CCTV for Commercial Buildings and Complexes

Two layers of CCTV

A commercial building with shops, clinics and offices has two kinds of camera: the building’s own cameras in common areas, run by the owner, management company or association, and each tenant’s cameras inside their unit. Problems start when nobody is clear about which is which. A shop owner assumes the corridor camera covers their shutter; the management assumes the shop has its own. After a break-in, neither has the footage.

The building should cover every way in and out, every shared space, and the services areas. Tenants cover their counters, stock and cash. Write this split into the tenancy or maintenance agreement.

What the building should cover

• Every pedestrian and vehicle entrance, with one camera for identification and another for overview.
• Main lobby, reception and security desk.
• Lift lobbies on every floor and inside each lift car.
• Staircases and fire exits, especially doors that open to the outside.
• Corridors in front of shop and office shutters, looking along their length.
• Basement and surface parking, ramps and two-wheeler zones.
• Loading bays, garbage areas, the electrical room, DG and pump rooms, and the terrace door.

The Karnataka public safety rules

Under the Karnataka Public Safety (Measures) Enforcement Act, 2017, establishments where 100 or more people gather at a time are expected to install CCTV covering entries, exits, common areas and parking, and to keep footage for at least 30 days. Most commercial complexes, malls and large office buildings fall into this group. Check with your local police station whether your building has been notified and what they expect.

Control room and network

Larger buildings need a small control room or a monitored security desk with a video wall or two large monitors, the NVRs, and a UPS. Run fibre between floors or towers and use network switches in each floor’s electrical riser; keep the CCTV network separate from the building’s Wi-Fi and from tenants’ networks. A video management system helps when there are more than about 64 cameras or several NVRs.

Sharing footage with tenants

Tenants’ own cameras

Tenants should place their own cameras inside the unit and at their own shutter, not across the common corridor into neighbours’ shops. Many buildings set a simple rule: tenant cameras may look out of their door but must not record inside another unit. Shared ducting for tenant cables avoids holes being drilled through fire-rated walls.

Worked example

A five-storey commercial building on Old Airport Road had 30 shops and clinics, two lifts and a basement, with 12 old cameras that had stopped recording. We planned 46 cameras: entrances, lobby, both lifts, every lift lobby, stairs, corridors, basement ramps and aisles, the loading area and the terrace door. A switch in each floor’s riser connects by fibre to a ground-floor control room with two NVRs, 45 days of storage and a UPS. Tenants were given a written note of what the building covers.

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