A commercial CCTV install isn't just a scaled-up residential one. The footage has to stand up as evidence in an insurance claim, the system has to coexist with the tenancy's IT and the rest of the security stack, and the install has to happen around trading hours and base-building rules. Millar Electrics designs and delivers IP-based CCTV across Melbourne's eastern suburbs — retail tenancies, warehouses, hospitality, multi-tenancy commercial — with PoE structured cabling, locally-hosted NVR, and integration with the alarm and access systems already on site.
How we plan coverage for a commercial site
We walk the site, map the entry, exit and high-value zones, and propose a camera schedule that actually covers what you're trying to protect. Lens choice matters: wide-angle covers overview at entries and tills, narrow-angle telephoto holds licence-plate-readable detail at carpark distances, and varifocals get you flexibility where the site's likely to change. For multi-tenancy buildings we coordinate with the body corporate on shared infrastructure and respect tenancy-vs-common-area boundaries from the planning stage, so the layout doesn't have to be re-litigated post-install.
NVR storage, retention and multi-site viewing
By default, footage is stored on a locally-hosted NVR — no monthly subscription, no third party holding your evidence. We size storage to your retention period (30 days for retail and office, 60–90 days for warehouse and carpark are typical) and to your insurer's requirement, with hot-swappable drives for sites where uptime matters. Multi-site businesses can view all locations through a single client, with role-based access so the store manager sees their site only and head-office security sees the network.
Integration with access control and alarms
Addressable IP cameras and modern alarm/access panels speak the same protocols (ONVIF, Contact ID over IP, manufacturer SDKs), so the systems can drive each other. Door-open events tag the relevant camera's footage. Alarm triggers start high-frame-rate recording on the affected zone. Tailgating at an access point flips up a follow-camera on the security operator's screen. We configure these event chains during commissioning, document the panel schedules, and hand over a working integration — not three separate systems that share a comms cabinet.
Standards we work to
The mains supply feeding the NVR and any PoE switch is installed to AS/NZS 3000. PoE cabling between the switch and the cameras is customer cabling under the ACMA Cabling Provider Rules, which adopt AS/CA S009 — that's why CCTV cabling has to be done by a registered cabler. External camera enclosures are IP66/IP67 to AS/NZS 60529. Image retention and the location of recorded footage sit under Australian privacy legislation rather than an electrical standard; we default to on-site storage so the privacy boundary stays clearly in your hands.