Quantora How to prepare a CCTV BOQ from drawings
Counting the cameras is the easy part. This guide covers how to derive the cabling, switches, cabinets and recording channels that follow from them — and how to state a basis you can defend.
A CCTV bill of quantities is rarely just a camera count. The cameras are the visible part; most of the value — and most of the errors — sit in the cabling, the switches, the cabinets and the recording channels that follow from them. This guide sets out how to build the quantities from a floor plan, in the order an experienced estimator works.
1. Count the cameras from the plan, not the schedule
Every drawing set has a camera schedule, and it is tempting to price from it. Use it as a cross-check instead. Schedules are frequently out of date relative to the layout, and a discrepancy between the two is one of the most common causes of a variation claim later.
Work systematically through the plan, marking each camera symbol and recording its tag, its type (indoor dome, outdoor bullet, PTZ, ANPR) and its location description. Then compare the total against the schedule. If they differ, note it in the BOQ rather than silently picking one.
Record the tag number for each camera. When the consultant queries a quantity six weeks later, "seven cameras on the third floor" is impossible to defend. "RU/D03/3/VCAM-1 through VCAM-7" is checked in thirty seconds.
2. Separate the camera types properly
An indoor dome in a corridor and an outdoor bullet on a perimeter wall are different line items at materially different prices. So is a camera specified for detection view versus one specified for observation or recognition view, because the required resolution and lens differ.
Lumping them into a single "IP camera" line makes a BOQ faster to write and much harder to price. The supplier ends up quoting the cheapest interpretation, and the difference surfaces on site.
3. Derive the PoE switches from the camera clusters
Cameras need power over Ethernet, so switch quantities follow from how the cameras group around communication cabinets. In practice a floor with seven cameras served from a single 12U cabinet needs one PoE switch of adequate port count; the same seven cameras split across three cabinets on a large floor plate need three.
Allow spare ports. A switch sized exactly to the camera count leaves nothing for a future addition, and adding a port later means adding a switch.
4. Estimate the CAT6 cable runs
This is where estimates diverge most. The honest method is an average run length per camera, applied to the camera count, with the basis stated:
| Item | Basis |
|---|---|
| Horizontal run | Camera to nearest riser or cabinet, measured or scaled from the plan |
| Vertical drop | Floor-to-cabinet height through the riser |
| Tray routing | Cable does not travel in straight lines — follow the containment |
| Termination allowance | Service loop at both ends |
A common working figure on a residential or commercial floor plate is 40 to 60 metres average per camera. Seven cameras at 50 metres gives 350 metres. State the assumption in the BOQ so it can be challenged and adjusted rather than argued about.
Remember the 90-metre horizontal limit for permanent-link CAT6. A camera beyond that distance from its switch needs a different solution, and spotting it at BOQ stage is far cheaper than spotting it on site.
5. Do not forget the items that have no symbol on the drawing
These are the lines most often missed, because nothing on the plan prompts you:
- NVR recording channels or VMS licences — one per camera
- Storage sized for the required retention period at the specified resolution and frame rate
- Network points and patch panels in each cabinet
- Patch cords, both at the camera and at the switch
- Cabinet accessories: shelves, PDUs, cable management, earthing
- Testing and certification of every link
- Labelling to the project standard
6. Cross-check before you issue
Three quick checks catch most mistakes. Does the number of recording channels equal the number of cameras? Does every camera have a switch port available on its floor? Does the total cable quantity divided by the camera count give a per-camera average you would defend out loud?
Dubai and UAE: SIRA compliance
CCTV systems in commercial and public buildings in Dubai fall under the Security Industry Regulatory Agency. That means SIRA system approval, equipment from the approved model list, and installation by a licensed contractor. It affects your BOQ directly, because a camera that is not on the SIRA list cannot be substituted for one that is, however similar the specification looks.
Access control usually falls under the same regulation. See our guide to UAE authority approvals for the full picture.
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