How do you verify that patrols are actually being completed?" - Look for scan-based checkpoint verification with GPS and timestamps, not just the guard's word.
"What happens if my guard falls asleep or leaves post?" - Look for a documented disciplinary ladder (verbal warning → written → termination), a list of prohibited actions, and a supervisor system that catches issues before you do.
"How will I know what happened on my property overnight?" - Look for real-time reporting with defined timelines: life-safety incidents within 15 minutes, serious events within 1 hour, routine observations within 24 hours. If the answer is "we'll send you a report at the end of the week," that's a red flag.
"How often does a supervisor physically visit my site?" - Look for at least weekly on-site supervisor visits with a standardized checklist and client notification after each one.
"Can you show me a sample KPI scorecard?" - Look for monthly performance scorecards per guard and per site, not just a verbal assurance that they "monitor quality."

FAQs

Hourly rates for unarmed security guards at LA County office buildings generally range from $25–$55+ per hour depending on the scope of coverage, hours required, and the level of management and reporting included. A provider that includes supervision, patrol verification, real-time reporting, and KPI scorecards will cost more per hour than a "warm body" provider, but the total cost of ownership is typically lower because you're getting actual risk reduction, not just a presence.

Cameras record, they don't respond, de-escalate, enforce access policies, or file incident reports in real time. Access control systems only work when doors stay closed and credentials are managed. The most common security gaps in office buildings, tailgating, door propping after hours, unauthorized visitors, happen precisely where technology alone fails. A guard program fills the gaps that hardware can't cover.

ROI depends on your building's specific risk profile, but the math typically includes:

Reduced tenant turnover from fewer safety complaints
Lower insurance premiums or better policy terms
Faster incident response that limits damage costs
Documented due diligence that strengthens your legal position
Deterrence of theft, vandalism, and trespassing

Most property managers find that the cost of one averted incident or one retained tenant covers several months of guard coverage.

Unarmed guards don't have police powers, and any provider who suggests otherwise is misrepresenting the service. What a well-trained unarmed guard does deliver is visible deterrence, professional de-escalation, strict access control enforcement, thorough documentation, and immediate escalation to law enforcement when needed. The value isn't in physical force, it's in the system that surrounds the guard: post orders, patrol verification, reporting timelines, and a supervision loop that ensures consistent execution.

Reframe the conversation from "expense" to "risk transfer." Use the 5 hidden costs checklist (tenant turnover, liability, insurance, incident response time, theft/damage) to assign dollar values to the exposure your building already carries. Then compare that total to the annualized cost of a managed guard program. Most owners approve quickly when they see the cost of doing nothing laid out clearly.

Start with the basics: active BSIS (Bureau of Security and Investigative Services) licensing, proper insurance, and compliance with California labor laws. Then go deeper: ask about their supervision system, reporting technology, patrol verification methods, incident escalation timelines, and whether they produce regular KPI scorecards. The difference between a good and bad security company isn't the guard at the door, it's the management system behind them.