Planning CCTV Into a New Factory Building in India: The Checklist to Hand Your Architect
Building a new factory shed in India? The CCTV decisions that matter are civil and electrical: empty conduits, pole foundations, a rack room, an earth pit and light placement. In our 20-camera worked example (assumptions labelled, checked 14 Oct 2026), laying these during construction costs about ₹1.5–2.2 lakh; retrofitting after handover, about ₹4.5–6.4 lakh. Buy cameras later; lay paths now.
Last checked: 14 Oct 2026
By the Mama Editorial Team. This page is built from primary texts: the Model Factories Rules, the Central OSH Rules of May 2026, a MeitY order of January 2026, IEEE 802.3 and a public Indian tender rate card. Every ₹ figure that is our assumption is marked as one.
Key takeaways
- The expensive part of factory CCTV in a new building is the path, not the camera. A conduit costs a 2021 public tender rate of ₹73 a metre when the wall is open, and several times that once the shed is running.
- Freeze the machine layout before you fix camera points. A camera point drawn against a layout that later moves is a wasted conduit.
- Copper Ethernet is limited to 100 m per channel under IEEE 802.3. On a long shed, put the rack in the middle or plan fibre from day one.
- Design lighting and cameras together. The Model Factories Rules ask for 65 lux where people work, but allow 22 lux of general light when fittings must hang above 7.6 m. That is a gap a camera will notice at night.
- Do not buy cameras with the building. Camera certification rules changed in 2026, and the model you pick at the foundation stage may not be the one you can buy at commissioning.
Why the building stage is the cheap moment
Most plants add cameras after moving in. Then every cable goes on the surface, at height, around running machines, in a Sunday window.
A public tender from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh lists medium-class 32 mm PVC conduit, supplied and fixed "in surface/recess including cutting the wall and making good", at ₹73 per metre (tender estimate, 2021). That is the price when the electrician is on site and the wall is open. Expect 2026 rates to be higher, but the ratio between "now" and "later" is what matters.
After handover, the same run needs scaffolding or a hydra, a work-at-height permit and a stopped bay. Those costs show up as lost machine-hours, not on the conduit line.
The checklist table for your architect or EPC contractor
Hand this table to whoever draws your electrical and civil layouts. Each row names the stage when the item is cheapest to add.
| Item | What goes in the drawings | Construction stage | Cost now (₹, see notes) | Cost if retrofitted (₹, assumption) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor conduits or tray | One empty conduit with a pull wire from each planned camera point to the rack, along trusses or walls | Before wall plaster and roof sheeting close | ₹73/m (2021 tender rate, recessed incl. making good) | ₹200–300/m on the surface at height, incl. scaffold or lift hire (assumption); stopped bays extra |
| Outdoor ducts and draw pits | Buried duct from gate, weighbridge, yard and boundary to the building, with a pit every bend | Before road, yard and paver work | ₹250–400/m trenching and duct (assumption) | ₹600–900/m including breaking and re-laying concrete (assumption) |
| Pole foundations | Foundation bolts cast at gate, weighbridge and yard pole positions | With the yard concrete | ₹8,000–15,000 per pole (assumption) | ₹15,000–25,000 per pole with core drilling (assumption) |
| Mounting points | Brackets or plates on truss and column at camera heights, with safe access for cleaning | Steel erection | Small if fabricated with the steel | Site welding at height, under a hot-work permit |
| Rack or network room | Lockable, ventilated room or cabinet near the middle of the plant, with space for switch, recorder and UPS | Civil layout | Floor space only | Often ends up in a hot panel room or an office cupboard |
| Dedicated power | A separate MCB circuit for the rack, fed from a DG-backed board | Electrical design | ₹804 for a DP MCB in its enclosure (2021 tender rate) | ₹5,000+ to run a new sub-main later (assumption) |
| Earthing | A dedicated earth electrode for the rack and outdoor runs | Before floor and paving | ₹4,804 per GI pipe electrode, plus ₹174/m for the earth lead in GI pipe (2021 tender rates) | Same, plus ₹3,000–5,000 to break and make good a finished floor (assumption) |
| Night lighting | Fittings placed so camera zones meet the lux you need and no lamp shines into a lens | Lighting layout | Part of the lighting budget | Extra fittings and rewiring later |
| Machine layout | Frozen layout, with aisles and cranes marked, before camera points are drawn | Before electrical drawings are issued | Free | A wasted conduit for every moved machine |
The tender rates come from one 2021 PEC Chandigarh tender estimate. The other ₹ figures are planning assumptions, not quotes. Ask your EPC contractor to price each row in writing.
Worked example: a 20-camera plant, now vs later
Assume one shed of about 60 m × 30 m with 16 indoor cameras, plus 4 outdoor cameras at the gate, the weighbridge and two yard corners. Assume an average indoor run of 45 m and an average outdoor run of 60 m. All of these are assumptions for illustration, not a design.
| Line | Quantity | During construction (₹) | Retrofit after handover (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor conduit | 720 m | 52,560 (₹73/m) | 1,44,000–2,16,000 (₹200–300/m) |
| Production stopped for indoor work | 3 bay windows × 4 h × 5 machines | 0 | 90,000 (assumed ₹1,500 per machine-hour) |
| Outdoor duct | 240 m | 60,000–96,000 | 1,44,000–2,16,000 |
| Pole foundations | 4 | 32,000–60,000 | 60,000–1,00,000 |
| Earth pit and lead (15 m) | 1 | 7,414 | 10,414–12,414 |
| Rack circuit | 1 | 804 | 5,804 |
| Total | ~1,52,800–2,16,800 | ~4,54,200–6,40,200 |
Two assumptions drive the gap: the production loss (₹1,500 per machine-hour is a placeholder; put in your own figure with the machine-hour rate calculator) and the outdoor duct, because breaking finished concrete is slow.
Cameras, switches and the recorder are left out of both columns: they cost the same either way.
Item by item: what to tell the contractor
Conduits: one per camera point, with a pull wire
Ask for an empty conduit from every planned camera point back to the rack, each with a pull wire. Add 20–30% spare points (our assumption): aisle ends, dispatch dock, stores counter.
Keep data conduits off the power cable tray, which carries electrical noise from motors and VFDs.
The 100 m rule decides where the rack goes
Under IEEE 802.3, twisted-pair Ethernet runs up to 100 m per channel. That 100 m includes patch cords, so the fixed cable has to be shorter.
On a 120 m shed, a rack at one end puts the far cameras out of copper range. A central rack, or fibre to a second switch, fixes that. Settle it on the drawing board: it fixes where the lockable, ventilated room goes.
For buildings more than about 90 m of cable path apart, ask for a fibre duct between them. Our PoE power budget guide covers sizing the switch and UPS in that room.
Power, UPS and earthing
The rack needs its own MCB circuit, fed from the DG-backed board. When the grid drops, the switch must stay up: it powers the cameras. A UPS on the recorder alone records nothing.
Ask for a dedicated earth electrode for the rack and surge protection on every outdoor run. Outdoor cables on poles pick up lightning surges during the monsoon. Your electrical consultant sets the earth resistance target and tests it at handover.
Lighting: the 22-lux proviso for tall sheds
Rule 35 of the Model Factories Rules asks for at least 65 lux at 90 cm above the floor where people regularly work, and 5 lux in passages when someone is passing. The same rule has a proviso: where fittings must hang above 7.6 m, general light may drop to 22 lux, with 65 lux only where work is actually being done.
Many new pre-engineered sheds have roofs above 7.6 m. At 22 lux, night footage at the frame edges turns grainy. If cameras will watch machines on the night shift, ask the lighting designer to treat camera zones as work zones.
Rule 36 controls glare from fittings below 4.9 m. Apply the same thinking to cameras: never aim one straight at a high-bay lamp. Our night and low-light camera guide explains what happens when it does.
The Factories Act, 1948 was repealed by the OSH Code on 21 Nov 2025, but state rules made under it continue where they do not conflict with the Code (OSH Code s.143(3)). Check your state's lighting rule with your consultant.
Machine layout comes first
Draw camera points against the final machine layout, not the concept sketch. If a press line moves 10 m after the conduits are cast, the camera points move with it.
Mark overhead crane paths too. A camera on the wrong side of a crane girder sees the girder. For choosing the points, see where to place cameras on a shop floor; for the count, see how many cameras a factory floor needs.
The two CCTV clauses already in the 2026 rules
The Central OSH Rules, G.S.R. 345(E) of 8 May 2026, mention closed-circuit television in exactly two places (e-Gazette text, searched 14 Oct 2026):
| Rule | What it asks | What to draw |
|---|---|---|
| r.58(xxvi), crèche | "the Crèche has Closed Circuit Television monitoring during the working hours" | A camera point at the crèche, if your plant needs one (more than 50 workers) |
| r.83(d), women at night | CCTV "on the way to" toilets, washrooms and drinking water, plus a well-lit workplace and passages | Camera points and lighting along those routes |
The Central Rules bind central-sphere establishments; a private factory follows its own state's rules under the Codes. Still, if you plan night shifts with women workers, these points cost a few metres of conduit now.
What we did not find: G.S.R. 345(E) sets no camera count, no camera specification and no retention period, and it does not require CCTV wiring in new factory buildings (checked 14 Oct 2026). Cameras near washrooms must never see inside them, and workers should get a CCTV notice under the DPDP Act.
Do not buy the cameras with the building
A factory building takes many months to finish, and camera rules can change within that time.
Under the BIS CRS CCTV guidelines, no CCTV licence has been granted without an Essential Requirements (ER-01) test report since 9 April 2025. A MeitY Office Memorandum of 16 January 2026 then withdrew the old-stock relaxation: from 1 April 2026, no CCTV camera that fails the Essential Requirements may be sold. Analogue cameras are exempt from the ER (BIS circular, 1 Apr 2025). Check each model at commissioning with the Certified CCTV Finder.
So put conduits, poles, the rack room and power in the building contract, and cameras, switches and the recorder in a separate order near commissioning.
Limits: what pre-planning cannot fix
- A conduit cannot predict a layout change. Spare points reduce the risk; they do not remove it.
- Lux figures on a drawing are not lux on the floor. Measure at night before you fix the last camera angles.
- Cameras do not measure everything. Mass, temperature and spindle load need other sensors.
Where Mama fits
Mama reads a factory's cameras and sends the owner a short morning note on where machine hours were lost the day before. It counts machines and flows, not individuals. That only works if camera points face machines and aisles, so draw them against the final layout. Leave an email or phone in the form below.
FAQ
When should CCTV be planned in a new factory construction project?
Once the machine layout is frozen and before electrical drawings are issued. Conduits go in before plaster and roof sheeting; outdoor ducts and pole foundations before the yard is paved.
Should the EPC contractor supply the cameras too?
Usually not. Put paths, rack room, power and earthing in the building contract; order cameras near commissioning, after checking each model's certification.
How far can a camera be from the network rack?
Up to 100 m of total channel length on copper Ethernet, per IEEE 802.3, including patch cords. Beyond that, use fibre to a second switch.
Does Indian law require CCTV in a new factory building?
We found no general requirement in the Central OSH Rules, 2026 (checked 14 Oct 2026). They mention CCTV only for a crèche and for the route to facilities used by women on night shifts. Your state's rules may differ.
How much does pre-wiring CCTV during construction save?
In our worked example of a 20-camera plant, about ₹3–4 lakh, mostly from avoided work at height, stopped bays and broken concrete. Your figure depends on your machine-hour rate and run lengths.