CCTV quote seems really high?

[indus]

Hi
I already have cctv in place which needs upgrading. There are 8 cameras with shotgun coax cable run to all of them.

The cables come back to a DVR in the loft. There is ethernet, power and a telephone line right there. There is also a distribution system there that allows to images to be transmitted to any TV in the house. (With the use of a modulater)

The system was professionally installed but is now basically obsolete.

I asked a long established local company to quote for the job and they've come back with £2k. I'm struggling to understand why it is so high.

It's

1) 8 hikvision 5MP cameras. They've given me a model number but I can't find it anywhere on the net. I suspect they've got the number wrong and have asked them to clarify. However I can't see it costing more than £50 each.

2) The DVR costs £100 and an 8TB HDD £200, so £300.

So it total it seems like £700 worth of hardware.
It can't be more than a days work as cables etc all laid.

Am I missing something??

Thanks

 

[Iamchamps]

Check the cameras they have quoted maybe it is a POE system which will require all cabling to be replaced. Personally if you was just swapping cameras and the DVR why not do yourself?

 

[indus]

Check the cameras they have quoted maybe it is a POE system which will require all cabling to be replaced. Personally if you was just swapping cameras and the DVR why not do yourself?

Hi
No, definitely not replacing cabling, so not POE.
Some cameras are way up high and I don't fancy climbing up a ladder...and to be honest I struggle to change a plug lol.

I do know a skilled handyman who could do it for me I suppose, but that would still leave me to set it up/configure it.

I'd be happy to pay a professional a reasonable rate to install and set it up but £1300 labour is bonkers.

Thanks

 

[Iamchamps]

Get another quote and/or ask for a breakdown.

 

[DIWhat]

The cameras could quite easily be around £100 each.
Also if they're 5MP cameras, then the cable has to be replaced with network cabling, it's unlikely that coax would be used for them.

 

[Iamchamps]

The cameras could quite easily be around £100 each.
Also if they're 5MP cameras, then the cable has to be replaced with network cabling, it's unlikely that coax would be used for them.

There are Hikvision 5MP cameras that do POC for around £50 that would utilise that existing cable.

 

[DIWhat]

There are Hikvision 5MP cameras that do POC for around £50 that would utilise that existing cable.

I stand corrected!
I never knew those existed!

 

[Iamchamps]

I stand corrected!
I never knew those existed!

To be honest neither did I until recently. This is an example model DS-2CE56H0T-IT3E

I would want rid of the coax and have POE installed if I was in the posters situation.

 

[indus]

To be honest neither did I until recently. This is an example model DS-2CE56H0T-IT3E

I would want rid of the coax and have POE installed if I was in the posters situation.

Changing the coax is not possible. It would mean ripping the house apart to run cables or having ugly surface runs. And to be honest you can get fantastic high def images over coax, you can even run 4k 8MP over coax.

So I definitely won't (and pretty sure don't need to) rip it all out and install POE

 

[secureiam]

Tell us what they are quoting might actually help.

HIK do lots of cameras and the specs are not all the same although they may say the same resolution.

They also do various DVR/NVR's and the specifications can be very specific.

Remember there are overheads, possible faults to deal with etc and then warranty.

Its impossible to say without a break down.

as for what is available, look again tomorrow it may have changed.

 

[steveo44]

As the cameras are high I would imagine two engineers will be required due to working at height. Any access equipment required? Price doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.
As others have said get another quote or two and see how they compare.

 

[secureiam]

@steveo44 that's a fair point about two guys due to height none of us have seen he job and have no idea what the equipment is.

You may get it cheaper but like for like ??? Safer???

 

[indus]

As the cameras are high I would imagine two engineers will be required due to working at height. Any access equipment required? Price doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.
As others have said get another quote or two and see how they compare.

I agree, it would probably be a two man job. One skilled and the other on hand to help.

I will pursue them for the exact model number on the cameras but I would be surprised if they cost more than £60 each.

The DVR with HDD I have found on sale for £300. So that gives a hardware cost of £780. Add another £100 for supplemental bits and pieces. That's still only £880.

That would leave circa £1200 labour for two guys over one day. Is that really reasonable? If it is, I'm in the wrong line of work

 

[secureiam]

I haven't seen your quote or the job or the spec list.

Many installers will give a warranty, no idea what you have been offered.

Example My local garage charges labour @£50 an hour so that be £800 and I know full well that you can pay more than that for some alarm engineers.

They also charge a small percentage on the parts they supply, if I went to a main dealer garage I would be paying even more.

You are not just paying for labour and the CCTV components, your paying for their knowledge, there vehicle, their insurance, their pension, their holidays the admin etc etc etc and some profit too. It is not as simple as parts plus labour (hourly rate paid to engineer) although it may be simply split on the quote as arts and labour.

I had a guy ask me for a quote, and he got a local handyman in to help as it was cheaper, but when things needed tweaking/ fixing the handyman was out of his depth.
(The handy man isn't the guy on here, for the record, who I know has more skills than the one that was employed).

 

[indus]

I haven't seen your quote or the job or the spec list.

Many installers will give a warranty, no idea what you have been offered.

Example My local garage charges labour @£50 an hour so that be £800 and I know full well that you can pay more than that for some alarm engineers.

They also charge a small percentage on the parts they supply, if I went to a main dealer garage I would be paying even more.

You are not just paying for labour and the CCTV components, your paying for their knowledge, there vehicle, their insurance, their pension, their holidays the admin etc etc etc and some profit too. It is not as simple as parts plus labour (hourly rate paid to engineer) although it may be simply split on the quote as arts and labour.

I had a guy ask me for a quote, and he got a local handyman in to help as it was cheaper, but when things needed tweaking/ fixing the handyman was out of his depth.
(The handy man isn't the guy on here, for the record, who I know has more skills than the one that was employed).

All very valid points indeed. I appreciate there are other over heads to take into account, especially as the company runs vans and employs admin staff etc.

I spoke to them again, here are the actual specs.

1) 8 hik vision cameras. 2ce56H0T-IT3Z. Trade price seems to be £65 so total cost £500.

2) DVR is HS7208HUHI-K1. Trade price £360 with 6TB HDD.

Total hardware £860, round up to £950 for any bits and pieces.

As I said, all cables already in place, with power, ethernet and telephone line in place.

6 cameras at top of ground floor level (so small ladder) and two cameras higher up by the roof eaves.

I don't want to come across as one of those people who doesn't want others to make a decent living, I'm genuinely not one of those people. But £1000 on top of the hardware costs just seems a bit steep for one days work.