The pre-install audit: Mr Secured runs a 14-point checklist on every commercial Brisbane site before quoting. Skipping any of these is how commercial CCTV ends up failing audits, missing critical events, or becoming obsolete in 18 months.
The 14 points, in order
- Identify recordable incidents. Theft, slip-and-fall, after-hours intrusion, internal misconduct, customer disputes. Each implies a different camera mix.
- Map sightlines. Walk the site at peak and quiet hours. Document blind spots, glare zones, lighting changes, fluorescent flicker.
- Choose camera types. Dome (vandal-resistant indoor), bullet (long-range outdoor), turret (best image quality at mid-range), PTZ (cover wide areas with one camera), multi-sensor (replaces 4 cameras at corners), ColorVu (full-colour at night), TiOC (AI motion + active deterrence).
- Set resolution per zone. 4K (8MP) at any choke point where you need to identify faces or licence plates. 4MP elsewhere. 2MP for general scene capture only. Don’t overspend on 4K everywhere — the storage tradeoff is brutal.
- Calculate retention requirements. Retail: 30 days minimum, 60 preferred. Warehouse: 60-90 days. Office: 30 days. Body corporate: 30 days mandatory. Industrial with insurance: check policy — sometimes 90 days mandated.
- Size the NVR. Days × cameras × bitrate = storage. 4K H.265 at 8 fps motion-only: ~1 TB per camera per 30 days. NVR with hot-swap drives + RAID-1 for any audit-critical site.
- Network architecture. Dedicated VLAN for CCTV. Don’t share with the office network. PoE switches with proper budget (cameras + IR + heaters). Surge protection on every external camera.
- After-hours alerts. Define what triggers what. Person detected at loading dock at 2am: SMS to manager + monitoring station. Vehicle through gate at 6am: log only. Configure these via Dahua DMSS rules; review monthly.
- Audit access controls. Who can view live? Who can pull footage? Each viewer gets a unique login. NVR access logs reviewed quarterly.
- Privacy compliance. Signage at every entrance + customer-facing. Privacy masking on any zone covering staff personal areas (lockers, kitchen if used as break room).
- Power redundancy. NVR on UPS minimum 2 hours. Cameras on PoE survive any mains interruption to the switch. Dual-feed for 24/7 audit-critical sites.
- Cabling pathway. Conduit through public areas. Direct-burial Cat6A outdoor. Surge protectors at the camera and the switch end of every external cable.
- Mobile + remote view. Dahua DMSS app provisioned on owner + key staff phones. Two-factor enabled. Test from off-site before sign-off.
- Documentation pack. Camera inventory, MAC addresses, IP scheme, NVR password (sealed envelope), retention policy, access list, signage map. Hand over at install completion.
Get a commercial CCTV audit + quote: mrsecured.com.au/contact or call 0490 130 339. Read more on commercial CCTV Brisbane.
