Germany § 34a Sachkunde Study Guide 2026

The § 34a exam and who needs it

Anyone who runs a guarding business in Germany needs a permit under § 34a of the Trade Regulation Act (GewO). The people who work as guards (Wachpersonen) must prove their knowledge in one of two ways at a Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK):

Exam format

You may only take the oral part after passing the written part, and you must pass it within two years. The exam has seven subject areas, set out in § 7 of the Guarding Ordinance (BewachV): public safety and order law with trade law, data protection, the Civil Code (BGB), criminal law and procedure with weapons handling, accident prevention (DGUV Vorschrift 23), dealing with people, and basic security technology.

Trade law and the guarding rules

The authority refuses a business permit if the applicant is unreliable, has disordered finances, has no Sachkunde certificate, or has no liability insurance. Reliability is checked using the central registers, the police and the state office for the protection of the constitution, and is re-checked at least every five years.

Before a guard starts work

• The guard must be at least 18 (unless they hold a listed qualification) and reliable (§ 16 BewachV).
• The company registers the guard in the national guard register (Bewacherregister) and waits for confirmation. The register started in 2019 and has been run by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) since October 2022.
• The company gives the guard an ID card that clearly differs from official IDs (§ 18 BewachV).

On duty

• Carry the company ID and your identity document, and show them to police or authorities when asked.
• For patrols in public areas and door work, wear a visible badge with your name or code number and the company name.
• Uniforms must not look like police or military uniforms. Wear one whenever you enter fenced-off private property (befriedetes Besitztum) on duty (§ 19 BewachV).

Public safety and order

Police and public order law is mainly made by the federal states. 'Public safety' protects the legal order, people's rights and goods, and state institutions. 'Public order' covers unwritten rules of social behaviour. Dealing with dangers to public safety is a job for the police and public order offices, not for private guards.

Your powers: everyday rights only

Private guards have no police powers. Under § 34a(5) GewO they may use only the rights that everyone has (Jedermannrechte) in self-defence, necessity and self-help, plus self-help rights passed to them by contract, such as the client's house right. Whenever you use these rights, you must keep to the principle of necessity: use the mildest means that works.

Self-defence (Notwehr, § 32 StGB and § 227 BGB)

• There must be a present attack (happening now or about to happen).
• The attack must be unlawful.
• The defence must be necessary: of several equally effective options, choose the least harmful.
• You may also defend another person (Nothilfe).
• Once the attacker gives up or runs away, self-defence ends. Hitting someone afterwards is not covered.

Necessity (Notstand)

• § 34 StGB: you may harm a lesser interest to protect a clearly more important one from a present danger that cannot be averted otherwise.
• § 228 BGB (defensive necessity): you may damage a thing, or injure an animal, that causes the danger, if needed and not out of proportion.
• § 904 BGB (aggressive necessity): you may use someone else's property to avert a much greater danger, but the owner can claim compensation.

Temporary arrest by anyone (§ 127(1) StPO)

Anyone may hold a person without a judge's order if both conditions are met:

1. The person is caught in the act or pursued straight afterwards, and
2. the person is suspected of trying to flee, or their identity cannot be established on the spot.

Use only the force needed to hold the person, call the police at once, and hand the person over without delay. Only the police and prosecutors may establish identity by force (§ 163b StPO). A guard may ask to see ID but cannot force it.

Bag checks and house rules

Checks of bags or clothing need the person's consent. If a guest refuses a check that the house rules require, you may refuse entry, but you may not search by force.

Criminal law you need to know

• A criminal complaint (Strafantrag) must normally be filed within three months of the rights holder learning of the act and the offender (§ 77b StGB).
• Only intentional acts are punishable unless the law also names negligence (§ 15 StGB).
• Children under 14 are not criminally responsible (§ 19 StGB). Juveniles are 14 to 17; young adults are 18 to 20 (§ 1 JGG).

Civil Code: possession, self-help and liability

Ownership is the full legal right to a thing. Possession is actual control over it (§ 854 BGB). A guard who controls the client's site on the client's instructions is a possession servant (Besitzdiener, § 855 BGB) and may use the possessor's rights to defend that possession (§ 860 BGB).

• § 859 BGB: the possessor may use necessary force against prohibited interference, and may take back a stolen movable thing from an offender caught in the act or pursued immediately.
• § 229 BGB (self-help): allowed only if official help cannot come in time and your claim would otherwise be lost or much harder to enforce.
• § 230 BGB: self-help may not go further than needed, and the matter must be brought to the authorities without delay.
• § 823 BGB: whoever unlawfully and culpably harms another person's life, body, health, freedom or property must pay damages.
• § 831 BGB: the employer can also be liable for harm its staff cause at work.
• Lost property: a finder must inform the owner or the authority (§ 965 BGB). On duty, follow the site's lost-property rules and record the find.

Data protection

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), personal data is any information about an identified or identifiable person, such as names, visitor lists, licence plates and video images of faces.

• Collect only what is needed (data minimisation) and use it only for its purpose (purpose limitation).
• Keep what you learn on duty confidential.
• People have a right of access to the data stored about them.
• Data breaches must normally be reported to the supervisory authority within 72 hours.
• Video surveillance of areas open to the public must be made recognisable early, with the name and contact details of the responsible party, and recordings must be deleted when no longer needed (§ 4 BDSG).
• For private companies, the data protection authority of the federal state is the supervisor (§ 40 BDSG).

Weapons law and accident prevention

Weapons law

A security company may hold firearms only if it shows guarding jobs that require them to protect a threatened person or object (§ 28 WaffG). Guards may carry them only while doing that job. Each guard must be named to the authority, which must agree before a weapon is handed over. Any use of a weapon on duty must be reported to the authority and the police without delay (§ 20 BewachV).

DGUV Vorschrift 23

This accident prevention regulation from the statutory accident insurance applies to guarding and security services. Key rules:

• No alcohol or other intoxicants on duty or for a suitable time before it.
• The employer gives written service instructions (Dienstanweisungen), which you can read at any time.
• Do not follow client orders that go against your assignment or are clearly unsafe.
• Get a site briefing on hazards; for night work, see the site in daylight too.
• Report hazards you find and help secure them until they are fixed.
• Carry a powerful hand lamp when working in the dark.
• Only tested dogs with a handler may be used as service dogs.
• Only officially tested firearms; no blank-firing or gas weapons. Hand over weapons unloaded, carry them in a secure holster, and store them unloaded in a steel cabinet, apart from ammunition.
• Cash couriers on foot in public normally work in teams of at least two.

Dealing with people and de-escalation

Most problems on duty can be solved by talking. Your goal is to calm the situation and keep everyone safe, including yourself.

1. Stay calm, introduce yourself and explain why you are speaking to the person.
2. Keep a safe distance and an open posture, with your hands visible.
3. Listen actively: let the person finish and repeat back what you understood.
4. Use I-messages ('I need you to step back') instead of blame ('You always…').
5. Offer choices and a way to back down without losing face.
6. If the situation becomes dangerous, move to safety and call the police on 110.

Intercultural competence and equal treatment

Treat everyone with the same respect and do not judge people by stereotypes. With visitors who speak little German, use short sentences, gestures or an interpreter. Refusing someone entry to a club or shop because of their ethnic origin is unlawful discrimination under the General Equal Treatment Act (§ 19 AGG).

Basics of security technology