Facilities managers usually inherit security the way they inherit everything else: one contractor per site, a different brand on every recorder, and a spreadsheet that was accurate the day it was made. These three recent Auckland commercial jobs are different sites, different problems and different clients — but the same method, and that method is the point. Client names are withheld; the work is as described.
Site one: Takapuna accountancy — eight cameras and door access, no new cable
The ask. Eight PoE cameras and door access for a professional office.
What the walk-through found. The cabling audit showed the existing Cat6 had spare certified capacity. Rather than pull new cable through a finished fit-out, we tested and documented the spare runs and ran the cameras and door access over them. No new cable was pulled.
What the register holds. Camera models and positions, the recorder, the door controllers, who holds admin credentials, and the cable test results for every run in use.
Why it matters on a portfolio. The cheapest security job is the one where the cabling audit happens first. A smaller invoice, and a document the client didn’t have before.
Site two: Penrose logistics warehouse — one contractor for the network and the security on it
The ask. PoE cameras across a 4,000 m² warehouse and yard, and a proper backbone between the office and the warehouse.
What we did. A fibre backbone from the office to the warehouse comms cabinet, then PoE cameras across the yard on certified copper from that cabinet. One crew, one set of as-builts and test certificates covering the fibre, the copper and the cameras hanging off them.
What the register holds. Fibre and copper test results, the cabinet layout, every camera’s position and view, the recorder, and which switch port each camera lives on. When a camera goes offline the first question — is it the camera, the port, or the run? — is answerable from the register.
Why it matters on a portfolio. On a site like this, “security contractor” and “network contractor” blaming each other is the default failure mode. Having one of them removes the argument.
Site three: East Tamaki manufacturing — installed around shifts, production never stopped
The ask. CCTV over the loading bays, a fibre link to the office block, and ruggedised cabling that would survive the plant floor. The constraint was the one every production site has: no downtime.
What we did. Ruggedised Cat6A for the floor-level runs, fibre between the plant and the office, and the camera install sequenced around the shift pattern so no bay was ever out of use during production hours.
What the register holds. As above — plus the access constraints that shaped the install, so the next maintenance visit can be planned the same way.
Why it matters on a portfolio. Site access constraints are information. If they live in one contractor’s head, they’re lost at the next changeover. On the register, they’re a line item.
What the three have in common
- The cabling audit came first. On one site it removed most of the job; on the other two it defined it.
- One contractor owned the cable and the device. No handover gap between “network” and “security”.
- Everything went on a per-site register the client holds — models, positions, test results, credentials, and the practical notes about access that normally evaporate.
- The system is documented so anyone could service it. We install Gallagher, Inner Range, Paxton and Hikvision; the client’s choice, with no lock-in to us.
None of these clients started as a “portfolio” account. Each was a single site. The register is what makes the second and third sites easier than the first, and it’s the thing we’d put in place on day one for anyone managing more than one building.
Related reading
- Security for property and facilities managers, Auckland — the portfolio approach in full, including the Security Care Plan.
- What a security service and maintenance agreement should cover — the checklist for the ongoing side.
- Commercial CCTV installation, Auckland.
Managing more than one site?
Tell us the site count. We walk every one, put what’s installed on one register, and fix the gaps site by site. PSPLA Company Licence 25-132031, 12-month workmanship warranty, 350+ Auckland jobs since 2018.