Security Camera Installation in New York

Security camera installation covers the whole job: site survey, camera placement, cabling, recorder setup, and the mobile app configured on your phone — for houses, condos, apartment buildings, storefronts, offices, and warehouses. Every install runs on a written contract signed before work starts, priced as labor plus materials. Once the system is live, a technician tests each camera with you on-site and walks you through the app before leaving.

How the Installation Goes

Installation runs in five steps: site visit, written proposal, signed contract, the install itself, and a handoff where you learn the system.

It starts with a walk-through. A technician checks entry points, sight lines, and lighting, finds a spot for the recorder, and maps how cable will run — through the basement, up a riser, along the trim. In a prewar walk-up that route looks different than in a new build with drop ceilings, so it gets planned before anything is priced. Installing a security camera system in an occupied building also means working around tenants, the super, and freight elevator schedules — the visit settles that too.

The proposal lists the cameras, the recorder, the cable routes, and the price. You sign a contract before work starts.

On install day the crew mounts the cameras, runs and terminates cable, connects the recorder, and aims each view. Holes go only where the survey marked them, and the crew patches and cleans up before heading out.

Handoff is part of the job, not an extra visit. Every camera gets tested on the spot, you’re shown live view and playback, and the app is set up on your phone before the crew leaves.

What It Costs and What Changes the Price

The price is labor plus materials: cameras, recorder, cable, mounts, and the hours the crew spends on your property. The contract is signed before work starts, so the number is set before the drill comes out.

What moves the number is scope. Camera count is the obvious part, but cable runs matter just as much: pulling wire through a brownstone with plaster walls takes longer than an office with an accessible ceiling grid. Exterior mounts on the third floor or above a storefront gate can call for a lift. The recorder adds cost through channel count and storage — thirty days of footage takes a bigger drive than a week.

On larger jobs, a partial deposit is taken up front. Either way, the written contract comes first: what’s being installed, where the cable goes, and what it costs — all on paper before anyone touches a wall.

Who Does the Work and What’s Included

Security camera system installation is handled by licensed technicians, and one crew carries the job end to end: mounting, wiring, recorder setup, app configuration, and cleanup. The security camera system installers who hang the hardware also configure it — there’s no separate visit for setup.

Paperwork is part of the scope: the signed contract up front and system documentation at handoff. The install carries a warranty — 90 days on the mechanical side, mounts and housings included, and 12 months on the electronics. Support runs by phone and email during business hours.

Surveillance camera installation is the same work under a different name — same crew, same contract, same warranty. If you’re comparing one surveillance camera installation service against another, read the scope line by line: who runs the cable, who sets up remote access, what the warranty covers, and who answers the phone after handoff.

Choosing Cameras for the Job

Cameras are chosen by task: what you need to see decides the lens, the housing, and the mounting spot — not the other way around.

For a yard, a driveway, or a parking lot, the job is coverage: bullet cameras with a wide lens and infrared night vision watch open ground and stay visible enough to be noticed. For a door or a gate, the job is detail: a fixed-lens dome mounted near face height, aimed tight, so the recording shows a face and not the top of a hat.

Low light changes the pick. An entrance lit by a single lobby fixture, the alley side of a building, an interior stairwell — those spots need cameras rated for low light, with infrared reach matched to the distance, usually 30 to 100 feet on common models.

License plate capture and pan-tilt-zoom are specialty picks. A plate camera is aimed at the traffic lane from close range and does that one job. A PTZ camera earns its cost where someone actually watches the feed — a guard desk, a live monitor — and less so as a set-and-forget recorder.

Where tampering is a risk — lobbies, hallways, elevators, next to a storefront gate — vandal-rated domes take the hit and keep recording.

Uniview and Hikvision are the preferred brands: both run IP camera lines wide enough to cover a two-camera apartment setup and a forty-camera commercial building on the same recorder platform. The brand isn’t locked, though — any system available on the market can be installed once it’s discussed and specced for the property.

Full-building recording with a central recorder and monitors is its own project, covered under CCTV installation. Outdoor placements have their own page too: outdoor security camera installation gets into weather sealing, mounting height, and powering cameras on a facade.

Service Area

Lock and Tech handles security camera installation across NYC — Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island — and out to a 75-mile radius from midtown Manhattan, which takes in Long Island, Westchester, and northern New Jersey.

Response time runs 20 to 40 minutes, and crews work weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Neighborhood pages carry the local details — start with Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you cover my area?

If you’re within 75 miles of midtown Manhattan, yes — that includes all five boroughs and the suburbs around them. The service area section above has the details.

How much does security camera installation cost?

Installation is priced as labor plus materials, and the price is fixed in a written contract before work starts. Camera count, cable runs, and recorder storage are what move it up or down; larger jobs take a partial deposit.

Will you drill through my walls?

Holes are drilled only where the site survey marked them, and the cable route is agreed before the contract is signed. The crew patches and cleans up as part of the job.

Can I watch my cameras from my phone?

Yes. The mobile app is set up on your phone at handoff, with live view and playback working before the crew leaves.

Can you install a security camera system I bought myself?

Yes — any system available on the market can be installed after a walk-through to confirm the hardware fits the property and the mounting spots.

What warranty comes with the installation?

Every install carries 90 days on the mechanical work and 12 months on the electronics, with support by phone and email during business hours.

Do I need co-op board approval to put up cameras?

Inside your own unit, usually no. Anything mounted in hallways, on the roof, or on the facade goes through the board or building management first — worth settling before the site visit.

Do you work on commercial properties?

Yes. The same security cameras installers handle storefronts, offices, warehouses, and multi-site portfolios, with service calls after handoff during business hours.

Related Services

Cameras for houses, condos, and apartments are covered under home security camera systems, and larger sites under commercial security camera systems. If an existing setup is down or misbehaving, security camera repair handles it. The security systems page lists all security cameras services in one place — installation, upgrades, and repair.