How to hire
Match the tradesperson to the job first. An access control installer fits fobs, keypads, door entry panels, intercoms and automated gates, usually alongside alarms and CCTV. A locksmith opens doors, changes cylinders and repairs multipoint mechanisms. A guarding firm supplies keyholding, alarm response and patrols, while an IT firm sells CCTV as an add-on to computer support. When you first enquire, say which doors, how many users, and whether you want a standalone keypad or a system you can manage from a phone.
Check competence before you book. For alarms, CCTV and access control, search the SSAIB provider search and the NSI company finder for the business name and check the listing yourself rather than taking a badge on a van at face value [4] [5]. Either listing points to a firm inspected against industry standards. Ask for the certificate or approval number behind the badge and confirm it appears on the register, then keep a note of what you found.
Guarding has a legal edge other security work does not. Anyone supplying key holding or guarding under contract generally needs an SIA licence, and the firm itself can seek SIA Approved Contractor status, which you can check on the public register [8] [6]. For locksmiths, the Master Locksmiths Association directory lists inspected members you can search by postcode [7]. For automated gates, the Gate Safe register lists installers trained in gate safety [9]. If the name is missing from every list, ask why before you go further.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same written scope, so you compare like with like [11]. Each quote should name the doors and users covered, the exact kit with makes and models, cable routes and power, the start date, how making-good is handled, and payment stages. A deposit for ordered kit is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Treat an outlier, far above or below the rest, as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what is included or excluded.
A serious installer surveys before quoting fitted work. Expect a walk round every door, a look at power and cable routes, and questions about who needs access and when. Push back on any quote for a multi-door system given sight unseen over the phone. For monitored alarms and CCTV, the quote should state the recorder and storage, how you view footage, the response arrangements, and the yearly service and monitoring fees, since those subscriptions run for years after the fitting [1] [2].
On handover, collect the paperwork and keep it filed. An approved installer issues a certificate of compliance for the installation, which is your evidence for your insurer and the police if they ever ask [10]. You should also hold user guides, admin codes for adding and removing users, the service and maintenance terms with response times, and the monitoring contract where one applies. Test every fob, code and camera with the engineer present, and do not pay the balance until each one works.
Telford adds a planning wrinkle worth raising on the first call. The borough holds eight conservation areas, from Wellington and Newport to the Severn Gorge, and the council names CCTV cameras and alarm boxes among the external works that can need listed building consent on a listed property [14] [15]. National rules normally allow domestic cameras without planning permission inside size, height and number limits, but listed buildings sit outside those allowances [13]. Where the doors belong to a listed building or a historic street, let the installer confirm the position with the council before anything is fixed to the brickwork.
A typical fitted job runs in a clear order. You send the door list, the user count and a few photos, the installer visits to check power, cable routes and signal, and a fixed written quote follows with kit names and dates. On the day, expect drilling, cables run and boxed in, the panel and locks mounted, and every fob and code enrolled before the engineer leaves. The last hour matters most: walk each door together, test every camera view on your own phone, and take the handover pack before paying the balance.
Judge a written quote by what it names: each door and reader, the panel, lock and power supply with makes and models, the cable plan, the start date, making-good, payment stages, and the yearly service and monitoring fees where they apply. A single vague sum for supply and fit tells you nothing when two quotes differ. At handover, the pack should hold the certificate of compliance from an approved firm, user guides, admin codes, service terms with response times, and the monitoring contract where one applies [10]. Anything missing is easiest to chase while the balance is still unpaid.
Give the practical detail on the first call: your street and postcode, whether you sit in Ironbridge, Wellington, Dawley, Madeley or Lawley, and what parking and rear access look like. Ironbridge runs its own parking permit scheme, with resident permits in other signed streets, so a firm driving in for the day needs the arrangements up front [17]. Mention wall types, pets, alarms already fitted and anyone working nights, so the engineer plans cable routes, sensor positions and arrival times around the household rather than discovering them on the day.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this: a bell-only wireless alarm from £525 supplied and fitted, a smart alarm system from around £650, and a monitored system with keyholder or police response at roughly £1,200–£2,500 to install plus £15–£45 a month in monitoring [1]. An annual service visit typically costs around £90 [1]. These are national guide prices, and Telford usually sits below London and South East rates.
For CCTV, a four-camera wired system with a recorder runs about £700–£1,500 supplied and fitted, while a four-camera wireless kit costs roughly £450–£750 plus VAT with lower fitting time [2]. An eight-camera wired system climbs to around £1,200–£2,500, and a yearly check-up starts from about £100 [2]. Roughly half of a wired quote is cable routing and the recorder rather than the cameras themselves.
Locksmith work is smaller money: around £65 an hour in normal daytime hours, with call-out fees of £50–£150 and regaining entry at about £110 [3]. Changing a Yale-type lock costs around £100 a lock, a standard uPVC cylinder around £125, and an anti-snap upgrade around £150 [3]. Evenings, nights and weekends carry a premium, so agree the out-of-hours total on the phone before anyone sets off.
What moves the price most is scale and wiring: more doors, sensors and cameras, longer cable runs, working at height, and whether monitoring or storage subscriptions follow for years [1] [2]. Ask whether each figure includes VAT, since published guides generally exclude it, and whether the call-out fee is separate [2] [3]. Get the scope in writing before work starts — exactly which doors and cameras, which kit, which certificates you will receive, and what changes the price if the installer finds worse wiring than expected.
Door entry is the one job this page was missing a figure for. Checkatrade's intercom guide, with prices refreshed in spring 2025, puts a system with installation at roughly £100–£1,000, averaging around £500, with wireless video kits dearer than audio-only sets [12]. Audio or video, wired or wireless, phone integration and fobs or keypads move the figure, as does whether old wiring can be reused or new runs must be chased in [12]. Gate automation sits above these ranges, with motors, groundworks, power to the gate and safety devices each adding their own line.
Red flags
Quotes a multi-door access system or a wired alarm without visiting or asking for photos and a door list.
Cannot give a scheme or approval detail you can check yourself on the SSAIB, NSI, SIA or MLA search [4] [5] [6] [7].
Offers keyholding or guarding but cannot show an SIA licence or an Approved Contractor listing [8] [6].
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of kit, labour, monitoring and VAT.
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [11].
Hands over with no commissioning certificate, no user guide and no admin codes [10].
Names no aftercare: no service terms, no fault number and no response time.
Fits an automated gate with no safety devices mentioned and no record of force testing [9].
Aims a camera over your boundary with no mention of signage, viewing angles or how the footage is stored [15].
Quotes monitoring or maintenance with no monthly figure, contract length or exit terms in writing [1] [2].