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Security Requirements Finder

Answer nine questions about your home or business and get an indicative specification: alarm grade, monitoring, cameras, access control and fire detection, ready to send to your insurer or to us.

Comprehensive CCTV installation and monitoring for businesses in Northern Ireland

What level of security does your premises need?

    The finder applies the conventions a surveyor and an insurer use. Intruder alarm grades come from the European standard EN 50131-1 and the UK scheme PD 6662:2017, which grade systems by the capability of the intruder they are designed to resist; the grade expectations for homes and businesses follow the published guidance of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, RISCAuthority and individual insurers’ loss prevention standards. Signalling follows EN 50136, which defines single-path and dual-path alarm transmission. Police response follows the NPCC Police Requirements for Security Systems 2026 as adopted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, including the keyholder rules that apply only in Northern Ireland.

    Camera plans follow the operational requirement approach used by the Home Office, where every camera has a stated job: detect, observe, recognise or identify. Retention and compliance notes follow the Information Commissioner’s guidance for CCTV operators, and the finder says plainly that the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice does not apply in Northern Ireland. Fire detection indications come from BS 5839-1 for non-domestic premises and BS 5839-6 for homes, as set out in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service’s own premises guides, and are always subject to the fire risk assessment the law in Northern Ireland requires. Where a council area is chosen, the finder uses PSNI recorded burglary figures published by NISRA, per head of population, to note whether the area sits above or below the Northern Ireland rate.

    The result is an indicative specification. It contains no prices, because the right system depends on the building, and the grade is always confirmed by a documented risk assessment rather than by the tool. A free survey confirms every line before anything is quoted.

    Grades, signalling and response in plain terms

    Grade 2 is the standard for homes and for lower-risk business premises without public access: it resists intruders with some knowledge and a limited range of tools. Grade 3 is what insurers expect at most commercial premises and at homes with higher-value contents, where intruders are expected to know alarm systems and come equipped; its detectors must report masking and it adds tamper protection and more thorough detection. Grade 4 equipment exists for the very highest risks and is rarely called for.

    Single-path signalling sends alarms to a receiving centre over one route, usually broadband or a mobile network. Dual-path signalling uses two independent routes so that a cut cable or a lost connection is itself reported, and it is the normal specification for Grade 3 and for police response.

    Self-monitored systems alert you and your contacts by phone. Keyholder response means a receiving centre handles every alarm and calls your keyholders or a keyholding service to attend. Police response is granted through a unique reference number for systems that confirm an alarm before it is passed on, are installed and maintained by an approved company and have two nominated keyholders.

    Security requirements, your questions

    Insurers’ published guidance treats Grade 2 as suitable for most homes and for lower-risk business premises without public access, and Grade 3 as the norm for most commercial premises and for homes with higher-value contents. Where a policy requires a monitored or police-response alarm, insurers normally expect Grade 3 with dual-path signalling. The policy schedule names the condition, and the finder shows the grade premises like yours are normally specified at.

    Grade 2 assumes intruders with limited knowledge and general tools, which covers most opportunist burglary. Grade 3 assumes intruders who know alarm systems and bring equipment, so its detectors must report masking and it carries more tamper protection and more detection. Both are professionally installed; Grade 1 is not offered because insurers disregard it.

    Your alarm company applies to the police for a unique reference number (URN). The system must confirm an activation before anyone is called, and the installer, the maintainer and the alarm receiving centre must all be certificated by a UKAS-accredited inspectorate and listed with the police. You need two trained keyholders who can attend within twenty minutes, and in Northern Ireland neither may live at the premises and they must live at different addresses. Three false calls in twelve months withdraw the response, and missed keyholder call-outs count against you too.

    No. It tells you what level of protection to expect, so you can compare quotes on a like-for-like basis and check them against your insurer’s wording. Prices depend on the building, the number of detectors and cameras, and the cabling, which is what a free survey establishes.

    The result is calculated in your browser. Nothing is stored unless you ask us to email the specification, in which case we keep your name, contact details and the specification so a surveyor can follow up. We do not sell or share the details.

    Yes. It is written in the language installers and insurers use, so any approved company can quote against it. We would of course like the chance to survey the premises and quote ourselves.

    Turn the specification into a survey

    Based in Coleraine, we survey homes and businesses across Northern Ireland and confirm the specification on site, free of charge.

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