How to check an assessor is independent of any product sale

An assessor with a financial stake in selling you particular equipment or services will steer the audit toward recommending those products, whether they solve your actual problem or not. You need to know how to verify that someone conducting a security assessment is truly independent before you hire them.

Check for direct sales ties to product brands

The clearest conflict happens when an assessor owns, profits from or is contracted to promote a specific brand of cameras, safes, alarms, fencing or monitoring systems. Start by asking directly: "Do you sell or install any of the products you might recommend in this audit?" Press for specificity—they might say no to "selling" but still earn commission on referrals, or hold a reseller license for a particular brand. Request a written statement of any commercial relationships with product manufacturers or installation companies. If they hesitate, that's a red flag.

Next, search the assessor's business registration on CIPC to see what services and goods are listed. If the entity is registered as both an audit firm and a security equipment supplier, ask how they manage that conflict. A genuine independent assessor will have thought about this and have a clear policy—for example, they may use a separate legal entity for any sales work, or refer all product recommendations to third parties. Vague answers suggest the separation doesn't exist in practice.

Verify they're not captive to an installer or integrator

Many assessors are employed by or contracted exclusively to security installation companies. An installer's audit is not independent because every finding becomes a job order. Ask whether the assessor has any contractual obligation to recommend work to a particular installer, or whether they're incentivised (bonus, commission, KPI) when their recommendations lead to sales. Request the names of the last five clients and check whether those clients ended up hiring the same installer—a pattern suggests capture.

Phone a reference client directly and ask them: "Did the assessor recommend equipment or services, and if so, did you end up hiring their company to install it?" If every recommendation flowed through to the same installer, independence is compromised. A truly independent assessor should be comfortable with you shopping their recommendations to different service providers.

Look for professional registration separate from sales

In South Africa, there is no single statutory body that registers security assessors as a discipline. However, consultants working in risk and security often hold credentials from bodies like SASSETA or SIRA (Security Institute of South Africa), or certifications like CCSA (Certified Crime Scene Analyst) or relevant forensic and security qualifications. While these don't guarantee independence, they do signal that the person has committed to professional standards outside a single company. Check whether they list their credentials and the bodies that issued them—you can then contact those bodies to verify the registration exists and is current.

Ask specifically: "Are you registered with any professional body, and do their ethics rules require you to disclose conflicts of interest?" If the answer is no, and they work solo or only for an installer, there's no external check on their independence. An assessor subject to a professional code at least has something to lose if they're found to have breached it.

Get written confirmation of scope and independence before work starts

Before you sign any agreement, ask for a one-page statement that covers: the assessor's fees and how they're charged (daily rate, fixed fee, percentage of findings, etc.); any commercial relationships with product, monitoring or installation companies; their policy on recommending products versus services that the client must source independently; and a commitment that the report will include findings even if they don't lead to a sale. A professional assessor will provide this without fuss. If they refuse or say "we don't usually do that," walk away.

The whole point of commissioning an independent audit is to get an honest picture of your vulnerabilities. An assessor with sales incentives will find reasons to recommend expensive fixes you might not need. Verification takes only a few phone calls and one or two direct questions before hiring. Spend that time upfront rather than discovering later that every recommendation conveniently profits the auditor.