Guard contracts are priced by the post. A post is a location the agency wants staffed for set hours, from a 40-hour lobby desk to a gate that never closes. The Service Contract Act sets the minimum wage and fringe benefits for each guard. The post schedule decides how many guards you need, how many holidays you pay for without coverage, and how many overtime hours you carry.
This guide covers what is different about guard pricing, then prices one 24/7 post with the Harris County, Texas wage determination.
1. Count post hours, not people
Post hours per year = hours per day × days per year
FTEs per post = post hours ÷ productive hours per guard
A 24/7 post is 24 × 365 = 8,760 hours a year, or 8,784 in a leap year. A guard paid for 2,080 hours with eleven holidays and two weeks of vacation works 1,912 of them. So one 24/7 post needs 8,760 ÷ 1,912 = 4.58 FTEs.
Dividing by 2,080 instead gives 4.21 FTEs and leaves nobody to stand the post while guards are on vacation or off for a holiday. Every post hour has to be worked by someone, so every post hour is a productive hour.
2. Pick the guard class from the WD
Standard WDs list several protective service classes. On WD 2015-5233 rev 35 for the Houston area, Guard I (27101) is $17.05 and Guard II (27102) is $19.08, and the same group includes Alarm Monitor, Court Security Officer and others.
The WD says each class has the duties described in the SCA Directory of Occupations. Compare what the PWS asks for, such as armed or unarmed posts, required training and the decisions guards make on post, with those descriptions. If the solicitation does not make the class clear, ask during questions and answers. If your guards perform Guard II duties, you owe the Guard II rate, whatever you priced.
3. Holidays on a post that never closes
Someone stands a 24/7 post on every holiday. Under 29 CFR 4.174(c)(2), a full-time employee who works on a holiday must be paid for the day's work plus a full day's holiday pay up to 8 hours, or be given another day off with pay. A guard is eligible if they do any work in the workweek in which the holiday falls (29 CFR 4.174(a)(1)).
Either way, each guard carries the WD's holidays as paid hours that add no coverage. The example below assumes guards take holidays off and relief guards cover. If your guards work the holiday and get holiday pay on top, rerun the hours for that schedule.
4. Overtime: when it applies and how to price it
The SCA itself does not require overtime pay (29 CFR 4.180). Other laws usually do. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires time and a half over 40 hours in a workweek for covered employees, and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act treats guards as laborers or mechanics and requires time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek on the contracts it covers (29 CFR 4.181).
Two rules keep the overtime cost right:
- The premium goes on the basic rate. H&W and other SCA fringe benefits are excluded from the regular rate used for overtime (29 CFR 4.180 and 4.182).
- No H&W on overtime hours. H&W is owed on hours paid up to 40 a week and 2,080 a year (29 CFR 4.175(a)(1)).
A 24/7 post is 168 hours a week. Five guards averaging 33.6 hours need no overtime. Four guards at 42 hours each carry 8 overtime hours a week on that post. For Guard I in Harris County, each overtime hour costs a premium of 0.5 × $17.05 = $8.53, or $9.18 with 7.65% FICA. Eight hours a week is 416 hours a year, so $3,818.88 per post per year on top of the base bill rate for those hours, before overhead, G&A and fee. Price the schedule you will actually run.
5. Uniforms and equipment
Most guard contracts require uniforms. The uniform allowance section of the WD says the contractor must furnish an adequate number of uniforms at no cost to employees or reimburse the actual cost. If employees must clean and maintain them, the contractor reimburses $3.35 a week ($0.67 a day), unless a bona fide collective bargaining agreement sets a different amount or there is proof of a different actual cost. There is no maintenance reimbursement for wash-and-wear uniforms that need no special care.
Price uniforms as a direct cost per person on the roster, not per FTE: 4.58 FTEs is at least five people to outfit. Radios, vehicles and other equipment go in the same way.
Worked example: one 24/7 Guard I post, Harris County
Assumptions: Guard I (27101) on WD 2015-5233 rev 35 at the $17.05 minimum. Standard H&W of $5.92, paid into a health plan. Not covered by EO 13706. Eleven holidays and two weeks of vacation. Guards take holidays off and relief guards cover. Five guards on the schedule, so no overtime. Uniform maintenance reimbursed at $3.35 a week, treated as a non-wage expense. SUTA 2.7% on a $9,000 wage base, workers' comp 3.50% of payroll, overhead 10%, G&A 8% and fee 6%. Use your own rates.
| Step | Math | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours per guard | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| PTO hours | 88 holiday + 80 vacation | 168 |
| Productive hours per guard | 2,080 − 168 | 1,912 |
| Wage per productive hour | $17.05 × 2,080 ÷ 1,912 | $18.55 |
| H&W per productive hour | $5.92 × 2,080 ÷ 1,912 | $6.44 |
| Uniform maintenance | $3.35 × 52 ÷ 1,912 | $0.09 |
| Annual wages | $17.05 × 2,080 | $35,464.00 |
| FICA | 7.65% × $35,464.00 | $2,713.00 |
| FUTA | 0.6% × $7,000 | $42.00 |
| SUTA | 2.7% × $9,000 | $243.00 |
| Workers' comp | 3.50% × $35,464.00 | $1,241.24 |
| Taxes and insurance per productive hour | $4,239.24 ÷ 1,912 | $2.22 |
| Direct labor cost | $18.55 + $6.44 + $0.09 + $2.22 | $27.30 |
| Overhead | 10% × $27.30 | $2.73 |
| G&A | 8% × $30.03 | $2.40 |
| Fee | 6% × $32.43 | $1.95 |
| Bill rate per post hour | $34.38 | |
| Post hours | 24 × 365 | 8,760 |
| FTEs | 8,760 ÷ 1,912 | 4.58 |
| Annual price for the post | 8,760 × $34.38 | $301,168.80 |
Values are rounded to the cent at each step. Uniforms and equipment are extra. Compare the shortcut of $17.05 + $5.92 = $22.97 marked up 30%: $29.86 an hour, or $261,573.60 for the post. That is $39,595.20 a year short of the build above.
In option years, hold labor at the current WD rates. FAR 52.222-43(b) makes you warrant that your prices include no allowance for increases the clause adjusts for. See FAR 52.222-43 price adjustment, step by step.
Common mistakes
- Staffing a 24/7 post at 4.2 FTEs, with no relief for vacation and holidays.
- Pricing a schedule with no overtime, then running one with overtime.
- Adding H&W to overtime hours, or computing the overtime premium on wage plus H&W.
- Pricing Guard I when the PWS describes Guard II duties.
- Forgetting uniform maintenance when guards clean their own uniforms.
- Pricing uniforms per FTE instead of per person on the roster.
Check the guard rates for your county
See Guard I, Guard II and every other class on the WDs for your place of performance.
Open the free WD lookupEvery post, priced the same way.
SCA Bid Pricing Pro burdens each guard class, prices the base and four option years, and runs the FAR 52.222-43 adjustment after award, with checks that must read OK before you submit.
Related guides
Sources
- SAM.gov: Wage Determination 2015-5233, revision 35, including the uniform allowance section
- eCFR: 29 CFR part 4, sections 4.174, 4.175, 4.180, 4.181 and 4.182
- Acquisition.gov: FAR 52.222-43
Last reviewed: November 2026. This guide is a pricing aid and general information, not legal or tax advice.