SIRA CCTV Regulations Every Business Owner Should Know

Run a warehouse, a shop, or pretty much any commercial space in Dubai, and at some point, someone’s going to ask about your CCTV setup: an inspector, an insurer, maybe a new landlord. Here’s the thing: a lot of owners don’t realize until it’s too late: it’s not really up to you how that system is built. Dubai’s Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA) has already decided, in a lot of detail, what your cameras, recorders, alarms, and monitors need to look like.

These rules didn’t come from one tidy document, either. They’re spread across Law No. (12) of 2016, its Implementing Bylaw, and a couple of technical manuals the Security Conditions and Requirements of the Warehouses guide, and the more recent Administrative Resolution No. (13) of 2025 (Preventive Systems Manual). Between them, they spell out almost everything: camera placement, hardware specs, how long you have to keep footage, even what you’re not allowed to install.
So instead of relying on whatever your camera vendor tells you, here’s what the rules actually say, in plain English.

Why Bother Regulating CCTV at All?

Think about it from SIRA’s side for a second. A camera is only useful if it actually works when something goes wrong, is clear enough to identify a face, records long enough that footage still exists by the time anyone asks for it, and is positioned somewhere that isn’t blocked by a shelf or a delivery truck. A blurry, badly-placed camera that stopped recording two weeks ago is basically decoration.

That’s the whole reason the specs exist. And they’re written as a floor, not a suggestion. The manual is blunt about this: nothing may be installed below the minimum, ever, unless SIRA specifically signs off on an exception in writing.

Where the Cameras Actually Have to Go

For warehouses, SIRA doesn’t just say “install cameras” it assigns a specific job to each location, called a “view type.” Some spots need footage sharp enough to identify a person; others just need to catch that something moved.

• Entrances need an Identification View sharp enough to recognize a face.
• Emergency exits get the same treatment: Identification View.
• Reception desks only need an Observation View.
• Parking entrances and exits need ANPR (Automatic Number-Plate Recognition) cameras.
• Loading and unloading bays need a Monitoring View.
• The perimeter around the warehouse just needs a detection view to notice activity.
• On top of all that, you need a system that checks that the whole VSS network is actually still working, not just cameras that exist, but cameras that are confirmed to be functioning.

In other words, this isn’t “put a camera wherever it looks reasonable.” Every zone has a defined purpose, and the camera has to be good enough to serve it.

The Hardware Specs Nobody Reads Until It’s Too Late

This is where the Preventive Systems Manual gets genuinely technical, and honestly, where most non-compliant systems trip up. A few of the requirements that matter most:

• Resolution has to be at least 1080p Full HD, both for live viewing and for what’s actually recorded.
• Footage needs to be in color, aside from automatic switching to monochrome at night.
• Cameras need a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 48 dB, and if a camera faces a light source or a reflective surface, it needs Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) of at least 110 dB; otherwise, you just get glare and silhouettes.
• Anything installed outdoors needs an IP66 rating, so heat, dust, and rain don’t take it out.
• Infrared is required so the camera can switch to night mode on its own.
• Any camera sitting 4 metres or higher needs remote zoom and focus; you shouldn’t need a ladder to adjust it.
• Live view needs to run at 25 frames per second minimum; motion-triggered recording can drop to 10 fps.
• And footage has to stay on file for at least 31 days, at high quality, not compressed into something unusable.
• On the recorder side: ONVIF 2.0 compatibility, RTSP streaming, network time sync (NTP), and automatic alerts if a disk fails or fills up.

Don’t Forget the Alarm System

Cameras aren’t the whole picture. SIRA also expects an intrusion alarm setup covering:

• Motion detectors in any room or area that has windows.
• Magnetic contact sensors on the main doors, secondary doors, and emergency exits.

What About the Monitors?

Yes, even the screens have rules:

• They need to be built for continuous 24/7 use, for at least 3 years, not a consumer TV that’ll burn out.
• Resolution: 1080p minimum.
• They have to be actual surveillance monitors, not repurposed televisions.
• Each operator needs at least two screens, and each one has to be 21 inches or bigger.

Things You’re Simply Not Allowed to Do

A handful of setups are flat-out banned unless SIRA gives you written approval first:

1. Pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras in private areas.
2. Hidden cameras, period.
3. Rooftop cameras that see past your own property line.

Installing It Is Only Half the Job

A lot of business owners treat CCTV as a one-time install-and-forget project. That’s exactly where compliance breaks down, because SIRA also expects:

• An annual maintenance contract with a SIRA-registered company, and not just a signature on paper, but at least four preventive visits a year.
• A running, auditable log of who’s accessed the recording equipment and when.
• Immediate notice to SIRA the moment anything fails or looks tampered with.
• A heads-up to SIRA whenever something changes, such as new cameras, a redesigned layout, a new entrance, or even a shift in what your business actually does, if it affects the monitored areas.

Honestly, Most People Get Help With This

Between the IP ratings, the retention windows, the banned camera types, and the paperwork trail, it’s a lot to interpret correctly on your own, and getting it wrong is expensive to fix later. That’s why most businesses bring in a SIRA-approved integrator rather than reading the manuals cover to cover themselves. If that sounds like the easier route, VAS SIRA Support Services handles exactly this, designing, installing, and maintaining systems that actually meet SIRA’s requirements, so you’re not left guessing.