# Security Camera Installation Leads: 9 Triggers

> To get security camera installation leads, stop chasing homeowners who can buy a four-pack off the shelf and target buyers who cannot DIY. Dallas requires convenience stores to run three 1080p cameras with 30 days of storage, California cannabis rules demand 90 days of continuous recording, and federal grant money cannot buy Hikvision or Dahua. Those buyers must hire someone.

- Canonical URL: https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-get-security-camera-installation-leads
- Author: Om Patel
- Published: 2026-09-13
- Topic: Growth

The camera installation market split in two, and most advice on getting leads still pretends it did not.

On one side is the buyer who wants to see the porch. That buyer owns a battery camera from a big box store, installed it with three screws, and will never call you. On the other side is a group of buyers who **cannot** do it themselves: a law tells them exactly what to record, the money they are spending comes with rules, the site has no power, or the system they own has locked them out.

Every page ranking for this keyword tells you to optimize Google, collect reviews and post on social media. That is table stakes, and it is aimed at the first buyer. This article is about finding the second one, the buyer who is obliged to hire somebody.

- **Chase obligation, not interest.** A Dallas convenience store must run at least three 1080p cameras at 15 frames per second and keep 30 days of footage. A California cannabis licensee must record continuously and keep 90 days.
- **Federal money cannot buy Hikvision or Dahua.** NDAA Section 889 extends to grant recipients, so every school or nonprofit spending a grant needs a compliant design.
- **The install-only buyer cannot find you.** Homeowners with cameras already bought report searching and finding only monitoring companies that require their equipment and a monthly fee.
- **Cloud license lapses are dated triggers.** Verkada emails 30 days before expiry and cuts access to Command 30 days after it.
- **Sell monitoring on the guard math.** 72% of dealers already offer remote video monitoring. One operator's example: $2,000 a month for video against roughly $10,000 for overnight and weekend guards.
- **Manufacturer networks are a shortlist, not a pipeline.** Lorex referrals are free, but you are one name on a list.

## Why camera leads are not alarm leads

An alarm account is an annuity that pays monitoring every month and resells at a multiple of that revenue, which is the arithmetic behind [how alarm dealers should budget for leads](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-get-more-security-alarm-leads). A camera install, unless you attach something to it, is a one-time ticket.

Operators say so bluntly. In a thread about a young installer billing $2,000 to $11,000 for one-day projects, one r/sweatystartup user pushed back that [the money isn't in the installation, it's maintenance](https://www.reddit.com/r/sweatystartup/comments/zxee3b/my_little_cousin_swimming_in_cash/), because a good system lasts years. Another said they know business owners who have run the same camera system for at least ten years.

The industry data agrees. SDM's [2026 Industry Forecast](https://www.sdmmag.com/articles/104948-sdm-2026-industry-forecast) found video surveillance remained the top market segment for producing sales in 2025, while one dealer on its panel described roughly a 10% decrease in installation revenue alongside a 12% to 14% rise in recurring revenue.

So the best camera lead is not the cheapest one to acquire. It is the one attached to a **reason to keep paying you**: a retention rule someone must prove they meet, a site that needs watching every night, or a platform someone has to administer. Each trigger below carries one.

## The DIY filter: who still hires an installer

Be precise about who you are not selling to, because it saves wasted quoting.

In an [r/homesecurity thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/homesecurity/comments/1sep7l8/eufy_battery_vs_professional_poe_dahuahikvision/), a buyer weighed a $399 four-camera Eufy pack against a Dahua kit at about $990 for hardware, or roughly $1,500 to $2,000 with professional cabling. The replies are the professional pitch. Battery cameras only record on motion, one user said: "You WILL miss some things." A user in Manitoba said they do not touch wireless cameras because they do not work in winter. Another framed the purchase in one line: a camera for telling police what time something happened, "OR do you want the ability to be able to provide them with ID quality images of the perps and vehicles and plates."

Continuous recording, cold-weather reliability and evidence detail. A buyer who does not care about those three things is not your lead, and quoting them produces what one r/lowvoltage user described in a thread titled [Can't find customers](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1emidnc/cant_find_customers/): customers who have you design a system, then say someone else will do it for 20% of your cost.

## Trigger 1: the install-only buyer who cannot find you

This is the most overlooked lead in the trade, and it costs nothing but a page.

In [r/reolinkcam](https://www.reddit.com/r/reolinkcam/comments/1in2zg8/how_do_you_find_someonecompany_who_can_install/), a homeowner who had already bought PoE cameras asked how to find anyone to install them: "When I google in my local area I only get completely security monitoring companies, so you'd need their equipment and a monthly fee." Their one quote was $4,000 for four cameras. The replies map where that buyer goes instead: a handyman, an electrician, Thumbtack, a warehouse club installation service, or a hammer drill of their own. One replier who installs in Southern California quoted a going rate of $325 per camera for an installed Cat6 run.

Two lessons. Some buyers have **already bought the hardware** and want labor only. And their search results are crowded with monitoring companies whose model needs their own equipment and a contract, so a page for installing customer-owned cameras with no contract stands out. Build it with:

1. The brands people actually buy named in the copy: Reolink, Lorex, UniFi.
2. A per-run or per-camera starting price and a trip minimum.
3. A plain statement: no proprietary lock-in, no mandatory monitoring.
4. Photos of clean terminations and labeled racks, the visible difference between you and the handyman. Our guide to [profile photos that get calls](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/google-business-profile-photos-that-get-calls) covers which shots earn the click.

Hold your minimum. One r/lowvoltage user was [laughed at for ballparking $500](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/18jemv8/pricing_question/) to add two cameras to a prewired house because someone else quoted $300.

## Trigger 2: businesses a city tells to record

Some businesses are not deciding whether to buy cameras. Their city decided, and wrote the specification.

Under [Chapter 12B of the Dallas City Code](https://dallascityhall.com/departments/codecompliance/DCH%20documents/C-Store%20Ordinance.pdf), a registered convenience store must provide, maintain and operate at least three color digital high-resolution cameras, each capable of a two megapixel image at 1920 by 1080 pixels and at least 15 frames per second.

| Requirement | What Chapter 12B says |
| --- | --- |
| Camera positions | One on the cash register, one with a full-frame face view of everyone entering, one of everyone exiting |
| Operation | Operating at all times, including when closed, fixed position, not panning |
| Recording | Records every time motion occurs, open or closed |
| Storage | Recorder in a secured location remote from the cameras; kept at least 30 days |
| Police access | Copy provided within 72 hours of a request |
| Signage | "STORE IS UNDER CAMERA SURVEILLANCE" in letters at least two inches high at each entrance and exit |

Read that table as a sales tool. Every line is a way an existing system fails: an entrance camera that captures the tops of heads, a recorder beside the register, footage that rolls over at two weeks, an owner who cannot export a clip in 72 hours. A **compliance check against the ordinance** beats a free security consultation, because it gives the owner a specific, checkable reason to fix something now. The same chapter requires a silent holdup alarm, so the local alarm dealer is your natural referral partner here.

Ordinances differ city to city, so do not assume yours matches Dallas. Search your municipal code for "surveillance camera" and read the chapters on convenience stores, pawn and secondhand dealers, and late-night venues. Where a chapter exists, a registration list often exists too.

## Trigger 3: licensed industries with recording rules

State licensing turns cameras from an option into a condition of operating, with a specification a consumer kit fails.

California's cannabis rule, [Title 4, Section 15044](https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/4-CCR-15044), requires a minimum resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels, continuous recording 24 hours a day at a minimum of 15 frames per second, and retention for at least 90 calendar days. Coverage must include cannabis handling areas, limited-access areas, security rooms, entrances and exits, and for retailers, point-of-sale areas clear enough to capture facial features. Storage must be secured against tampering or theft.

Do the arithmetic on retention, because that is where the job gets its size. Continuous recording for 90 days means every camera always holds 2,160 hours of footage. A 16-camera site carries 34,560 camera-hours at all times, on storage that has to survive a drive failure without losing an archive a regulator can ask for. That is not a four-pack job, and it is a service contract waiting to be written: price quarterly health checks and drive replacement into the proposal from day one.

The pattern generalizes. Wherever a license depends on recording, the buyer is compliance-driven, budget-tolerant and afraid of an inspection, the three best properties a camera lead can have.

## Trigger 4: public money, and the brands it cannot buy

Grant and rebate money gives a buyer budget and restricts what they can buy with it.

The restriction is the bigger opportunity. Under NDAA Section 889, [as IPVM summarizes it](https://ipvm.com/reports/hikua-bans), the federal government cannot procure video surveillance produced by Hikvision or Dahua, federal contractors cannot use it, and the ban extends to federal dollars spent by grant recipients: a private school may not spend federal grant funds on those cameras. Enterprise buyers follow the same line. In an [r/lowvoltage camera thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1jq3qui/cameras/), one user wrote that Hikvision "is a no-go in any enterprise/large commercial - with a CISO heading a security department - or that sells to government."

On the budget side, three programs show the range:

- **Washington, DC** runs a [Private Security Camera Incentive Program](https://ovsjg.dc.gov/page/private-security-camera-incentive-program) paying up to $200 per camera, capped at $500 per residential address and $750 for all other addresses, with cameras registered with the Metropolitan Police Department. The rebate covers the camera purchase, not installation. The hardware is subsidized and the labor is still yours to quote.
- **Detroit's Project Green Light** requires participants to buy from an approved vendor. The [city's FAQ](https://detroitmi.gov/node/13691) puts purchase at $4,000 to $6,000, or $130 to $180 a month to lease plus $450 to $1,000 for installation, with more than 400 participating businesses. Where a program runs through an approved list, getting on the list is the lead generation.
- **The COPS School Violence Prevention Program** has [up to $73 million for FY26](https://cops.usdoj.gov/svpp), awards up to $500,000 and a local match of at least 25%. Its statutory uses name locks, lighting and other deterrent measures rather than cameras specifically, so read the solicitation before promising a school it covers video.

A small r/lowvoltage shop described living on this after its biggest subcontracting client dropped smaller subs: it kept working partly through [institutional projects funded by federal safe schools programs](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1lvoj8a/q_about_marketing_plantools_for_low_voltage_small/).

Most camera installers we talk to are marketing to the homeowner who already bought a battery kit. We map the obliged buyers in your territory, the ordinances, licensees, grant recipients and sites that must hire someone, and build the pages and follow-up that reach them first.

## Trigger 5: the Hikvision and Dahua installed base

A large installed base of cameras just lost its easy upgrade path, and most owners do not know it yet.

The FCC barred [new equipment authorizations](https://ipvm.com/reports/hikua-bans) for Hikvision and Dahua from November 2022, leaving previously authorized products unaffected at the time. Its [October 2025 fact sheet](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-415051A1.pdf) describes a procedure to limit previously granted authorizations "to prohibit the continued importation and marketing of such equipment, without limiting continued operation or use."

Do not overstate this. A business with a working Hikvision recorder is not being told to rip it out. What is happening is slower and more useful to you: like-for-like replacements get harder to buy, so the day that recorder dies, the owner faces a platform decision instead of a part swap. Work it three ways:

1. **Your own old jobs.** You know who is exposed. Call before the recorder fails.
2. **The service call.** A dead channel on a covered system is a migration quote, priced against doing it in an emergency.
3. **The customer who insisted.** One r/lowvoltage user in the [Can't find customers](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1emidnc/cant_find_customers/) thread installs what the customer demands, does the wiring properly, and says "8/10 call me within a year for a new system."

## Trigger 6: cloud licenses about to lapse

Cloud platforms put a date on the buying decision, which is the rarest thing a lead can have.

Verkada's help center spells out the sequence. It emails and adds a banner [30 days before a license expires](https://help.verkada.com/command/licensing/manage-your-licenses). If the license is not renewed within 30 days after expiry, the customer loses access to Command, cannot reach devices or change settings, and alarms and event notifications are disabled. Devices keep recording, but footage is only reachable once access returns.

That is a 60-day window in which a facilities or IT manager must ask whether renewal is worth it. Opinion is split. In [r/accesscontrol](https://www.reddit.com/r/accesscontrol/comments/1q8i1gu/why_do_most_in_this_sub_not_like_verkada/), one installer called the model "Hostage as a Service" and another complained of "insane storage pricing," while an end user in the same thread reported "nothing but positives."

You do not need a side to use the trigger. Offer a **renewal review**: what they pay per camera per year, what staying costs, and what moving to a platform they own outright costs. Some renew and hire you to expand. Some migrate. Both are dated jobs.

## Trigger 7: sites with no power, no network and no guard

Construction sites and equipment yards are the installer's recurring revenue market, because the alternative is a person standing there all night.

The theft problem is documented. The National Equipment Register and NICB's [2016 Equipment Theft Report](https://www.ner.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Annual-Theft-Report-2016.pdf) compiled 11,574 reported heavy equipment thefts that year and 2,442 recoveries, about 21%. The competing price is public too: SunRoad [rents solar surveillance trailers](https://sunroadsurveillance.com/pricing/) month to month at $799 a month, or $1,499 for its Pro tier with remote monitoring.

The more persuasive number is the guard comparison. In an [IPVM discussion on remote video monitoring](https://ipvm.com/discussions/remote-video-monitoring), Brian Karas of Pelican Zero described $30,000 of equipment on a $2,000 a month contract, replacing a guard contract of roughly $10,000 a month for 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. weekdays and all day on weekends.

| | Guard contract | Video contract |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost | about $10,000 | $2,000 |
| Monthly saving | | about $8,000 |
| Upfront equipment | none | $30,000 |
| Months to recover equipment from savings | | about 3.75 |

A site owner who sees equipment paid back inside four months does not need to be sold on cameras. Karas put entry monitoring prices around $75 a camera a month or $3 per event, with one dealer example buying at $200 a month and charging $250.

Just do not lead with monitoring as a novelty. SDM's [video surveillance market report](https://www.sdmmag.com/articles/105061-state-of-the-market-video-surveillance) found 72% of respondents already offer it, up 9 points, and 65% of the rest plan to within two years. The installer who wins these sites is the one in the general contractor's phone when the permit is pulled, a relationship game covered in our guide to [landing commercial contracts](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-to-get-commercial-contracts-as-a-contractor).

## Trigger 8: manufacturer and distributor networks

Manufacturer programs produce real leads, but know what each one hands you.

- **Lorex** runs an [Installer Network](https://pro.lorex.com/pages/become-an-installer) with "no fees, no subscriptions." Customers who buy Lorex and want installation get a list of installers based on location and expertise, and Lorex says it is not responsible for the installation or any agreement made. You are a name on a shortlist, selling labor to a buyer who chose a consumer brand.
- **Axis** does not sell to end customers. Its [find-a-partner form](https://www.axis.com/forms/find-a-partner-close-to-you) collects buyer details so they can be contacted about their needs by its partner ecosystem. Partner status is the entry ticket.
- **Verkada** describes a [Premier Services Network](https://www.verkada.com/blog/new-verkada-partner-program/) of partners who install and service its products "as primary partners or subcontractors," plus deal registration in its partner portal. Installers report channel friction: one r/accesscontrol user claimed "zero dealer protection," while another insisted orders must come through a verified reseller. Register every deal you find.

Distributors are the quieter version. When a Baltimore CCTV owner asked [r/homedefense](https://www.reddit.com/r/homedefense/comments/dcieu6/to_my_fellow_cctv_installation_business_owners/) for new ways to find customers, the first reply was: "Are you working partnerships with your suppliers/vendors/manufacture reps?"

Brand choice decides which of these leads pay. In the r/lowvoltage camera thread, a 20-year veteran warned that UniFi margins are thin because dealer pricing is only slightly better than retail and prices are listed on the website. A lead for hardware the customer can price online is a labor-only job.

## Trigger 9: trades already inside the building

The cheapest camera lead comes from a contractor already on a ladder in your customer's building.

One r/Entrepreneur user with a four-year-old surveillance business called his [most lucrative source](https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/16dcynn/i_started_a_cctv_networking_and_it_company_9/) a contractor who replaces lighting with energy-efficient fixtures. On each job, the lighting contractor checks whether the camera system is outdated or missing and passes the contact over. The camera installer returns the favor, and they pay each other a finder's fee. A retrofit crew is on a lift next to every camera mount in the building.

Other versions operators report:

- **IT companies** that recommend cabling but do not pull it. One [r/lowvoltage user](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1m7a241/new_sales_role_looking_for_advice/) advised paying them back with lunch or a free cable run, and warned that in front of their client you should "keep your mouth closed and only speak when you are asked."
- **Your banker.** A South Florida installer said the local bank chain [knows when projects are starting](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1kl17xb/looking_for_advice_on_starting_a_low/).
- **General contractors who refer rather than sub.** The same installer's construction partner refers clients directly rather than using them as a sub: "They just want the client happy."

The broader subcontracting and MSP playbook is ranked in our [lead source ranking for security companies](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/best-lead-sources-for-security-alarm-companies), so we will not repeat it.

## The channels that cost camera installers money

Some channels feel productive and quietly burn margin.

| Channel | What operators report | Use it for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gig platforms (Field Nation, WorkMarket) | "A race to the bottom for the lowest possible prices" | Payroll cover in a slow month |
| Bid boards (BuildingConnected) | "100+ quotes for every yes," each yes under $10,000 | Meeting GCs, then leaving |
| Data subscriptions (ZoomInfo) | A three-tech shop was quoted about $15,000 on a one-year commitment | Only with a named target account list |
| Free system designs | Designs handed to a cheaper installer | Nothing. Charge for design |

The bid board row hides the most useful lesson here. The r/lowvoltage user who reported [100 quotes per yes](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1eq94xp/need_advice_on_growing_business/) also kept relationships with three general contractors from that year, each now worth about $100,000 a year, sent to him directly without a membership. He credits delivering on time and answering the phone when it rings. The platform's value was three introductions, and a GC choosing between two installers remembers [who called back first](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/how-fast-should-you-respond-to-a-lead).

On data tools, the top answer in the ZoomInfo thread said its leads "are not what you need" for low voltage work: map where you will travel, research every general and electrical contractor there, and get on their prequalified bid lists. Buy data after you know who you want.

## Handling the three objections camera buyers raise

**"I can buy this on Amazon."** Agree, then separate the products. If they want a camera to glance at, buy the kit. If they need continuous recording, winter reliability, faces at the door or a retention rule they can prove, that is what they are paying for.

**"The other guy quoted half."** Price scope, not camera count. In an [r/lowvoltage pricing thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/lowvoltage/comments/1ff5mf6/how_cheap_do_they_want_me_to_be/), one side-job installer charges $100 a camera, or $250 when a helper pulls, terminates and mounts, while his employer charges $1,200 for a basic 2MP camera. Those are different services. Several commenters gave the same rule: never negotiate down after giving a price.

**"Are you casing my business?"** This one is real. The installer in the Can't find customers thread said "it's like people think I'm trying to case their business for a burglary." Fear pitches invite that, and the fear message is weakening: the NRF's [Impact of Theft and Violence 2026](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/retail/news/55396090/national-retail-federation-nrf-study-shoplifting-declined-in-2025-as-retail-fraud-schemes-increased) study reported a 12.4% decrease in shoplifting incidents in 2025. Lead with the ordinance or license rule instead. A compliance check is not threatening.

Licensing helps with all three. Texas Occupations Code [Chapter 1702](https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/oc/htm/oc.1702.htm) defines an alarm system to include "a television camera or still camera system" that records or archives images at a residence or business. In r/sysadmin, IT staff debating [whether to install cameras themselves](https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/85j6ay/install_security_cameras_ourselves_or_go_with/) cited state licensing, and one New York IT worker said they farm out all security installs so a bad install is on the vendor. Put your license number on every page and quote.

## A 60-day plan for a small camera shop

1. **Week 1.** Search your city and county code for camera requirements, and list state licensing rules in your territory that mandate recording.
2. **Week 2.** Publish three pages: install-only for customer-owned cameras, one compliance page per ordinance or licensed industry, and a construction monitoring page built on the guard comparison.
3. **Week 3.** Pull your job history. Flag every covered-brand system and every cloud platform renewal date, and book those calls.
4. **Week 4.** Apply to one manufacturer network that fits your brands and ask your distributor rep to name you as an installer.
5. **Weeks 5 to 6.** Sign two referral partners who work inside your customers' buildings, with a written finder's fee both ways.
6. **Weeks 7 to 8.** Take grant and rebate programs to schools, churches and qualifying businesses, and offer to handle the paperwork.

Track two numbers: the share of leads from an **obligation trigger** versus general interest, and the share of closed jobs that left a recurring line on the invoice.

## The bottom line

Getting security camera installation leads is a targeting problem, not a visibility problem. The merely interested buyer has a cheaper option on every shelf. The buyers worth chasing are obliged to hire someone: a store under an ordinance, a licensee with a 90-day retention rule, a school spending grant money, a yard that would otherwise pay a guard, and an owner whose platform just sent a renewal notice.

Reach them before the deadline and attach something to the install that keeps them paying. That is what we build for security and low voltage companies on the [lead generation side of Pavado](https://www.pavadotech.com/). If you are weighing buying leads instead, see [exclusive versus shared security leads](https://www.pavadotech.com/blog/exclusive-vs-shared-security-alarm-leads).

## Sources

- [Dallas City Code Chapter 12B](https://dallascityhall.com/departments/codecompliance/DCH%20documents/C-Store%20Ordinance.pdf); [California 4 CCR 15044](https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/4-CCR-15044); [Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1702](https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/oc/htm/oc.1702.htm)
- [IPVM, Where Dahua and Hikvision Are Banned](https://ipvm.com/reports/hikua-bans); [FCC Fact Sheet, October 7, 2025](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-415051A1.pdf)
- [DC Private Security Camera Incentive Program](https://ovsjg.dc.gov/page/private-security-camera-incentive-program); [Detroit Project Green Light FAQ](https://detroitmi.gov/node/13691); [COPS School Violence Prevention Program](https://cops.usdoj.gov/svpp)
- [Verkada, Manage Your Licenses](https://help.verkada.com/command/licensing/manage-your-licenses); [Verkada Partner Program](https://www.verkada.com/blog/new-verkada-partner-program/); [Lorex Installer Network](https://pro.lorex.com/pages/become-an-installer); [Axis, find a partner](https://www.axis.com/forms/find-a-partner-close-to-you)
- [NER and NICB 2016 Equipment Theft Report](https://www.ner.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Annual-Theft-Report-2016.pdf); [SunRoad pricing](https://sunroadsurveillance.com/pricing/); [IPVM remote video monitoring discussion](https://ipvm.com/discussions/remote-video-monitoring)
- [SDM 2026 Industry Forecast](https://www.sdmmag.com/articles/104948-sdm-2026-industry-forecast); [SDM State of the Market: Video Surveillance](https://www.sdmmag.com/articles/105061-state-of-the-market-video-surveillance); [NRF Impact of Theft and Violence 2026 via Security Info Watch](https://www.securityinfowatch.com/retail/news/55396090/national-retail-federation-nrf-study-shoplifting-declined-in-2025-as-retail-fraud-schemes-increased)

## FAQ

### How do I get clients for my security camera installation business?

Target buyers who are obliged to hire a professional rather than buyers who could buy a DIY kit. That means businesses under a camera ordinance, licensed industries like cannabis with recording rules, organizations spending federal grant money that cannot buy Hikvision or Dahua, construction sites with no power, and owners whose cloud camera license is about to lapse. Add referral swaps with trades already working inside your customers' buildings, such as lighting retrofit contractors and IT providers.

### How much should I charge per camera to install?

Operator numbers vary widely by market and scope. One r/lowvoltage user charges $100 a camera as a side job with a three camera minimum, or $250 a camera when someone else pulls cable, terminates and mounts, while their employer charges $1,200 for a basic 2MP camera. A three-person company in the same thread bills about $190 an hour. One installer who sold his business said the margins only worked with crews doing four installs a day at $2,500 for eight cameras.

### Do I need a license to install security cameras?

In many states, yes. Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1702 defines an alarm system to include a camera system that records or archives images of property or people at a residence or business, which pulls camera installation into private security licensing. IT staff in r/sysadmin note New York has installation licensing requirements too. Check your state board before you advertise, because a license is both a legal requirement and a trust signal unlicensed competitors cannot copy.

### Is the Lorex Installer Network worth joining?

As a supplement, not as a pipeline. Lorex says the network has no fees and no subscriptions, and customers who buy Lorex products and opt for professional installation get a list of installers based on location and expertise. Lorex also states it is not responsible for the installation or any agreement between customer and installer, so you are competing on a shortlist for a buyer who already chose a consumer brand.

### Is Field Nation or WorkMarket worth it for low voltage camera work?

Only as filler. In r/lowvoltage one user called Field Nation terrible advice and a race to the bottom for the lowest possible prices, while another said it at least gets you work and they used it during slow periods before moving away from it. A camera installer in another thread said those apps lowball the contractor. Use them to cover payroll in a gap, never as the plan.

### How do I compete with Ring, Wyze and Eufy DIY cameras?

Do not compete for the buyer who is happy with them. Sell the gap they leave: continuous recording, evidence-grade detail and reliability. Homeowners comparing a battery kit to a wired PoE system in r/homesecurity were told battery cameras only record on motion and will miss some things, and that the real question is whether you want to tell police what time something happened or hand them usable images of faces, vehicles and plates.

### Should security camera installers offer remote video monitoring?

Yes, but not as a differentiator. SDM's 2026 Industry Forecast found 72% of dealers and integrators already offer remote video monitoring, and 65% of those who do not plan to within two years. Offer it because it turns a one-time install into recurring revenue on sites where guards are the alternative, such as construction yards, and sell it on the guard comparison rather than on the technology.

### Can I still install Hikvision or Dahua cameras?

For many private customers, yes. The FCC stopped new equipment authorizations for Hikvision and Dahua in November 2022, and its October 2025 order targets continued importation and marketing of covered gear without limiting continued operation or use. But federal agencies, federal contractors and anyone spending federal grant money cannot buy it under NDAA Section 889, and many enterprise customers with a security officer refuse it outright.