Complete SIRA-Approved CCTV Security Solutions

SIRA is the Security Industry Regulatory Agency, the Dubai government body that regulates the emirate's security industry under Dubai Law No. 12 of 2016. It licenses security companies and their staff, including companies that install and maintain CCTV, and sets the technical requirements for security systems in its Preventive Systems Manual. When people talk about a SIRA certificate or being SIRA approved, they usually mean a company or individual licensed by SIRA, or premises whose security systems meet SIRA's requirements.

Through a SIRA-licensed security systems company, which handles the technical route for you. It confirms which requirements apply to your activity and premises, designs the system to the Preventive Systems Manual, prepares the drawings and equipment details for SIRA's approval workflow, installs and commissions the system and supports SIRA's inspection. After findings are closed, the premises must keep an annual maintenance contract with a SIRA-registered company to stay compliant; a business that wants to provide security services itself needs a separate SIRA licence for that activity.

No. SIRA's requirements apply to the establishments covered by its regulations, which include vital sectors and important complexes such as financial institutions, hotels, malls and many commercial and residential buildings. Whether your premises are covered depends on the activity and location, so the first step is an applicability check against your trade licence.

The general requirement in SIRA's Preventive Systems Manual is at least 31 days, recorded at high quality and at least 10 frames per second. Some sectors have longer periods, for example not less than 75 days for ATM cameras at financial institutions, so check your sector chapter.

Often some of them. Cameras that meet the minimum 1080p resolution, deliver the required view and can be recorded to the retention requirement can usually stay. A gap assessment identifies which devices, recorders and network parts must change.

A SIRA-registered company with SIRA-licensed technicians. The manual requires an annual maintenance contract with at least four preventive visits per year, so maintenance by an unlicensed contractor is not sufficient for covered premises.

Only under controlled conditions. The manual requires a dedicated security network, and external connections need SIRA approval and a firewall. Remote viewing should be designed and approved rather than added later by opening ports on a recorder.

Changes to the design, components or layout must be recorded and notified to SIRA. Keep the as-built drawings and camera schedule updated, and check that retention still meets the requirement after adding cameras, because storage is shared.

No. SIRA regulates security systems in Dubai, while the Monitoring and Control Centre handles monitoring systems in Abu Dhabi. Each has its own requirements and process, so a branch in each emirate needs both checked.