Going rates

[frankred]

Hi all,
I am looking to start helping a Home Owners Association that has 14 cameras on a Milestone server. I am trying to figure out what going rates and arrangements would be for items such as:

• camera installations/config,
• system maintenance,
• review of footage and delivery to authorities,
• NVR server maintenance,
• does anyone offer a retainer or ongoing support at a monthly fee? Does it include X hours or is it base plus hours?

TIA!
John

 

[frankred]

Anyone have any input here? As of today, I officially need to provide a quote.

I know cable pulls can range from $75-$150. I have heard hourly rates can reasonably be $100/hour. Does this sound right?

I guess I would break down each portion of a job by hours:
cable run x hours,
configure cam x hours,
follow up settings tweaks x hours,
plus
equipment costs.

Is there a standard equipment mark up for this industry? I have heard HVAC is 40%.

 

[Jack B Nimble]

Anyone have any input here? As of today, I officially need to provide a quote.

I know cable pulls can range from $75-$150. I have heard hourly rates can reasonably be $100/hour. Does this sound right?

I guess I would break down each portion of a job by hours:
cable run x hours,
configure cam x hours,
follow up settings tweaks x hours,
plus
equipment costs.

Is there a standard equipment mark up for this industry? I have heard HVAC is 40%.[

I look after numerous "sites" and up here anyway the price was $7-32,000 for 8 camera system. The system was Hikvision with 8 turrets 4mp and the NVR. I support installers in small towns but, have to quote out to our national supplier. I went with the local company for $7000 and I have had situation where our national guy didn't even bother to quote even when they were typically $30,000 so it wasn't the lack of profit. As I recall the price broke down to $325 per camera $1750 for the NVR and $175 hour for the two guys install. Not many have given feedback as its one hell of a business of which I might even ponder if I ever get better one day at getting my own home system perfected. I figure they made $4500 for a day and a bit of work. But again I support local installers so I was happy to have the company pay. I know the residential install is about 20-30% less then the commercial quote from personal experiance.

 

[frankred]

Anyone have any input here? As of today, I officially need to provide a quote.

I know cable pulls can range from $75-$150. I have heard hourly rates can reasonably be $100/hour. Does this sound right?

I guess I would break down each portion of a job by hours:
cable run x hours,
configure cam x hours,
follow up settings tweaks x hours,
plus
equipment costs.

Is there a standard equipment mark up for this industry? I have heard HVAC is 40%.

I look after numerous "sites" and up here anyway the price was $7-32,000 for 8 camera system. The system was Hikvision with 8 turrets 4mp and the NVR. I support installers in small towns but, have to quote out to our national supplier. I went with the local company for $7000 and I have had situation where our national guy didn't even bother to quote even when they were typically $30,000 so it wasn't the lack of profit. As I recall the price broke down to $325 per camera $1750 for the NVR and $175 hour for the two guys install. Not many have given feedback as its one hell of a business of which I might even ponder if I ever get better one day at getting my own home system perfected. I figure they made $4500 for a day and a bit of work. But again I support local installers so I was happy to have the company pay. I know the residential install is about 20-30% less then the commercial quote from personal experiance.

Thank you very much for the info!

Can you describe the job a little more please? For example: Did they hang cameras at existing locations? Did they have to run the cables in attic space, below ground? Did they have to put up poles to mount the cameras? Is the NVR setup basic or did they have to do lots of configuring to get it online or meet certain setup criteria? Do you still have a copy of the quote and invoice? I'd love to see those via pm if possible!
Thanks,
John

 

[Jack B Nimble]

You would be asking for too much. The install was all fresh run cat 5 simple attic access. Two cameras outside so overall I would say relatively simple to install. The product was all import not hik local as I saw the serial numbers so no support after from hik anyway. I appreciate the installer has a van a guy and materials with insurance premiums so I think price was fair. So say overall $750 a camera all in was the lowest I have come across. Like I said I have approved large installs of 50 grand for a 25000 Sq ft store seems pretty common. The degree of expertise and access to install points etc I am sure play a significant role with these guys. Also in Canada in many areas there is no real competition so what do you do? Take my input for what is is worth I am not an expert in systems as its just a hobby for me at home. But I do advise expenses such as these for many different type of commercial and retail space. I will delete my comments later today before all the others beat me up on my experiences lol.

 

[frankred]

Thanks for the added info! I was planning to use imports too. If one goes out within the standard warranty. I may just eat the cost. Not sure - maybe I could express the cost difference as an option and let the customer chose, but that would be tricky.

 

[Jack B Nimble]

I would warranty the camera yourself if your buying the hiks from china as you could give them 2-3 replacements with a one year warranty for the price of a US based single camera one at retail and I would bet the camera would have no issues anyway. Just use a" NI" version NVR either a E or a I (newer model) if you provide the NVR as updating that end is important not the camera updates (my opinion anyway).