CCTV — Expert Guide
Where to Position CCTV Cameras: Placement Guide for Homes and Businesses
By the DC Fire & Security engineering team — installing and maintaining fire and security systems since 2010. Updated June 2026.
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Quick answer
Cover the routes, not the spaces: front door, driveway and rear access for homes; entrances, tills, stock and yard gates for businesses. Mount cameras at 2.5–3 metres — high enough to resist tampering, low enough to capture faces rather than the tops of heads. The commonest mistake is mounting too high for identification.
Priority positions for a home
- Front door: where most burglars knock first and parcels disappear — face height coverage of the approach
- Driveway and vehicles: covering approach and number plates
- Rear and side access: the actual entry route in most burglaries — gates, patio doors, low windows
- Garden/outbuildings where tools and bikes live
- Avoid pointing at neighbouring property; use privacy masking where views overlap
Priority positions for a business
- Every entrance and exit, capturing faces at door height on entry
- Tills, counters and safes — close coverage for dispute resolution as much as theft
- Stock areas, loading doors and waste yards (where shrinkage actually exits)
- Site perimeter decision points: gates and approach routes, where deterrence works
- Car parks — the strongest evidence base for CCTV crime reduction is in car parks
Placement mistakes that ruin footage
- Mounting at 4–5 metres 'for coverage': you get crown-of-head footage nobody can identify
- Facing glass doors and bright entrances without WDR — silhouettes all day
- Backlighting at night: a camera under a floodlight sees the light, not the scene
- Wide lens covering everything, identifying nothing — match lens to the distance that matters
- Leaving a camera's view to grow over with hedge or ivy
- Forgetting the camera itself: position the first camera where it can see anyone approaching the others
Frequently Asked Questions
How high should CCTV cameras be mounted?
2.5–3 metres for identification positions — tamper-resistant but still face height geometry. Overview cameras on yards and car parks can go higher because their job is tracking, not identification.
Should cameras point at windows?
Through-glass viewing fails at night because infrared reflects off the pane. Put external cameras outside; if you must view through glass, light the outside scene and disable the camera's IR.
How many cameras does an average house need?
Most 3-bed homes are well covered with 3–5: front door, driveway, rear garden, plus side access where present. Coverage of routes beats counting corners.
Do you plan positions before installing?
Yes — every installation starts with a survey mapping entry routes, risks and lens choices per position, and we show you the planned views before any drilling.
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