Intruder Alarm Installation Costs UK — What to Charge to Fit a Burglar Alarm in 2026

What an Intruder Alarm Installation Costs in 2026

Pricing depends heavily on the type of system, the size of the property and whether the alarm is monitored. As a rough guide for a typical 3-bed house: a basic bells-only system — wired or wireless — supplied and fitted comes in around £400–£800. A larger or more sensor-heavy system runs £800–£1,500. A monitored alarm with a monitoring contract sits higher still, plus an ongoing monitoring fee of £100–£300 a year.

Those headline ranges assume standard access and a property in reasonable condition. The sections below break down what each system type includes, what drives the price up, and how to structure a quote so you protect your margin.

System Types and What to Charge

Bells-Only Systems

A bells-only (or audible-only) alarm sounds an external siren and flashing strobe when triggered, but no one is automatically notified. It relies on the noise deterring the intruder and on neighbours reacting. It's the cheapest option and remains the most common installation in domestic settings.

• Basic 3-bed bells-only system, supplied and fitted: £400–£800
• Larger / more sensors (4-bed+, outbuildings, more zones): £800–£1,500

A standard kit at this level includes a control panel, a keypad, two or three PIR detectors, one or two door contacts, an external sounder / bell box with battery backup, and an internal sounder. Price toward the top of the range where there are more zones to cover or where wiring routes are awkward.

Smart / App-Controlled Systems

Smart alarms add a communicator module so the system can send push notifications, be armed and disarmed from a phone app, and integrate with cameras, smart locks and home automation. Brands like Texecom, Pyronix, Ajax and Yale dominate this space. Customers increasingly expect app control as standard — and it is a useful upsell from a plain bells-only quote.

Expect to add roughly £100–£300 over an equivalent bells-only system for the communicator and app setup, before any monitoring contract. The app self-notification model gives the customer some of the reassurance of monitoring without a recurring ARC fee — though it puts the response burden on them.

Monitored Systems

A monitored alarm connects to an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) — a 24/7 monitoring station. When the alarm triggers, the ARC follows an agreed response: contacting nominated keyholders (keyholder response) or, where the system is police-registered and dual-confirmed, requesting a police response. Signalling is typically via a dual-path device such as a DualCom or CSL unit using broadband plus a mobile network for redundancy.

Monitored systems carry a higher install cost because of the additional signalling hardware and commissioning, plus an ongoing monitoring fee. For installers, the recurring revenue is the real prize — see the maintenance and monitoring section below.

• Monitored system install (hardware + commissioning): £700–£1,800+
• Annual monitoring fee (ARC contract): £100–£300/year

Wireless vs Hard-Wired

The wired-versus-wireless decision affects both your labour and the system's long-term reliability, and it's one of the biggest variables in a quote.

Hard-wired systems run cable from each sensor back to the control panel. They're robust, not reliant on sensor batteries, and the preferred choice for new builds, properties undergoing refurbishment, and higher-grade insurance installs. The downside is labour: chasing cables into walls, lifting floorboards and routing through lofts adds significant time, especially in an occupied, finished property.

Wireless systems use battery-powered sensors that communicate with the panel by radio. They install far faster with minimal disruption — ideal for retrofits in finished homes — but the sensors need periodic battery changes, which feeds neatly into a maintenance contract. Hardware cost per sensor is typically a little higher than wired equivalents, but you usually recover that in saved labour.

On a finished, occupied house, wireless often wins on total cost despite slightly pricier components, because the labour saving is large. On a property that's already opened up — a refurb or extension — wired can be the better value and the more durable result. Quote whichever genuinely suits the property and explain the trade-off to the customer.

Per-Component Pricing

Pricing per component helps you build accurate quotes for non-standard properties and justify the number to the customer. Typical supplied-and-fitted figures:

• PIR motion detector: £30–£60 each fitted
• Door / window contact: £20–£40 each fitted
• Control panel: £80–£250 depending on grade and zone count
• Keypad / proximity reader: £40–£120
• External sounder / bell box (with battery backup): £60–£150
• Internal sounder: £20–£50
• Communicator / dual-path signalling module: £100–£300
• Battery backup (panel / standby): typically included, allow £20–£50 if upgraded

Building a quote from components is the most defensible way to price an unusual job — a large house with multiple outbuildings, or a small flat where a fixed kit price would overcharge. Most installers carry a standard kit price for typical homes and switch to component-based pricing once the property strays from the norm.

What Affects the Price

Two intruder alarm quotes can differ by hundreds of pounds for the same-looking house. The main drivers are:

• Property size, zones and sensor count: More rooms, more entry points and any outbuildings or garages mean more detectors, contacts and zones — the single biggest cost driver.
• Wired vs wireless: Wired adds labour for cable chasing; wireless adds component cost. The right choice depends on whether the property is open or finished.
• Bells-only vs monitored: Monitoring adds signalling hardware, commissioning and a recurring fee, and usually requires a higher install standard.
• Smart features: App control, camera integration and home-automation links add hardware and setup time.
• Security grade: Higher-risk or insurance-required installs may need a Grade 2 or Grade 3 system, with certified equipment, dual-path signalling and more rigorous commissioning — all of which cost more.
• Access and condition: Awkward cable routes, solid floors, no loft access and tricky external bell-box positions all add labour.

Security Grading and Insurance — SSAIB and NSI

Insurers and the standards bodies classify intruder alarms by security grade under BS EN 50131. Grade 1 is the lowest (low-risk) and Grade 4 the highest. For domestic and small-commercial work the two that matter most are:

• Grade 2: Typical for most homes and lower-risk commercial premises — the level many insurers ask for as a condition of cover.
• Grade 3: For higher-risk properties — high-value contents, certain businesses, or where the insurer specifies it. Requires more tamper protection, dual-path signalling and certified equipment.

Where an insurance policy specifies a grade or requires a professionally installed and maintained system, the customer usually needs an installer certified by a recognised body — most commonly the SSAIB or the NSI. Certification involves audits and ongoing compliance, but it lets you take on insurance-mandated work that uncertified installers can't touch, and it justifies a higher price. If you're not certified, be honest in your quote about which insurance-required jobs you can and can't complete.

Supply-and-Fit vs Labour-Only

Decide early whether you're quoting supply-and-fit (you provide the equipment and the labour) or labour-only (the customer supplies the kit and you install it). Supply-and-fit is the norm and the more profitable route — you mark up the hardware and control which equipment goes in, which protects both your margin and your reputation when it comes to reliability and warranty.

Labour-only requests usually come from customers who've bought a DIY kit online. They can be worth taking on at a clear day rate, but be explicit about the limits: you can't warrant equipment you didn't supply, you can't certify a self-supplied kit to an insurance grade, and you may decline to install hardware you don't consider fit for purpose. Put those caveats in writing.

Day Rate vs Fixed Quoting

Most alarm installers work to a day rate of roughly £200–£300/day, sometimes higher in London and the South East or for certified, insurance-grade work. A standard wireless system in a typical home is often a single-day job; a wired install in a finished property, or a multi-zone monitored system, can run to two days or more.

For domestic customers, a fixed quote almost always wins the job — homeowners want certainty, not an open-ended day rate. Price the fixed quote off your day rate plus hardware plus a contingency for the unknowns (cable routes, access). Reserve pure day-rate working for jobs where the scope genuinely can't be pinned down up front, such as fault-finding on an unfamiliar legacy system or staged work on a refurbishment.

Monitoring and Maintenance — Your Recurring Revenue

The install fee is a one-off; the contracts behind it are what build a sustainable alarm business. Two recurring revenue streams matter:

• Monitoring contracts: For monitored systems, the ARC connection carries an annual fee of £100–£300. You can resell ARC monitoring at a margin and bill the customer directly.
• Maintenance contracts: Insurance-grade and monitored systems typically require an annual service. A maintenance visit — checking sensors, replacing wireless batteries, testing signalling and the bell box — is worth £60–£150 per visit, sold as an annual contract.

A book of monitoring and maintenance contracts stabilises your income across quiet periods and is genuinely valuable if you ever sell the business. Build the maintenance contract into the original quote rather than trying to sell it later — frame it as part of keeping the system insurance-compliant, which it usually is.

Quoting Tips — What to Check Before You Price

Alarm quotes go wrong when the installer prices off a phone description rather than a proper survey. Before you commit a price, check:

• Insurance requirements: Ask whether the customer's insurer specifies a grade, certification (SSAIB/NSI) or monitoring. This dictates the whole spec.
• Zone and sensor count: Walk the property and count entry points, key rooms and outbuildings. Don't guess from the number of bedrooms.
• Cable routes: For wired systems, check loft access, floor type and chase runs. Solid floors and no loft access change the labour dramatically.
• Bell-box position: Identify a prominent, weatherproof external location with a sensible power and signal route.
• Existing wiring: If there's an old alarm, decide whether to reuse cabling or strip it out — note it in writing either way.
• Signalling: For monitored systems, confirm broadband and mobile signal at the panel location for dual-path reliability.
• Pets: Households with pets need pet-tolerant PIRs to avoid false alarms — specify them up front.

Include a short system spec with your quote — listing the grade, the components and zones, the signalling method, and what the monitoring or maintenance contract covers. A one-page spec elevates your quote above competitors who just send a number, and it sets clear expectations that protect you if the customer later wants to add zones.

Quick Reference: Intruder Alarm Prices UK 2026