For Organisations

Commissioning a Polygraph

Guidance for organisations — employers, solicitors, probation services — commissioning a private polygraph examination: what to instruct, what to expect, and what a compliant examination must include.

Commissioning a Polygraph Examination

This page is for organisations — employers, legal representatives, insurers, investigators, HR and integrity functions — commissioning polygraph examinations in the United Kingdom. It sets out what to expect from a BPS-member examiner and what information to provide when instructing.

Before Instructing

Confirm that polygraph examination is appropriate for your purpose. Polygraph is one input that can assist decision-making; it is not a substitute for investigation, documentary evidence, or judicial determination. Consider:

  1. the lawful basis for asking the subject to undergo an examination (consent, contract, or statutory authority);
  2. data protection implications under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018;
  3. equality considerations under the Equality Act 2010;
  4. the weight a decision-maker, tribunal, or court is likely to attach to a polygraph result in your context.

Choosing a Member Examiner

Use the BPS directory to identify a BPS-listed examiner. Members are required to hold current APA certification, to be bound by the BPS Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, and to carry appropriate professional indemnity insurance.

Match the examiner’s specialism to your requirement: pre-employment, corporate integrity, private, PCSOT, or law-enforcement work. Not every examiner accepts every type of instruction.

What the Examiner Will Expect

A BPS-standards examiner will expect to:

  1. receive a written instruction identifying the issue, the relevant background, and the retaining party;
  2. obtain the subject’s informed written consent before testing;
  3. conduct the examination in person, for not less than 90 minutes;
  4. use a validated polygraph technique meeting the accuracy thresholds in the Standards of Practice;
  5. retain records for a minimum of three years (subject to longer periods where required); and
  6. provide a written report addressed to the persons identified in the signed informed consent.

Fees

Members are required to agree fees in writing with the retaining party in advance. The Code of Ethics prohibits contingent fees, fees varied as a consequence of the result, and gifts or gratuities intended to influence the examiner.

Use of the Result

The report will be a factual, impartial, and objective account of the examination, with the examiner’s conclusion (for example, Deception Indicated, No Deception Indicated, Inconclusive, or, for screening, Significant Response / No Significant Response). Inconclusive results must be reported as such. The examiner must not overstate the reliability of the result.

How you use the result is a matter for your own decision-making, subject to the law applicable to your situation and to any policies of your own organisation.

Quality Assurance

Members may be subject to quality control review. A retaining party may, subject to privacy and contractual constraints, request a quality-control review of an examination report. The BPS Standards of Practice set out what the member must provide for such a review.

Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with the conduct of a BPS member, you may make a written complaint to the Secretary under the Complaints, Discipline and Appeals Procedure.