Commercial CCTV: the short answer
Commercial CCTV is a system of cameras, a recorder and viewing software designed to deter crime and capture usable evidence on business premises. It suits any site with stock, vehicles, staff or public areas to protect: warehouses, yards, food plants, offices, shops, schools and care homes. Systems are designed to BS EN 62676, and footage must be handled under UK GDPR. As a guide, a small commercial system of 1 to 10 cameras costs £1,500–£3,000 installed, confirmed at a free site survey.
The standards that apply to commercial CCTV
BS EN 62676. The standard series for video surveillance systems used in security applications. Part 4 is the application guide installers design to. It defines what each camera is for by the pixel density it achieves on the target: enough to detect a person, observe activity, recognise someone you know, or identify a stranger. Identification needs 250 pixels per metre at the target. We state the purpose of every camera on the design, so you know which cameras will identify a face and which only show movement.
BS 8418. The code of practice for detector-activated, remotely monitored CCTV. If you want police to respond to activations from a monitored CCTV system, it must be designed, installed and maintained to BS 8418 and monitored from a compliant centre. Without it, monitored CCTV gets operator and keyholder response, not police response. See CCTV monitoring.
UK GDPR and ICO guidance. Cameras that capture identifiable people are processing personal data. The ICO expects a documented purpose, payment of the data protection fee, clear signage, secure footage, a defined retention period and the ability to answer a subject access request within one month. A data protection impact assessment before you install or change a system is good practice. Our CCTV compliance guide covers each step.
The Surveillance Camera Code of Practice. Issued under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, it binds police and local authorities and is good practice for everyone else. Its twelve guiding principles, from a clear purpose to regular review, make a useful checklist for any business system.
How a CCTV project runs
- Survey. An engineer walks the site with you and notes the risks, entry points, lighting, cable routes and where the recorder should live. Free, with no obligation.
- Design and specification. A camera-by-camera schedule: position, lens, resolution, purpose under BS EN 62676-4, and the retention period.
- Quote. Itemised, so you can compare like for like: every camera, recorder, drive, cable run and labour element listed.
- Installation. Our own engineers, clean cable runs, and work phased around your operating hours where needed.
- Commissioning and certification. Every camera aligned and checked by day and night, recording and retention confirmed, and the system certificated under our SSAIB registration (NORF034).
- Handover and training. App set-up, user accounts with the right permissions, how to find and export footage, plus template signage and a CCTV policy checklist.
- Maintenance. Planned visits, firmware updates and fault response. Maintenance contract customers get a 4-hour response to emergencies and a same-day response to non-emergency faults.
What the price covers
Our quotes include the survey, design, cameras, a recorder with storage sized to your retention period, cabling and containment, mounting, network configuration, remote viewing set-up, commissioning, certification, signage templates and handover training. Monitoring, the maintenance contract and specialist access such as a boom lift are quoted separately where the survey shows they are needed. If another quote is much lower, check what it leaves out. Cabling, storage and commissioning are the usual gaps.
How much does commercial CCTV cost?
These are guide prices from our commercial CCTV cost guide, confirmed at a free site survey:
- Small system, 1 to 10 cameras: £1,500–£3,000
- Medium system, 10 to 25 cameras: £3,500–£7,500
- Large system, 25+ cameras: £10,000–£20,000+
- Per camera installed: £150–£300 basic, £250–£450 mid-range, £400–£600+ high-spec
Enhanced systems add around 15 to 20 percent and high-security systems 30 to 40 percent. The first few cameras cost the most, because the recorder, storage and network have to go in first. After installation, professional monitoring typically costs £15–£40 per camera per month and annual maintenance £150–£350. For an instant indicative figure, use the pricing calculator.
Who needs commercial CCTV in East Anglia
Most of our CCTV work is for sites like these across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex:
- Food production: goods-in, dispatch and perimeters, with housings suited to wash-down and cold areas.
- Logistics and warehousing: ANPR at gates, yard and loading bay coverage, and evidence for damage and loss disputes.
- Care homes: entrances and grounds, with placement that respects residents' privacy.
- Schools and academies: perimeters, car parks and entrances, designed around safeguarding policy.
- Offices and business parks: receptions, car parks and out-of-hours protection.
- Retail: tills, stockrooms and entrances, with footage clear enough for the police.
- Housing and managed blocks: communal areas, bin stores and car parks, designed with residents' data rights in mind.
CCTV maintenance and servicing
Camera systems degrade quietly. Lenses get dirty, spiders nest on infrared housings, hard drives fail and trees grow into the field of view. Nobody notices until the footage is needed. A maintenance visit checks every camera's image by day and night, cleans housings, confirms recording and retention, checks hard drive health, applies firmware updates and checks that remote access is secure. Annual maintenance typically costs £150–£350. Maintenance contract customers get a 4-hour response to emergencies and a same-day response to non-emergency faults. We can usually take over systems another company installed, after a survey.
