CNAPS Authorisation: Opening a Private-Security Training Centre in France in 2026

Opening a training centre for security agents, dog handlers or airport-security screeners in France is not just a matter of registering as a training provider. Private-security training is one of the most tightly regulated segments of the market: it requires an operating authorisation issued by the CNAPS (Conseil national des activités privées de sécurité — the national council for private-security activities, a public body supervised by the Interior Ministry). Here is the full pathway, under the regime in force since 1 March 2025.

Who needs the CNAPS authorisation to train?

Book VI of the French internal-security code (articles L. 625-1 et seq.) makes any provider subject to authorisation when it delivers training — initial or refresher (MAC, maintien et actualisation des compétences) — preparing for private-security activities: guarding and surveillance, dog-handling, airport security, close protection of persons, cash-in-transit.

Legal form is irrelevant (company, non-profit, sole trader): if you sell these courses, you are in scope. Conversely, SSIAP fire-safety, SST first-aid or CACES® equipment training fall under other regimes — a single provider can therefore stack several frameworks, each with its own procedure, as our overview of regulated training schemes (SST, CACES, electrical clearances) shows.

This authorisation requirement is not a French quirk: comparative research shows training standards are the core of private-security regulation across Europe. Mark Button, in a 2007 study in the European Journal of Criminology (“Assessing the Regulation of Private Security across Europe”), notes that most European countries impose mandatory training standards — sometimes several hundred hours — as a condition of entry into security occupations (see the study).

The three conditions to meet before filing

1. The NDA (registered activity number)

The first building block, common to all French training providers: the activity declaration registered with the DREETS (regional labour authority) under articles L. 6351-1 et seq. of the labour code. Starting from scratch? Our guide to the activity declaration (Cerfa 10782) walks through it.

2. Qualiopi certification

This is the major change brought by ordinance no. 2023-374 of 16 May 2023 and decree no. 2024-311 of 4 April 2024: since 1 March 2025, the quality certification required for the authorisation is Qualiopi, issued by an accredited certification body. The former sector-specific certification, built since 2018 on a dedicated private-security training framework, has been replaced by the national quality framework common to all training providers.

Direct consequence: in this sector, Qualiopi is no longer just the key to public and pooled funding (CPF, OPCO, France Travail) — it is a legal condition of doing business. We analyse this shift in CNAPS and Qualiopi: what the reform changed.

3. Director approval (agrément)

The sole trader or the company’s director must be personally approved by the CNAPS, which checks nationality, integrity (administrative background check) and professional aptitude. The approval is valid for 5 years; renewal must be requested no later than 3 months before expiry. Running a private-security training business without this approval carries criminal penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment and a €45,000 fine.

The authorisation request, step by step

1. Set up the entity and obtain the NDA.
2. File the director-approval request on the CNAPS online portal (cnaps.interieur.gouv.fr), with proof of identity, integrity and aptitude.
3. Start the Qualiopi process: choose a certifier, prepare the 32 indicators, pass the initial audit.
4. File the operating-authorisation request with the required documents: identification of the provider, NDA, director approval, proof of certification — or of an ongoing certification process if you are aiming for the provisional authorisation.
5. Wait for the decision before running any course. Once authorised, every training session must be declared to the CNAPS at least 15 days before it opens.

A point often discovered too late: the provider’s name must make clear that it is a private-law entity, with no possible confusion with a public service (article L. 625-3 of the internal-security code).

The provisional authorisation: six months to complete Qualiopi

The code provides a safety valve for founders: the CNAPS may issue a provisional authorisation of up to six months to a provider that meets the other conditions and is pursuing certification. It is feasible — provided Qualiopi preparation is treated as a priority project from day one; the 32 indicators of the national quality framework also structure the evidence that sector inspections will later request.

What about your trainers, and your trainees?

Two other authorisations orbit around yours:

• Trainers must hold a professional trainer card issued by the CNAPS (valid 5 years), mandatory since 1 March 2025 for employees, freelancers and teaching directors alike — we cover it in a dedicated article.
• Trainees must obtain, before entering initial training, an individual prior authorisation from the CNAPS, issued after vetting and valid for six months. Check this number at enrolment: a trainee without it cannot start.

This triple check — provider, trainer, trainee — illustrates the French choice of a dedicated public regulator. Cédric Paulin’s doctoral thesis, defended in 2017 at Université Paris-Saclay (“Vers une politique publique de la sécurité privée ? Réguler la sécurité privée (1983-2014)”), traces how the creation of the CNAPS moved the sector from a declarative logic to genuine market-access control.

How long should you plan for?

No guaranteed processing time is published. Think in months, not weeks: background checks for the approval and cards, Qualiopi preparation and audit, processing of the authorisation, then 15 days’ notice per session. The classic mistake is signing a lease and recruiting before the director approval is secured — the one step nobody can speed up for you.

Take action

The CNAPS authorisation is built in order: NDA, director approval, Qualiopi, authorisation, declared sessions. Find the full scheme, procedures and FAQ on our page CNAPS authorisation for private-security training providers — plus a free ebook to walk the pathway step by step.