SIRA-Compliant CCTV in Dubai: Storage, Retention & Getting Approval

In Dubai, CCTV for most regulated premises is governed by the Security Industry Regulatory Agency, and two requirements drive the whole design: cameras must capture identifiable images at defined points, and recordings must be retained for a minimum period — commonly 31 days, longer for some categories. Retention is what determines storage, and storage is the line most commonly under-specified in a quotation, because it is invisible until an authority asks for footage you no longer have.

Quick reference: what drives the design

• Premises category: determines which points must be covered and the retention period. Confirm yours before designing.
• Coverage points: entrances and exits, cash handling areas, safes and stock rooms, car park entries, lifts and lobbies.
• Image quality: sufficient resolution at the point of interest for identification, not merely detection.
• Retention: the minimum recording period, which multiplies directly into storage.
• Approval: design submitted and approved before installation, with a SIRA-licensed installer.

Only a licensed company can install it

This is the first thing to establish and the most common reason a project has to be redone. CCTV for regulated premises must be designed, installed and maintained by a SIRA-licensed security systems company, and the design is submitted for approval before work begins rather than inspected afterwards.

If a contractor offers to fit cameras without that licence because it is cheaper, the likely outcome is a system that cannot be certified, which means removing and reinstalling it. Ask to see the licence, and ask who will submit the design. A supplier providing equipment is not the same as a licensed installer taking responsibility for compliance — on many projects those are two different companies, and the split should be explicit in the contract.

Sizing storage: the calculation to do yourself

Storage is a function of five things: number of cameras, resolution, frame rate, compression codec and retention days. The arithmetic is simple and worth doing before you accept a quotation.

Estimate the bitrate per camera, multiply by the number of cameras, convert to storage per day, then multiply by retention days. A useful shortcut: a 4 MP camera on H.265 at a moderate frame rate typically consumes in the region of 15 to 25 GB per day continuously. Twenty such cameras at 31 days therefore lands somewhere around 10 to 15 TB of usable storage — before redundancy.

Three adjustments matter. First, use usable capacity after RAID rather than raw disk totals; a RAID 5 array loses one disk of capacity, RAID 6 two. Second, add headroom of at least 20 per cent, because bitrates rise with scene activity and a busy car park at dusk generates far more data than a quiet corridor. Third, if you record continuously rather than on motion, size for continuous — motion-based recording saves storage but risks missing footage, and for compliance purposes continuous recording is the safer basis.

The single biggest saving available is the codec. H.265 roughly halves storage against H.264 for equivalent quality, so confirm that both cameras and recorder support it and that it is actually enabled. A system specified on H.265 but commissioned on H.264 will quietly run out of retention in half the expected time.

Resolution at the point of interest, not at the camera

A common failure is specifying high-resolution cameras and still producing unusable footage, because the resolution that matters is pixels across the face or the number plate, not megapixels on the sensor. A 4K camera covering a wide forecourt may deliver fewer usable pixels on a face at the entrance than a 2 MP camera aimed properly at the door.

Design per point: decide at each location whether you need to detect that something happened, recognise a known individual, or identify an unknown one. Identification needs the most pixels and therefore the tightest field of view. Entry points, cash desks and till areas almost always require identification; general area coverage usually does not. This is what inspection assesses, so it is worth getting right on the drawing rather than at handover.

Low light deserves attention too. Many UAE premises have strong daylight at the entrance and dim interiors, producing heavy backlighting exactly where identification matters. Specify cameras with good wide dynamic range at those positions rather than relying on infrared, which produces monochrome images that lose clothing colour.

The recorder, the network and the power

Specify an NVR with enough channels for the camera count plus expansion, throughput sufficient for the aggregate bitrate, and drives rated for surveillance duty — ordinary desktop drives are not designed for continuous write and fail early. Build in RAID so a single disk failure does not destroy the retained footage you are obliged to hold.

On the network, keep camera traffic on its own VLAN, size the switches for the aggregate bitrate plus PoE budget, and confirm the PoE class each camera needs. PTZ and heated housings draw considerably more than a fixed dome, and a switch sized on port count rather than power budget will brown out under load.

Power protection is not optional. A recorder that loses power mid-write can corrupt the array, and a gap in footage is a compliance failure regardless of cause. A UPS sized for the recorder, switches and cameras is part of the system, not an accessory — our guidance in UPS and power protection and runtime planning applies directly.

Finally, secure the recorder itself. A rack in a locked room, not a cupboard behind the counter where anyone can reach it. A system whose recorder can be removed by the person it recorded is not a security system.

Handover, maintenance and staying compliant

Compliance is continuing, not a one-off. Keep the approved design drawings, camera schedule and commissioning records. Check periodically that every camera is actually recording and that retention still meets the requirement — storage silently shortens as scenes get busier or cameras are added. Assign responsibility for footage export requests, and test the export process before you need it under pressure.

Clean the domes. In Gulf dust a camera loses meaningful image quality within months, and a dusty dome at an entrance is the most common reason footage of an actual incident turns out to be unusable.

For camera and recorder selection, our Dahua CCTV sizing guide works through the hardware in detail, and the Dahua and Hikvision ranges cover the equipment. Where CCTV forms part of a wider security fit-out, see which access control system a Dubai office should buy.

FAQ

How long must CCTV footage be kept in Dubai?

Regulated premises are typically required to retain recordings for a minimum of 31 days, with longer periods for some categories. Confirm the requirement for your specific premises category before sizing storage, since retention drives the entire design.

How much storage does a 20-camera CCTV system need?

As a planning figure, 4 MP cameras on H.265 consume roughly 15 to 25 GB per camera per day recording continuously, so twenty cameras over 31 days needs approximately 10 to 15 TB usable after RAID, plus at least 20 per cent headroom.

Can any contractor install CCTV in Dubai?

No. Systems for regulated premises must be designed, installed and maintained by a SIRA-licensed security company, with the design approved before installation. An unlicensed installation generally has to be removed and redone.

Does a higher-resolution camera always give better evidence?

No. What matters is pixel density at the point of interest, not sensor megapixels. A high-resolution camera covering a wide area can deliver fewer usable pixels on a face than a lower-resolution camera correctly aimed at an entrance.

What is the easiest way to reduce CCTV storage cost?

Use H.265 compression, which roughly halves storage against H.264 at equivalent quality. Confirm it is supported by both cameras and recorder and that it is actually enabled at commissioning rather than merely specified.

Need a compliant CCTV design and storage calculation? Ask Procure to size the system, and browse our Dahua and access control ranges.