The four things that actually move the price
Two buildings of the same square footage can differ by a factor of three in cost. The variables that matter are rarely the camera brand on the quote.
- Openings: every controlled door needs a reader, a controller port, a lock or strike, request-to-exit hardware and, often, an electrician.
- Cabling conditions: open ceilings and existing conduit are cheap; finished drywall, concrete, heritage buildings and outdoor runs are not.
- Camera count and retention: 30 days of 4K on 40 cameras is a very different storage bill than 14 days of 1080p on 12.
- Recurring services: monitoring, cloud video licensing, remote guarding hours, maintenance and software subscriptions.
One-time versus monthly
Treat the two budgets separately. The one-time budget covers design, hardware, cabling, installation, configuration, commissioning and training. The monthly budget covers alarm monitoring, cloud video or access licences, remote guarding if used, and a service agreement.
A cheap installation with expensive proprietary licensing can cost more over five years than a higher install price on open hardware. Ask any vendor for a five-year total, not just the install number.
How to compare quotes fairly
Quotes are rarely like-for-like. Before comparing, normalise them.
- Same camera count, same resolution, same retention days.
- Same number of controlled doors and the same lock hardware type.
- Cabling included or excluded — and who pays if the walls surprise everyone.
- Who owns the recordings, the licences and the account when the contract ends.
- Contract length, escalation clauses and what happens after a monitoring contract expires.
- Response time and service levels in writing, not implied.
Where budgets usually get blown
The common overruns are not equipment: they are network switches and power that nobody scoped, an electrician needed for door hardware, storage sized for the wrong retention period, and a second mobilisation because the site was not ready on install day.