CCTV planned around what you need to see

• What you need to see, and whether you need to identify someone or only detect movement
• Light levels, day and night
• Places where a camera would be blocked, or easy to reach
• How long footage needs to be kept
• Who needs access, and from where

• A camera plan, agreed before work starts
• Installation of cameras and recording equipment
• Signs that tell people CCTV is in use
• Handover: how to find, save and export footage
• A written record of what was installed

Some sites need someone watching, either live or when a camera or sensor is triggered. If monitoring is part of your plan, the proposal will say who is watching, from where, during which hours, and what they will do when they see something.

The licence depends on the purpose. Under SIA guidance, a public space surveillance (CCTV) licence is needed for contract work that uses CCTV to identify or monitor people to guard against disorder, damage, or injury or assault. A security guarding licence covers CCTV only to guard against unauthorised access and theft or damage to property. We match the licence to the task.

CCTV that captures identifiable people is covered by data protection law. Whoever decides what is recorded and how it is used is normally the controller, and that is usually you, even when a contractor installs or runs the system. Depending on your system, you may need to:

• carry out a data protection impact assessment
• put up clear signs
• set a retention period
• be ready to respond to requests for footage
• pay the data protection fee

The Information Commission's guidance explains this in detail. We will point out what we notice during the survey, but this is not legal advice.