How much will my security system cost?

I’m often asked how much a security system costs and I always find that a difficult question to answer in passing as there are so many options and levels of cover it’s hard to say without sitting down with someone and fully understanding their needs.

However, I do understand that you may be in the very early stage of a new build or renovation project and just looking for some £’s per sq ft figures for costing purposes.

With this in mind I have looked back over a number of projects ranging from 5,000 – 25,000 sq ft to try and come up with some rough guideline numbers for you to use for budgeting purposes.

So after crunching the number I’ve come up with the following “rule of thumb” figures for a high quality, professionally installed CCTV, Intruder and Door/Gate Entry system for large residential property.

          Highest                £3.70 per sq ft

          Lowest                 £1.80 per sq ft

          Average               £3.10 per sq ft

As you can see there is big gap between the highest figure and the lowest figure and this is mainly down to the CCTV system and whether or not it is monitored. So to break it down further I have gone in to each discipline and come up with the following figures for each system.

I have also included a short description of the major factors that affect the figures so you can get a better idea of your system costs.

Monitored Intruder System

          Highest                £1.30 per sq ft

          Lowest                 £0.40 per sq ft

          Average               £0.80 per sq ft

The main factor affecting the cost of an intruder system is if window vibration sensors are to be used and to what extent. So if you only want movement sensors and door contacts then you will be more towards the lower figure and If you want vibration sensors on all windows and doors then you’ll be more towards the higher end. Another factor would be the grade of the system but for most residential properties a Grade 2 system will be fine.

Monitored CCTV System

          Highest                £2.50 per sq ft

          Lowest                 £1.90 per sq ft

          Average               £2.20 per sq ft

The main factor affecting the cost of a monitored CCTV system is if CCTV posts are to be used and the type of detection used. For example a CCTV system with posts and analytics would be more expensive than a system with cameras and motion detectors mounted on the house.

 

Standalone CCTV System

                  Highest                £1.30 per sq ft

           Lowest                 £1.10 per sq ft

           Average               £1.20 per sq ft

The main factor affecting the cost of a standalone CCTV system (not monitored) is the features and quality of the cameras. So for example a system with adaptive infra-red cameras and wide dynamic range would be more expensive that a system without but would provide you with better night time images and would perform much better with low sun light.

 

Door/Gate Entry System
                     Highest                £0.70 per sq ft

          Lowest                 £0.20 per sq ft

          Average               £0.40 per sq ft

 

As you can see this system probably has the greatest variant between the highest and lowest price and this is purely down to two things, the length of the drive and number of gates. So if you have a single gate on a short drive you will be at the lower end, but if you have 2 gates and a drive that is 400m long then your cost is going to be higher. 

Now on top of the “security” equipment there will also be the actual gate and gate control to consider and rather than include these in the “per sq ft” figures I have done it on an individual basis

 Gate Control

·         Highest                £3,200 per gate

·         Lowest                 £1,500 per gate

·         Average               £2,350 per gate

The major factor affecting the cost of the gate control is the size, type and weight of the gate so for example a large solid double oak gate will be much more expensive than a single “farm gate” style gate.

Gate

·         Highest                £10,000+

·         Lowest                 £2,000

·         Average               £6,000

With the gate this major factor is the material and size of gate. Again if you wanted a large double solid oak gate you would be around the high end, but if you wanted an “off the shelf” iron gate you maybe at the lower end. It would all come down to your preferred style.

 

To sum up, it is hard to know exactly how much your system is going to cost without sitting down with someone and putting everything together but I hope this article will at least help you get somewhere pretty close to a ball park figure.

 

Thanks for reading

 

Ric Martin