How to Compare Security Installation Quotes
Three quotes, three different numbers, and no way to tell what the difference buys. Here is what to look for, and the questions that separate them.
- What the price gap actually buys
- Licence checks you can do yourself
- Questions that reveal the difference
- Red flags worth walking away from
The real problem
The Cheapest Quote Is Rarely the Cheapest System
Most people collect three quotes, see a spread, and have no way to judge what the gap represents. Sometimes it is margin. Often it is scope, and the cheap one simply covered less of the property.
The other common answer is that the cheap quote assumed an easy cable route that does not exist, which becomes a variation on the day.
None of this requires you to understand the hardware. It requires you to ask five specific questions, and to notice which quotes answer them without being pushed.
It is a price for a package. Two installers quoting four cameras can be quoting completely different jobs if one has walked the property and the other has not.
What to check
Six Things to Compare, Line by Line
Put the quotes side by side and look for these. Most of the difference shows up in the first three.
Number of positions and where each one is
Not camera count, position list. A quote saying four cameras tells you nothing. A quote naming the front entry, the side gate, the rear door and the driveway tells you exactly what you are buying and what has been left out.
Whether the property was actually walked
Ask directly. A price given over the phone or from an aerial photo is a guess, and the variation comes later. Every quote that involved someone standing on the property will describe the property.
What happens if the cable route is harder than expected
The most common variation on a security job. Ask whether the quote is fixed or whether cable difficulty is excluded. A fixed price after a site visit is a different product to an estimate.
Retention, in days, for your camera count
Storage is where quotes quietly differ. Ask how many days the system will hold with all cameras recording. If the answer is a drive size rather than a number of days, ask again.
What happens at handover
Is detection tuned on site, after dark where it matters? Is the app set up on your phone with you present? These take an hour and they are the difference between a system you keep using and one you mute.
Who you call in six months
A mobile number that answers, or an office. Ask what a service call costs and whether they attend systems they installed. A cheap install with no support is not cheaper.
Check it yourself
Two Licence Checks That Take Five Minutes
Security installation in Victoria requires a security licence. Cabling that connects to the telecommunications network requires a separate ACMA cabler registration. Most installers hold one or the other.
Both are publicly verifiable, and neither check requires you to know anything technical. Ask for the numbers in writing before you sign anything.
An installer who hesitates when asked for a licence number has told you what you needed to know.
- Ask for both numbers in writing, not verbally and not later
- Check the security licence against the Victorian register
- Check the cabler registration against the ACMA register
- Ask about insurance and what it covers if something is damaged
- Ours are published: Security Licence Z67-511-50S and Cabler Licence T59216
Warning signs
Six Things Worth Walking Away From
None of these is illegal. All of them predict a difficult job.
A price without a site visit
On anything beyond a single doorbell camera, a phone price is a starting figure dressed as a quote. The real number arrives after the work starts.
Pressure to decide today
Legitimate installers are busy and their price next week is the same as their price today. Urgency is a sales technique, not a scheduling reality.
No licence number offered
It should be volunteered, not extracted. If you have to ask twice, that is the answer.
A deposit that is most of the job
A reasonable deposit covers equipment. A deposit covering almost the whole job transfers all the risk to you.
Cash only, no invoice
No paper trail means no warranty conversation, no insurance documentation and no recourse.
Guarantees that cannot be true
Nobody can guarantee a burglar will be identified, or that a system will never false alert. Promises that specific are a warning about everything else in the quote.
Recent work
Jobs Where the First Quote Had Missed Something
Three properties where the difference between quotes turned out to be scope.
Four cameras, seven approaches
A four camera package quoted on a block with seven ways in. We counted them with the owner standing there, which is the only way that number ever comes out right.
More on Glen Waverley ›The cheap quote had no cable route
Double brick with no cavity and a quote that assumed a straight run. The variation would have exceeded the difference between the two quotes on day one.
More on Doncaster ›Six days of retention
Eight cameras on a drive sized for four. The system held six days, which the owner discovered after returning from a fortnight away.
More on Box Hill ›Questions
Comparing Quotes FAQs
Why are security quotes so different for the same job?
Usually because they are not the same job. One quote covers four approaches and another covers seven. One assumes an easy cable route and another has checked. Comparing camera counts without comparing positions is what makes the spread look inexplicable.
Should I always take the cheapest quote?
Only if it covers the same scope with the same retention and the same handover. Put the position lists side by side first. If the cheap quote has fewer positions, it is not cheaper, it is smaller.
How do I check an installer is licensed?
Ask for the security licence number and the ACMA cabler registration in writing, then check both against the public registers. It takes five minutes and it is the single most useful check available to you.
Is a site visit really necessary?
For anything beyond one camera, yes. The cable route, the mounting access and the approaches all decide the price, and none of them is visible from an aerial photo or a phone call.
What deposit is reasonable?
Enough to cover equipment on order, not most of the job. If a deposit covers nearly the full price, you are carrying all the risk before anything is fitted.
What should a quote actually contain?
A position list, the equipment per position, the retention in days, whether the price is fixed, what happens at handover, and the licence numbers. If any of those are missing, ask for them before comparing.
Where to next
Related Services and Guides
For our own approach see CCTV installation and security alarms. Both licences are explained on security licensing. To see completed work rather than promises, visit our work.
Get a Quote You Can Actually Compare
A licensed technician walks the property, gives you a position list rather than a package, and puts a fixed price in writing. Nothing to sign on the day.
Borderless Solutions. Licensed and insured. 81 Junction Rd, Nunawading VIC 3131. Monday to Saturday, 7:00 to 20:00.