How to Read a CCTV Quote in Perth (And Spot When You're Being Oversold)

Most people getting CCTV quotes in Perth are comparing numbers they have no way to judge. Three quotes land in the inbox, one is $2,000 cheaper, and the only real basis for choosing is a gut feel about which installer seemed more switched on.

That is not a good position to be in, and it is the reason a lot of systems get sold with hardware nobody needed.

This is what we look at when we read someone else's CCTV quote. None of it needs a technical background. It is mostly arithmetic and asking the right questions.

The channel count should match the camera count

An NVR (or DVR) has a fixed number of channels. Each camera uses one. If you are quoted three cameras and a 16-channel recorder, you are paying for thirteen channels you will never use.

Some headroom is reasonable. If you know you will add cameras next year, buying an 8-channel now instead of a 4-channel is sensible. But that should be a decision you made, not one that appeared in the quote by itself.

The version worth questioning hardest is two recorders on a small site. We have seen quotes for a single-floor commercial premises with three cameras and two separate 8-channel recorders on it. Sixteen channels for three cameras. That kind of thing usually is not overselling on purpose. It is what happens when a quote is assembled from a product configurator rather than designed for the building.

Either way, you are paying for it.

Mixed recording standards are a warning sign

There are two broad families of camera system:

• Analogue HD (HDCVI, HDTVI, AHD) runs over coaxial cable, records to a DVR. Cheaper per camera, and the standard choice when you are reusing existing coax from an old system.
• IP: runs over Cat6 network cable with PoE, records to an NVR. Higher resolution ceiling, more flexible, and generally what new installs use.

They are not interchangeable, and they need different recorders.

If a quote for one small building contains both a DVR and an NVR, ask why. There are legitimate reasons. The most common is that a site already has usable coax to some camera positions and you do not want to re-cable the whole building. That is a good reason, and a good installer will say so on the quote.

If nobody can explain it, the quote was not designed. It was generated.

“30 days of recording” is a claim you can check yourself

Storage is where quotes get vague, and it is the easiest thing to verify with a calculator.

Recording capacity depends on the number of cameras, the resolution, the frame rate, the compression (H.265 uses roughly half the space of H.264), and whether the system records continuously or only on motion.

Here is the arithmetic. A camera streaming at 4 Mbps uses about 1.8 GB per hour, or roughly 43 GB per day recording continuously.

So eight cameras at that bitrate is about 345 GB per day. Against a 2 TB hard drive, that is under six days: not thirty.

To actually hold 30 days of continuous footage from eight cameras at that quality, you are looking at 10 TB or more.

This does not mean a quote with 2 TB is dishonest. Motion-only recording, lower frame rates, or H.265 compression all change the number substantially, and for a lot of homes motion-triggered recording at 2 TB is a perfectly sensible spec. But the quote should tell you which assumption it is built on.

Ask this: Is that thirty days continuous or motion-only, and at what bitrate?

If the answer is a shrug, the number was decorative.

How long is CCTV footage kept?

There is no fixed period. A recorder keeps footage until its hard drive is full and then records over the oldest footage, so the number of days you get depends on the drive size, the number of cameras and the recording settings above. If something happens, save the clip straight away. The Dahua recorders I install can copy footage to a USB stick or over the network (recorder datasheet).

Megapixels are the headline. Sensor size is the substance.

Resolution is the number that gets sold, because it is the one buyers recognise. It is also the one that tells you least about how a camera performs at night.

A 4K camera on a small sensor will produce a worse usable image in low light than a 4MP camera on a larger sensor, because more pixels packed into the same area means less light on each one. Since most of the footage you will ever actually need was recorded after dark, this matters more than the number on the box.

We have written about this in more detail in how to pick a camera for night vision.

For reading a quote, the short version: if the spec sheet lists resolution but not sensor size, that is a gap worth filling in before you compare prices.

A camera count is not a design

Six cameras is a shopping list. A design tells you where each camera goes and what it is expected to achieve there.

The industry framework for this is DORI (from IEC 62676-4), which sets out four levels of what footage can actually be used for, based on how many pixels land on your target:

• Detection: about 25 px/m. Something is there.
• Observation: about 62.5 px/m. General behaviour, clothing.
• Recognition: about 125 px/m. You can tell it is someone you know.
• Identification: about 250 px/m. Usable to identify a stranger.

This is the difference between footage that is useful and footage that is just proof something happened. A wide-angle camera covering a whole driveway might be fine for detection but useless for identifying a face at the gate, and a lot of homeowners only discover that after an incident.

The practical consequence: you do not need identification-grade coverage everywhere. You need it at the choke points people have to pass through: the front door, the side gate, the driveway entry. Everywhere else, observation is usually enough.

A quote that specifies coverage per camera position is a design. A quote that says “6 x 4MP turret cameras” is a parts list, and you have no way of knowing whether it will do what you want.

The things quotes rarely spell out

Two quotes can be identical on hardware and hundreds of dollars apart on the work around it. Most of that difference sits in things almost nobody itemises, us included. They are not usually hidden on purpose; they are just assumed, and different installers assume differently.

Worth asking about on every quote you are comparing:

• Cabling method: surface-mounted conduit, or concealed through the ceiling space and walls? Concealed is more work and looks considerably better. It is the single biggest variable in labour cost on most jobs.
• Reinstatement: who patches where cable enters the building, and does that include paint?
• PoE switch and power: on IP systems this is real hardware. Check it is accounted for somewhere.
• Network configuration and remote access: is the app being set up on your phone before anyone leaves, and on everyone else's in the house?
• Handover: will someone show you how to pull a clip off the system? This is the step most often skipped, and the one you will need at the worst possible moment.
• Warranty terms: parts and labour are often warranted for different periods. Ask which applies to what. Whatever the written warranty says, your rights under the Australian Consumer Law sit on top of it, and the business that supplied the equipment has to deal with a fault rather than send you to the manufacturer (ACCC). Mine are listed in what a camera system costs in Perth.

None of it is exotic. It is just the difference between a quote and a price, and the answers tell you a lot about how the job will actually run.

If you want a reference point, our published CCTV package prices list what each 4, 6 and 8-camera system includes and what the price assumes, so you can hold other quotes up against them line by line.

Checking the installer

In Western Australia, security system installation is licensed work. So is the electrical work involved in running power to it.

Ask for the licence numbers and check them. Any legitimate installer will give them without hesitating. Ours are EC12377 (electrical contractor) and SA54405 (security agent), and they are listed on our about and contact pages. An installer who gets cagey about licensing has told you something useful.

The questions worth asking

Take any quote and put these to whoever wrote it:

1. How many channels does the recorder have, and how many cameras am I installing?
2. If there is more than one recorder, why?
3. Is the storage figure continuous or motion-only, and at what bitrate?
4. What is the sensor size, not just the resolution?
5. Which camera positions are meant to identify a face, and which are just coverage?
6. Is the cabling concealed or surface-mounted, and who makes good afterwards?
7. What is included in the handover?
8. What are your licence numbers?

An installer who has designed the system will answer all eight in a couple of minutes. One who has forwarded a configurator output will struggle on at least half.

That is the real test, not the price at the bottom.

Before you sign

One last thing worth checking: depending on what you are installing and where, some of the cost may be claimable. We have covered what is available in our guide to Perth CCTV and security rebates. If you run a shop or small business, the WA Government rebate has its own quote rules: the quote must be dated after 6 October 2026 and show the licence number and full name of the installer. See the WA small business CCTV rebate guide.

If you would like a second opinion on a quote you have already been given, or a written one of your own, our CCTV installation page covers what we do and how we scope it. Quotes are free and in writing, with the licence numbers on them, and we are happy to walk through any of the eight questions above over the phone, including on a quote that is not ours.

If a quote names a model you do not recognise, our cameras and recorders page lists what we fit and links the manufacturer datasheet for each one, so you can check a spec rather than take it on trust.