Most disappointing security systems in Egypt were not badly installed. They were badly specified — and then installed exactly as specified. A tender document that says “supply and install 48 IP cameras, 4 MP, with NVR and 30 days storage” will attract bids that differ by half, and the cheapest will be technically compliant and operationally useless.
This guide is for consultants, project managers and procurement teams writing the specification: how to describe what the system must achieve, so that compliance and usefulness become the same thing.
The root problem: counting devices instead of defining outcomes
A device list can always be satisfied cheaply. A performance requirement cannot. Compare:
| Weak clause | Why bidders can game it | Stronger clause |
|---|---|---|
| “4 MP IP camera, IR 30 m” | IR range is measured in ideal conditions; any cheap camera claims it | “Shall produce identifiable facial detail at 6 m and vehicle-plate legibility at 12 m at 0.05 lux, verified on site during commissioning” |
| “NVR with 30 days recording” | Achieved by dropping frame rate or resolution after handover | “30 days continuous retention for all channels at the specified resolution and ≥20 fps, with H.265; contractor to submit the storage calculation” |
| “Suitable hard drives” | Desktop drives are “suitable” until they fail | “Surveillance-grade drives with a published annual workload rating ≥ the system’s calculated annual write volume; model and rating to be stated in the bid” |
| “UPS for the system” | Sized for the recorder only, so nothing is recorded | “UPS shall sustain recorder, all PoE switches and the network core for ≥ 30 minutes at full load; load calculation to be submitted” |
| “Access control for main gates” | No behaviour defined for fire or power loss | “Fail-safe on egress routes and fail-secure on external doors, interfaced to the fire alarm; behaviour to be demonstrated at handover” |
| “Original equipment” | Means nothing without traceability | “Equipment shall be supplied through the manufacturer’s authorized channel in Egypt; serial list and authorized-agent confirmation to be submitted before delivery acceptance” |
The pattern is the same in every row: state the outcome, state the condition under which it must hold, and state what evidence the contractor must submit.
The nine sections of a defensible security BOQ
1. Scope and operational objectives
Two or three paragraphs, in plain language, on what the system exists to do: deter, detect, identify, prove, or control access. A camera that must identify a person is a different device from one that must detect movement. Write this first; every technical clause inherits from it.
2. Camera schedule, by purpose
A row per camera position with: location, purpose (detect / recognise / identify / plate capture), required distance, mounting height, worst-case lighting, field of view, and any analytics required. Do not put model numbers here — put duties.
3. Performance and environment requirements
Minimum illumination performance, IP and IK ratings per location, operating temperature range (state the real roof-space figure, not the office one), and vandal resistance where the public can reach the device.
4. Recording, retention and redundancy
Retention days, resolution and frame rate that must hold during retention, codec, continuous vs event-based per camera group, RAID level, and behaviour when the volume fills. Require the storage calculation as a submittal — this single requirement eliminates the most common form of under-bidding.
5. Network and infrastructure
Cable category and routing, PoE budget per switch with headroom, fibre where distance requires it, VLAN separation from the business network, IP addressing plan, and bandwidth calculation. Require the bidder’s own calculation, not a statement of compliance.
6. Power and protection
UPS autonomy and the full load it must carry, surge protection at entry points and at camera locations on exposed runs, earthing requirements, and what the system must do when mains power returns.
7. Integration and interfaces
What must talk to what: access control to fire alarm, ANPR to barriers, video to the access system, alarms to the control room, and export formats for evidence. Name the protocols you will accept and require an interface test at handover.
8. Commissioning, acceptance and training
The acceptance test is where a specification either has teeth or does not. Require: a witnessed night-time image test at each camera’s stated duty distance, a retention verification, a power-fail test, an integration test, as-built drawings, configuration backup, and named-operator training with a sign-off sheet.
9. Warranty, support and spares
Warranty period and what it covers, response time by severity, preventive maintenance frequency (cleaning and re-focus visits matter more than most specs admit), spare-part holding, and the escalation contact. State who holds the warranty locally — a warranty with no local entity behind it is not a warranty.
How to score bids so the cheapest does not win by default
If award is purely lowest price against a device list, the specification is decorative. A defensible evaluation separates technical qualification from price:
- Pass/fail gates first: authorized-channel supply with serial traceability, submitted storage and power calculations, submitted bandwidth calculation, local warranty entity, evidence of comparable completed projects.
- Then technical scoring: low-light performance evidence, retention margin above the minimum, expansion headroom in recorder and switches, maintenance offering, response times.
- Then price — among bids that already passed. A bid that skipped a required calculation has not offered a lower price for the same thing; it has offered a different thing.
Five mistakes that cost the most
- Copying last project’s BOQ. The buildings differ, so the lighting, distances and cable routes differ, and the camera duties differ with them.
- Naming one brand with no equivalence rule. Either allow equivalents and define how equivalence is proven, or expect a compliant bid built on a re-badged product.
- Specifying resolution instead of identification distance. Resolution without a distance and a lighting condition is not a requirement.
- Forgetting phase two. Specify recorder channels, switch ports and rack space with stated expansion headroom, or the second phase becomes a second system.
- No acceptance test defined. Without a witnessed test, “complete” means “the images appear”, and every deficiency becomes a dispute after final payment.
How we support consultants and procurement teams
As the authorized Hikvision agent in Egypt, Speed4Trading regularly reviews draft specifications before they go out to tender — checking that retention, bandwidth, power and lighting requirements are internally consistent, and that nothing in the document can only be satisfied by a single product. We do this whether or not we bid, because a well-written specification produces a system that works, and working systems are what our reference projects are made of.
For the cost side of the same conversation, see what actually drives the price of a CCTV system in Egypt and the storage sizing guide that produces the calculation section 4 asks for. On provenance clauses, see how to verify genuine equipment. For delivered examples at this level of complexity: PETRO-BEL, a strategic Egyptian port, and Menoufia University.
Frequently asked questions
Should a specification name a brand?
It can, provided it also defines how an equivalent is proven — matching performance evidence, not matching datasheet words. Naming a brand without an equivalence rule invites either a single-source award or a re-badged substitute.
What is the single most valuable clause to add?
Require the bidder to submit the storage, bandwidth and UPS-load calculations with the bid. It takes one paragraph and it exposes under-bidding before award rather than after handover.
How do I write an identification requirement without becoming too technical?
State it as a sentence a non-engineer can verify: “shall allow a person’s face to be identified at 6 m in the site’s worst night-time lighting, demonstrated at commissioning”. That is testable, and testable is what matters.
Can you review our draft BOQ?
Yes. Send the draft and we will mark internal contradictions, unverifiable clauses and missing submittals, and return it with suggested wording.
Do you support projects outside Cairo and Giza?
We supply nationwide. Professional installation is offered in Cairo and Giza, priced after a site assessment; for other governorates tell us the location and we will confirm the arrangement.
Send us the draft before it goes out
Speed4Trading — authorized Hikvision and Western Digital agent in Egypt since 1999, with delivered projects in energy, education, retail, logistics and government.
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