What AV does a public sector or government office need?

Public sector AV is shaped by three forces that do not apply to corporate fit-outs: procurement frameworks, security clearance, and accessibility regulation. Hardware choice follows those forces rather than driving them, and the integrator either meets the bar or cannot bid.

The defining requirements:

• Procurement framework compliance. Public sector AV is specified and bought via Crown Commercial Service frameworks (RM6107 Network Services, G-Cloud 14 for cloud-based AV), regional consortia like NEPO, ESPO or YPO, or sector-specific routes (NHS SBS, ProcurePublic). Direct award above £100k is rare. The integrator must be on the relevant framework before quoting.
• Security clearance for engineers. Site work commonly requires SC (Security Check) or DV (Developed Vetting) plus DBS, depending on the department and the building. ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus are typically mandatory at integrator level, not optional differentiators.
• Approved video conferencing platforms. The VC platform must sit on the department's approved list. Microsoft Teams via tenant under M365 G5 is the default for most central government departments; Cisco Webex (FedRAMP-equivalent assurance) covers some defence and intelligence sites; Pexip is used for self-hosted secure rooms where no public cloud is permitted. Zoom requires evaluation per department and is not universally approved.
• Network posture. GovWi-Fi compatibility for some sites, a segregated VLAN for AV as standard, and no off-shore cloud services for sensitive workloads. Cloud-based room booking and analytics platforms need data-residency checks before deployment.
• Martyn's Law (Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025). Public buildings with 200+ capacity fall under the standard or enhanced tier. AV integrates with lockdown alert systems, public-address override, digital signage emergency takeover and ACT awareness training surfaces. See the Martyn's Law compliance brief for the threshold detail.
• Accessibility under the Equality Act 2010 and PSBAR. WCAG 2.2 AA applies to all touch panels, digital signage and self-service kiosks. Hearing loops (induction or RF) are required in public-facing rooms; BSL provision via the lecture-capture or VC stack is increasingly specified.

Practical context. Many public sector office projects are renewal of legacy estates rather than new build, which means working around live operations, out-of-hours installation windows and asbestos / heritage constraints in older buildings. Engineer rotation is tightly controlled on sensitive sites; the same cleared engineers attend across the project life.

Quick reference: procured via CCS / NEPO / ESPO frameworks, SC or DV cleared engineers, ISO 27001 + Cyber Essentials Plus, approved VC platform (Teams G5, Webex, Pexip), segregated AV VLAN, Martyn's Law lockdown integration for 200+ capacity, WCAG 2.2 AA touch panels and hearing loops.