How to document a CCTV installation

How to document a CCTV installation, step by step

A well-documented CCTV installation is worth double. You don’t just leave the cameras working: you leave a record of what’s at each point, what it covers and how it’s connected. That record is what saves you hours on maintenance, what justifies the work to the client, and what backs you up if there’s an argument later.

The problem is that almost nobody has a comfortable way to do it in the field. It ends up being hand-marked screenshots, loose photos and a spreadsheet nobody updates. This guide proposes a method for documenting a CCTV installation from start to finish, anchored to the plan.

Why document an installation properly

Before the method, the three reasons it’s worth it:

• Maintenance. A year from now, when a camera fails, knowing instantly which model it is and where it sits saves you a blind visit.
• Justifying the work to the client. A clear record of what was installed and where is the best handover you can give.
• Backup in disputes. If a “this was never here” or “this didn’t work” comes up, a dated, located record closes the discussion.

The method, step by step

1. Start from a plan or from the site itself

Open the installation plan as a PDF on your phone. If you don’t have a plan — it happens often — take a photo of the space and use it as your base, or work on the map if the installation is outdoors or spans several points.

2. Mark the setting out: where each camera goes

Before installing, walk the site and mark the planned positions. Each camera, a pin at its exact point. In the pin’s note, leave the essentials: which zone it covers, camera type, planned height. That way the setting out is documented before you drill anything.

3. Use category icons so you don’t get lost

An installation has cameras, but also recorders, power supplies, network points, racks. Mark each type with its category icon, so you can tell them apart at a glance on the plan. Once you have thirty points, you’ll be glad to see instantly what each thing is instead of the same generic marker repeated.

4. Document each point as you install it

This is where voice wins. As you mount each camera, drop the pin and leave a spoken note: model and serial number, what it covers, how the angle sits, where the cable runs. It’s much faster than typing, and the note is transcribed into searchable text. Add a photo of the finished mount.

5. Record the cabling and the rack

Don’t stop at the cameras. Mark the main cable run and the point where it ends — the rack or the recorder — with a photo of how it’s connected and labelled. That’s exactly what you’ll need on maintenance day.

6. Assign and track what’s still pending

If you work as a team, assign the remaining points to each colleague and follow them from “to do” to “done” on the Kanban board. At a glance you can see which cameras are up and which aren’t.

7. Hand the as-built to the client

When you finish, you have a living plan with every element marked, photographed and described: the real as-built of the installation. With guest mode, the client can view it without installing anything or creating an account.

Common mistakes worth avoiding

• Not marking the setting out. Improvising positions as you go gets paid for in snagging.
• Photos with no location. A photo of a camera that doesn’t say where it is is worth little six months later.
• Not recording models or cabling. It’s the information you’ll miss most at maintenance time.
• Documenting from memory at the end. What you don’t capture on the spot, you lose.

How PinMy does it

Only features that are live on the phone right now:

• Voice, photo, video and text pins on PDF plans, photos and maps.
• Category icons to distinguish cameras, recorders, racks and network points.
• Voice notes transcribed in 20+ languages, ready to copy into your handover.
• Kanban flow to track what’s installed and what’s pending.
• Dispute-proof pins with timestamp and author.
• Guest mode so the client can view the as-built without an account.
• iOS, Android, web, and Chrome extension. Hosted in the EU, GDPR-compliant.

One honest clarification: PinMy doesn’t generate the handover report for you. What it does is get you to the handover with every point of the installation captured, located and in order.

Start with your next installation

Take your next CCTV job and document it in PinMy, camera by camera, on the plan or the map. Compare how much easier maintenance and handover are versus hand-marked screenshots.

It’s free to start, no card. Also see the page for CCTV, access control and smart home installers and the voice notes on plans workflow.

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