Reliable Guard & Patrol Service posts licensed overnight officers on Houston commercial job sites, 7 nights a week or weekends only, on the window you set. Texas DPS license B07315701, active since 2018. This page covers the part most vendors will not put in writing: when in the build to turn the night on, how to turn an hourly quote into a monthly number, and what belongs in the post order before an officer works your first shift.
When In The Build To Turn The night On
Start overnight coverage the week the site first holds something worth a truck, not at mobilization. Paying for a night post over an empty pad buys a chair.
2 events move a Houston job from weekends-only to every night. The first is wire landing in the Conex. The second is the first generator or lift staying on site overnight. Everything before that is usually handled by a locked gate, keys out of the iron and GPS on the rentals.
Here is how that maps across a Houston commercial build.
- Site prep and clearing. A rented dozer, a skid steer and fuel. Usually no post yet. Lock the iron, keep GPS on the rentals, and read the rental house recovery terms before you assume you are covered.
- Foundation and underground. Rebar, forms, pumps and 1 portable generator. Borderline. Weekends and holidays carry most sites at this stage.
- Structure and dry-in. Generators, compressors, lifts and the first large material drops. Start the post the week of the first big drop.
- MEP rough-in. Copper wire, conduit, switchgear and HVAC units. This is the highest-exposure phase on a Houston build, and the one worth 7 nights.
- Finishes. Appliances, fixtures, flooring, doors and windows. Keep the post and move the round inside the building.
- Punch and turnover. Tools, ladders and remaining stock. Taper back to weekends and holidays.
You can turn a post off and back on. Coverage is written weekly or month to month, so a job that goes quiet for a 3-week material delay does not have to keep paying for a body. Tell your account supervisor the date and the post stops.
The best security company for a Houston commercial site is the one that can prove three things before an officer starts: an active Texas Department of Public Safety license at the right level for your risk, coverage you can verify (GPS-logged patrols and written incident reports, not a promise), and a certificate of insurance in your name. Match the officer type to the actual threat, unarmed for deterrence and observe-and-report, armed for cash handling or a specific violent-threat history. Check the license yourself on the Texas TOPS portal, ask for the certificate of insurance the same day, and read the company’s complaint history before you sign. A company that shows you the paperwork without being pushed is usually the one worth hiring.
How To Turn An Hourly Quote Into A Monthly Number
Multiply weekly hours by 4.33, not by 4. That single correction is the difference between the budget you present and the invoice you get.
A 12-hour night, 7 nights a week, is 84 hours a week and about 364 hours a month. A weekend-only 12-hour night is 24 hours a week and about 104 hours a month. Take whatever hourly figure a vendor gives you, multiply by those, and you have the real line item before anyone signs.
Then ask about the minimum. 4 hours is the common floor in this market and some Houston companies hold out for 8. “A couple of hours after the last weld” is usually not something you can buy, and a short shift almost always carries a higher hourly rate than a full one. Get the minimum in hours on the first call, because 2 quotes with different minimums are not comparable no matter how close the hourly numbers look.
3 more things belong on the same call: whether the rate changes on weekends and holidays, whether a marked vehicle stays on site or the officer is on foot, and whether the post is yours alone or shared across a rotation. A rotation across several sites is a different product from a post that stays on yours, and the 2 should never be quoted as the same thing.
An overnight construction post is quoted per site, because acreage, gate count, existing lighting and whether there is a trailer with power all move the number. What you get on the first call is the hourly rate, the minimum and the post order. A vendor who will not give all 3 on the first call is going to cost you 2 weeks getting to the same place.
The Overnight Post Order, In Writing Before Night One
Ask for the post order before you sign, not after the first incident. “Patrol the site” is how you get a sleeping officer and an open container.
This is the overnight document we attach to a construction quote. It governs the shift itself. The last-man-out closeout is a separate document that belongs to your crew, and the officer verifies it on arrival rather than performing it.
- The officer confirms the gate condition on arrival, photographs it, and reports an open or unlocked gate as an exception before the first round. An officer who inherits an open gate starts the night behind.
- Rounds are weighted toward the small hours rather than spread evenly across the shift, and round times vary so the pattern is not learnable from the street.
- Nobody in a vest or hard hat comes through the gate after the last crew leaves without a name on that day’s access list. Utility, GC and delivery wait outside the fence until somebody on the project answers the phone.
- Keys out of the iron, and the officer checks for keys left in ignitions on the first round. Puck locks on container hasps, not the padlock that came in the box.
- Every round is scanned at fixed GPS checkpoints. A round with no scan did not happen, and the supervisor sees the gap the same night rather than in a monthly review.
- Loaded sub vans park inside the fence or go home. The officer is on the pad. The street is not the pad.
- The morning packet is exceptions only, time-stamped, with photos. Nobody reads a report that says all quiet.
One screening question for any vendor, including us. Ask what the officer does when a box truck pulls up to your gate at 2 a.m. If the answer is not a specific sequence, they are selling you a chair.
CALL US FOR SMART SECURITY SOLUTIONS
We Cover Houston, TX, Sugar Land, TX, Pearland, TX, Conroe, TX
What We Do Not Do On A Night Post
We provide security officers on commercial sites. We do not provide fire watch, hot work watch, K-9, alarm response or parking enforcement, and we do not take residential, HOA or event work. If your scope needs any of those, you will hear it on the first call rather than after you sign.
An officer also does not replace a lock. If the gate stands open at sundown, the keys live in the ignitions and the wire is stacked against the fence line, a night post buys you a witness rather than prevention. Fix the closeout first. It costs nothing, and we will walk it with you whether or not you hire us.
Get Your
Free Armed & Unarmed Security Proposal
Why Houston businesses choose Reliable Guard & Patrol Service
Why Choose Our Armed Guards:
01. Fully Licensed to Carry in the State of Texas
02. Background-Checked and Drug Tested
03. Trained in Firearms Handling and De-Escalation
04. Experienced in High-Risk Property Protection
05. Serving Houston Businesses for Over 20 Years
06. Corporate, Construction, Retail, and Event Coverage
07. 24/7 Coverage Including Holidays
2 Texas rules that almost never appear in a quote
Most of the licensing conversation stops at whether the guard company is licensed. 2 provisions of the Texas Occupations Code sit outside that question, and both change what you are actually buying.
An off-duty peace officer is a different product, not a cheaper guard
Texas Occupations Code Section 1702.322 exempts a full-time peace officer from holding a personal security license when they take private guard or watchman work. The conditions are specific. The officer has to work as a peace officer for an average of at least 32 hours a week, be paid at least minimum wage by the state or a political subdivision, be entitled to the employee benefits that come with that job, not be a reserve officer, and not be working for another peace officer.
2 details in that section matter to a buyer. The officer can be engaged directly by whoever is receiving the service, or through a licensed company, so an off-duty deputy on your gate is not automatically freelance. And the exemption covers that individual’s license, not the company’s, so a firm placing off-duty officers still needs its own.
What you are choosing between is 2 different arrangements. A commissioned contract officer comes with company supervision, the company’s general liability and workers compensation, and the company’s reporting system. An off-duty officer brings peace officer authority and a different chain of accountability. Neither is the upgrade version of the other. Buy the one that fits the post, deliberately, rather than by taking the cheapest line marked armed.
The commission requirement binds you as well as the officer
Texas Occupations Code Section 1702.161 says a person may not hire or employ an individual as a security officer to carry a firearm on duty unless that individual holds a security officer commission. Read as the buyer, an uncommissioned armed officer on your site is your exposure too, not the vendor’s alone. Texas DPS has stated in writing that the 2021 permitless carry law does not override it.
Ask for officer names on any armed quote and confirm each commission before anyone stands a post. How the license levels differ, and how to check one yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
When in the build should overnight coverage start?
The week the site first holds something worth a truck. On most Houston commercial builds that is the structure and dry-in phase, when the first generators, compressors and lifts stay overnight. Wire landing in the Conex is the other trigger.
Is weekend-only coverage worth it, or do I need 7 nights?
Weekend-only carries a lot of sites through foundation and punch. It stops being enough once copper, switchgear or HVAC units are staged on site. The reason weekends matter at all is discovery lag: a Saturday loss on an unstaffed site is usually found Monday morning, with the equipment 2 days gone before anyone files a report.
Can I stop coverage mid-project and restart it later?
Yes. Terms are written weekly or month to month, so a material delay does not have to keep paying for a body. Give your account supervisor the stop date and the restart date.
What is a post order, and should I have one before the first shift?
It is the written instruction set for the officer on your specific site: gate handling, round pattern, who is allowed in after hours, what gets escalated and to whom. Yes, you should have it before night one. Ask any vendor for theirs during the quote rather than after an incident.
Can I hire an armed officer directly and skip the vendor margin?
Only if you verify the commission first. Occupations Code 1702.161 puts the restriction on the person doing the hiring, which on a direct hire is you.
Is an off-duty police officer the same as an armed security officer?
No. Occupations Code 1702.322 exempts a full-time peace officer averaging at least 32 hours a week from holding a personal security license for private guard work, provided they are not a reserve officer and not working for another peace officer. Supervision, insurance and reporting all differ from a commissioned contract officer, and the exemption covers that individual’s license, not the placing company’s.
What should land in my inbox every morning?
An exceptions-only packet: GPS tour points showing the rounds that were scanned, any incident written up with a time stamp, and photos. If a round was missed, the file should say so and your supervisor should have flagged it that night.
Tell Us What Is On The Site Tonight
Give us the address, what is on the pad and the hours you want covered. You get the hourly rate, the minimum and the post order in writing, and in most cases we can start today.