How Often Should Your Business Alarm and CCTV Be Serviced

Choosing the right kit

Security systems get noticed the moment they stop working properly, but the maintenance that keeps them working rarely gets a second thought until an alarm fails to arm or a camera turns out to have been recording nothing for weeks. For a small business, that gap can matter far more than for a home, since insurers, landlords and sometimes clients expect evidence that systems protecting stock, premises or staff are actually looked after on a regular basis.

Most burglar alarms benefit from a service at least once a year, with some higher risk or heavily used commercial sites suited to a six monthly check instead. CCTV systems have their own separate lifecycle concerns, particularly around hard drive health and lens or housing condition, that do not always line up neatly with an alarm's service schedule. Treating the two as completely separate maintenance items, rather than assuming one visit covers everything, avoids nasty surprises with either system.

Servicing is not simply a box ticking exercise either. A proper visit checks battery condition, tests sensors and sounders, reviews recorded footage quality, and produces a record that can be shown to an insurer if a claim ever needs supporting. For a business that relies on its security system daily, a small annual or six monthly cost is generally far cheaper than discovering a fault only after something has gone wrong.