Short answer
A good technical specification describes the need: it states which area will be monitored, for what purpose, under what conditions, how long recordings will be kept, and how the system will be tested and accepted. Clauses that narrow competition and point to a single product can both conflict with the principles of the Public Procurement Law No. 4734 and increase the risk of objections.
Write down the need before starting the specification
A specification is often prepared by copying the file of a previous tender or a product brochure sent by a company. The result is clauses unrelated to the building's needs, and values that are hard to meet or meaningless.
First look at the site. How many entrances are there, where is the parking lot, what is the night lighting like, who will look at the recordings, can the existing cable infrastructure be used? Write the answers to these questions in a one-page needs note. Every clause of the specification should be linked to a need in this note.
When preparing the needs note, talk to the people who use the building. The security guard knows at which point problems occur at night, and the administrative staff know which recordings they look for most often. This information shows the points that a plan prepared on paper misses.
- List of areas to be monitored and the purpose of each (general surveillance, face identification, plate reading)
- Night and day lighting conditions, outdoor setting, and dust
- Recording retention period and the reason for it
- Viewing point: who will watch, where, and on which screen
- Existing infrastructure: cable, cabinet, power, network
Describe performance, not brand
Competition is one of the basic principles in public procurement. Writing a brand's model number, a menu name found only in that manufacturer's product, or a very specific measurement word for word in the specification can reduce competition to a single product. Clauses like this become grounds for objection and prolong the process.
Describe the result instead. A statement such as “an image in which a face can be distinguished at 5 meters at the entrance door” is a requirement that many products on the market can meet and that can be tested. If you specify values such as resolution, lens, night vision distance, make sure that more than one manufacturer on the market meets them.
Expert note: Next to each technical value, ask yourself a question: do the products of at least three different manufacturers meet this value? If the answer is no, rewrite the clause.
Compatibility and standard clauses
Requiring open protocol support such as ONVIF for IP cameras makes it easier to add cameras or recorders of a different brand later. For fire detection, compliance with the TS EN 54 family of standards is a commonly used requirement. For outdoor products, the dust and water protection class is especially important in dusty, hot regions like Şanlıurfa.
When asking for documents, know what you are asking for and why. The contractor's quality management certificate, the manufacturer's authorization certificate, and the product's conformity certificates show different things. Decide with your institution's purchasing unit which is a qualification criterion and which is a technical conformity criterion.
- Needs note prepared on site
- No brand or model names
- Values are met by more than one manufacturer
- Open protocol support is required
- Cabling and cabinet workmanship described
- Outage scenario written
- Acceptance test list attached
- As-built and password handover required
- Training and maintenance scope defined
Installation, cabling, and power
Specifications usually focus on the device and cover the workmanship in a single line. Yet most problems come from the cabling. Write the cable category, the conduit and pipe type, the protection of outdoor cables, the layout inside the cabinet, and the labeling.
On the power side, state how long the system must keep running during an outage; the UPS and the shutdown behavior of the recorder are chosen accordingly. Lightning and surge protection should also be considered separately on outdoor poles.
If the installation is in an existing building, state in the specification the working hours and the measures to be taken so that users are not affected. In a hospital or school, issues such as the hours when noisy work can be done, opening and closing the ceiling, and cleaning become a cause of dispute later. Not doing outdoor facade work in the midday heat of a Şanlıurfa summer should also be discussed from a work-safety point of view.
Test, acceptance, and delivery documents
The acceptance clause is the most neglected part of a specification. What will the inspection and acceptance committee check? Each camera's day and night image, verification of the recording duration, a remote access test, user permissions, and the power outage scenario should be in a written test list.
At delivery, ask for the as-built project (a drawing showing the real condition after the work), the device list, the IP address table, the user and password handover record, and the maintenance instructions. Without these documents, handing the system over to another company after a few years becomes difficult.
Carry out the acceptance test according to the list prepared by the institution. A test list prepared by the company naturally focuses on the strengths of the system it installed. Attaching the list to the specification lets every bidder know from the start what they will be tested on.
Bill of quantities and unit price items
Another document as important as the specification is the bill of quantities. If cameras, recorders, disks, switch, cables, conduits, cabinets, UPS, and labor are written as separate items, quotes are easier to compare and changes that come up during installation are easier to calculate.
Write the cable quantity according to the site survey. Drawing each camera's route to the cabinet on the building plan makes the quantity realistic. Show the attic, facade, and garden routes separately; outdoor cable and indoor cable are different items.
Spare material can also be considered as an item. A few spare cameras and disks of the same model keep the system from being short in the failures that occur in the first years. Discuss with your purchasing unit whether this can be added to the purchase.
Training, maintenance, and KVKK
For the training of the staff who will use the system, write how many people will be trained and on which topics: searching recordings, exporting video, adding users, reporting faults. For maintenance, describe the scope of the periodic check and the way to report faults.
An institution's camera also processes personal data. If the information sign, leaving private areas out of scope, and access permissions to the recordings are included in the specification, no extra work comes up later.
Expert note: This article is a general roadmap. The tender procedure, qualification criteria, and document requirements depend on legislation and current regulations; consult your institution's legal unit or someone who specializes in public procurement legislation.
Frequently asked
Is it forbidden to write a brand in the specification?
Public procurement legislation is based on competition, and technical requirements that steer toward a specific brand are generally problematic. Discuss with your institution's legal unit whether there are exceptional cases and how to word them.
Is it right to ask companies for a specification for market research?
Getting information from companies is normal, but using a specification prepared by a single company as it is can narrow competition. Gather information from more than one source and write the clauses according to your own needs note.
What should be checked at acceptance?
Test each camera's night and day image, the recording duration, remote access, user permissions, and how the system behaves in a power outage. Also check that the delivery documents are complete.
Let's talk about the site survey and needs note
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