CCTV quote seems really high?

[motorbiking]

Do you need 8 cameras and are they actually of any use being mounted high up? The whole point of cctv is to identify the person being naughty. High level cameras just capture the top of their heads.

 

[steveo44]

2 x engineers @ £65 per hour x 8 hours = £1040

Business is business.

Do you want an engineer to do the job as a ‘private’ job with no overheads or guarantees for £600 or a reputable company who offer guarantees and offer 24/7 after sale support?

 

[aptsys]

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.

There's nothing to stop you buying all of the hardware for £950 if you can get it for that and installing yourself.

 

[BIANCO]

2k just sounds like a bit of a made up figure to me sort of throw a number at you if you say yes grate if no then so be it.

first off you can't expect to pay trade price for the kit just because the company can buy the stuff at that price does not mean they are going to sell it to you at that price. It's like saying Tesco can buy something for X amount so I should expect to pay that price. So put at least 30% on the cost of the kit straight away.
Also have they included things like joint boxes? they can be more than £15 each so plus another £120 there.

As for the install whats high? 1st story 6-7 meters? If so you wouldn't necessarily need two people. But without seeing the job it's hard to say. The company I work for charge around £320+vat a day for labour on install jobs. But I would be reluctant even without seeing the job say that 8 cameras could be done in a day. Especially when you take into account set up, It's taken me longer in the past to set a DVR/NVR up than it took to install 8 cameras. Especially if you get something like daft internet router (although not as big of a problem now with the cloud stuff) and maybe a demanding customer who wants it doing absolutely everything and shown how to make it do absolutely everything expecting to get engineer level training on it.

Like others have said just get a couple more quotes is your best bet.

 

[Sally2000]

There's another possibility if you are in any way DIY capable. It's two stages.

1. Buy a cheapo bundle from Swann or unbranded from ebay and install it yourself. You'll find it is of little use and you will soon need to replace it.

2. Having discovered all the limitations of camera type, camera siting, DVR spec and reliability etc, you can then specify and purchase a better quality set of components that will actually meet your needs.

If this sounds stupid or a joke, it's not. It's what many self installers actually do. They don't start off intending to do more than step 1, but then find that step 2 is required!

The total cost of steps 1 and 2 will be no more than you would have paid a professional to go straight to step 2. Plus you will have gained the knowledge to maintain and repair and if necessary extend the system without calling in professional help.

Guess how I know this?