# Do outsourced security guards and housekeeping staff count in our carbon footprint?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/outsourced-security-and-housekeeping-scope-3

Their services count as Scope 3 Category 1, purchased services, usually estimated from the contract value with a spend-based factor. Their fuel and power on your site is already in your bills. Their commuting belongs to the contractor, not your Category 7.

## What to include

- The annual contract value, by service.
- Cleaning chemicals and consumables if billed separately.
- Any vehicles the contractor runs for you.

## What is already counted

Lights, lifts and machines the staff use run on your electricity bill, so do not add them again.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads quantities, dates and units from your bills and invoices and shows the factor and source used on every line.

- [Repair and maintenance spend](https://senseible.earth/answers/repair-and-maintenance-spend-scope-3)
- [Spend-based Scope 3 and inflation](https://senseible.earth/answers/spend-based-scope-3-gst-inflation-currency)

Sources: [GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-value-chain-scope-3-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.