What your business premises actually needs
A business alarm is not a house alarm on a bigger building. It has to verify its own activations, it is used by people who did not choose it, and there is usually nobody on site at the hour it matters. Here is what to specify, by premises type, and what drives the price.
What a business alarm system includes
Four parts, and a business system needs all four. Detection sized to the building and the way it is used. Verification, so an activation can be confirmed rather than guessed at. Monitoring by an alarm receiving centre that is PSA licensed and certified to I.S. 228. And attendance, meaning a named keyholder or a contracted keyholding service, because a verified activation with nobody attending is recorded as a false alarm.
The part most quotes leave out is the fourth. We supply all four, which is why our systems and our keyholding are quoted together rather than one being sold and the other left to you.
Four things that change once the premises is a business
The equipment overlaps with a domestic system. Almost nothing else does.
A home
One or two users who chose the system, a small footprint, and somebody living there who can answer the phone at three in the morning and be at the door in seconds.
A business
Staff and contractors who did not choose it and set it under time pressure, a footprint with several ways in, verification required rather than optional, and an empty building at exactly the hour the risk is highest.
Verification is mandatory, not optional
Commercial alarms have been required to have verification technology since 31 January 2008, and a non verified commercial alarm does not receive a Garda response at all. On a home it is strongly advisable. On a business it is the baseline. How monitored alarms and verification work.
More people touch it
Every member of staff, every cleaner, every contractor. Individual user codes turn the log into a record of who, and remove the argument about what happened at 6am on a Sunday.
The building has to be zoned
One activation should tell you which part of the premises, not simply that something happened. On a multi-building site that difference decides whether anyone can respond usefully.
Nobody lives there
The attendance half has to be arranged deliberately. If there is no one who will reliably turn out at night, contracted keyholding is what covers it, and it belongs on the quote.
What we specify differently, and why
The same four parts, scoped to the building. These are the premises we are called to most often across Dublin and the rest of Ireland.
Construction sites
No fixed occupier, a layout that changes monthly, and high value plant. Specify detection that can be redeployed as the site moves, a signalling path that does not assume a permanent line or mains power, and camera verification, because there is rarely anyone on site to confirm an activation. Compound, plant and material stores are separate zones from the huts.
Schools and colleges
A large footprint, several buildings, and empty exactly when the risk peaks. Specify zoning by block, so an activation names a building rather than the site, and be honest about who attends at night. A caretaker on call is a plan; a caretaker forty minutes away is not, and where that is the answer we hold the keys and attend instead.
Healthcare and nursing homes
Occupied around the clock, with residents, staff and visitors moving through areas that have different access rules. Detection has to work without creating nuisance activations in occupied areas, medication and records storage are their own zones, and access control usually matters more than detection at the perimeter.
Retail units
The main source of false calls is people, not intruders: staff setting and unsetting at the end of a long shift. Specify individual user codes, a setting procedure simple enough to follow correctly when tired, separate zoning for the sales floor, stockroom and cash office, and verification that can tell a genuine event from a delivery door left open.
Warehousing and distribution
Large volumes, roof lights, dock doors and long sightlines. Detection must cover the ways in that are not the front door, and camera verification earns its place quickly, because walking a large building to confirm an activation is slow and nobody wants to do it alone at 3am.
Offices
Busy by day, empty by night, with cleaning and maintenance contractors the most common cause of out of hours activations. Specify who holds codes and the hours each is valid, zoning so one floor can be worked without unsetting the building, and an escalation list that reaches a person rather than a switchboard.
Vacant and void property
The highest risk and the hardest to cover: no power, no occupier, nobody to notice. Specify a self powered monitored solution with camera verification and contracted keyholding, because a void building with no named attendee accumulates false calls until Garda response is withdrawn. Keyholding on a void building is normally ours rather than yours.
Multi site operators
The problem stops being the alarm and becomes the administration: who holds which code, which site is in contract, which activation belongs where. Specify one escalation structure across the estate, one point of contact, and reporting that tells you which sites are generating false calls before the count matters.
Scope your premises in four questions
This builds a short scope for your building, covering what to ask for and what to get in writing, that you can copy or download and bring to any provider. It runs in your browser and sends nothing anywhere.
What actually drives the price
Two quotes for the same building can differ by a wide margin and both be honest, because they have scoped different systems. These are the five things that move the number, and any of them can be asked about before you commit.
How many zones the building needs
Not floor area on its own. A small building used by three separate tenants needs more zoning than a large open warehouse used by one.
How many ways in there are
Doors, roof lights, dock doors, service entries and anything reachable from a flat roof. The ways in that are not the front door are usually the ones that decide the cost.
Which verification method suits it
Sequential detection is generally the cheaper route. Camera verification costs more and is the right answer on a large or empty site, because it lets somebody confirm an activation without walking the building.
What monitoring and attendance you need
Monitoring is a recurring fee. Keyholding and alarm response is a separate one, and only relevant if nobody in your organisation will reliably attend, in which case it is not optional, and we provide it.
What it has to integrate with
An alarm that shares detection with CCTV and talks to access control costs more to design and less to run, because one event produces one answer rather than three systems to check.
We do not publish figures, because a price quoted without seeing the premises is marketing rather than a quotation. What we will do is price the system, the monitoring, the maintenance, the keyholding and any callout charges as five separate lines, so you can see exactly what each part costs.
Business alarm systems, answered
Does a business have to have an alarm?
There is no general legal requirement to have one. What the Garda policy sets is the condition for getting a response: commercial alarms have been required to have verification technology since 31 January 2008, and a non verified commercial alarm does not receive a Garda response. So the practical question is not whether to fit an alarm, but whether the one you fit is verified and whether somebody will attend it.
What is the difference between a business alarm system and a house alarm?
The equipment overlaps; the design does not. A business system has to verify its own activations to qualify for a Garda response, it has to be zoned so an activation identifies part of the building, it needs individual user codes because many people set and unset it, and it needs an arranged attendance plan because nobody lives on the premises.
How much does a business alarm system cost in Ireland?
It depends on the number of zones, the number of ways into the building, the verification method, the level of monitoring and attendance, and what the system has to integrate with. Any figure quoted without seeing the premises is a guess. What you can insist on is a quote that prices the system, the monitoring, the maintenance, the keyholding and the callout charges separately, because that is the only way two quotes can be compared.
What happens if nobody from the business can attend at night?
Contracted keyholding covers it. A keyholding service holds the keys, attends on a verified activation, checks the premises and secures it, so the attendance condition is met by people whose job it is. We provide keyholding and alarm response alongside the systems we install, so having nobody available is not a barrier to a system that works.
Can one system cover several sites?
Yes, and on a multi site estate the administration matters as much as the equipment. What you want is one escalation structure across all sites, one point of contact, and reporting that shows which sites are generating false activations before the count becomes a problem at any of them.
Do we need CCTV as well as an alarm?
Not always, but on a large or empty premises camera verification is often the most practical way to confirm an activation, and it is normally handled by integrating cameras with the alarm rather than running a separate system alongside it. If you do record identifiable people, the business becomes a data controller, with obligations on signage, retention and staff monitoring.
How often should a business alarm be maintained?
The policy expects a system to be installed, maintained and used in line with the standard it was fitted to. Ask any provider how many visits a year are included, what is actually checked, and what happens to a fault found between visits. A system that has drifted out of maintenance is one of the most common causes of false activations.
What should I ask a provider before signing?
Five things. Is the monitoring centre PSA licensed and certified to I.S. 228. Is the system installed to EN 50131-1. Which verification method is fitted, specifically. Who attends, and is keyholding priced on the quote. And who tells you about the first false activation, rather than the third.
A survey costs nothing and settles most of this
Almost every question above is answered by walking the building: how many zones it really needs, where the ways in are, whether sequential detection is enough or a camera has to confirm, and who is genuinely going to attend. That is a conversation on site, not a price list.
We design, install and maintain intruder alarm systems for commercial premises across Dublin and Ireland, with CCTV, fire alarm systems, access control and automated gates, and keyholding and alarm response so the attendance half sits with people contracted to turn up. Where monitoring is part of the answer, our guide to monitored alarms and Garda response sets out what verification actually requires. Where cameras are part of the answer, see how commercial CCTV monitoring works, including how monitored cameras verify an activation and what you are responsible for once they record.
We are DNA Security, PSA licensed under number 00821, and we have been designing, installing and maintaining security systems across Dublin and Ireland for more than twenty years.
Everything available to you as a customer
We design, install, monitor and maintain all of it ourselves, for commercial premises and homes across Dublin and Ireland. One survey, one contract, one number to ring.
Intruder alarms
Alarm systems specified to the building, with the verification a business needs to qualify for a Garda response.
For business · For homes
CCTV
Camera systems designed to cover the ways in that matter, and to provide visual verification of an alarm activation where that is the right answer.
For business · For homes
Keyholding and alarm response
We hold your keys and attend on a verified activation, so the attendance half of the chain sits with people contracted to turn up.
For business · For homes
Fire alarms
Fire detection designed, installed and maintained to the standard the premises is held to, and monitored alongside the intruder system where you want one point of contact.
For business · For homes
Access control and automated gates
Control over who gets in, when, and with a record of it. Often the more useful control on a site where the perimeter is the real boundary.
Monitoring and maintenance
Connection to a PSA licensed alarm receiving centre, planned maintenance visits, and a report of every activation against your premises, including the first false call rather than the third.
Tell us about the premises
Bring the scope you built above, or just the address and what is on site. We will survey it, specify what it needs, and price it in separate lines. No obligation.
Prefer to talk? Call 01 456 8867 or email info@dnasecurity.ie
Sources. An Garda Síochána, Policy on Monitored Intruder Alarms, for the verification requirement for commercial premises, the keyholder attendance condition and the false call provisions. Standards named in that policy: I.S. 228 for alarm receiving centres and EN 50131-1 for intruder alarm systems. PSA licensing requirements per the Private Security Authority. Premises specifications on this page reflect our own installation practice and are not a statement of law.