Step 1 of 7The property
Who is buying, where, and what is already installed.
These only appear on the document. Nothing you enter here leaves your browser — your answers are kept in it so you can come back later, until you clear them.
What a remote guarding scope of work has to say
A scope of work for remote video monitoring is not a guard contract with the word “camera” substituted in. A guard contract buys hours of presence; this buys a response, and a response is measured in seconds from the moment something is detected. That changes what the useful clauses are. The ones that separate a serious provider from a call centre with a video wall are: what counts as a verified incident, how many seconds pass between detection and a trained person on the live feed, what that person is allowed to do, who they call and in what order, and how every one of those things is timestamped so the monthly report cannot be a matter of opinion.
The builder above writes those clauses from your answers, numbered so bidders can respond to each one. Everything is stated as a result to be measured rather than a method to be followed — the same discipline the Federal Acquisition Regulation imposes on government buyers of services, and it works just as well for a property manager. Where the RFP does state a method, it says so, and it is a requirement.
Why the templates that rank for this do not help
Search for a security services contract template and you get generic legal shells — parties, term, payment, indemnity — with a blank where the scope should be. They are fine for the wrapper. They cannot write the specification, because they do not know that an analytics alert is not verification, that a monitoring centre has a camera-to-operator ratio that matters at 2 AM, or that a response-time target without a timestamp behind it is decoration. This page does the specification and leaves the wrapper to your counsel, which is the right division of labour.
The service levels, and why each has a measurement column
- Detection to operator on the live feed. The core metric. Measured from the detection timestamp to the operator acknowledgement, for every event, not for a sample.
- Verification to first action. When the audio warning starts or the first escalation call is placed. This is the number that decides whether the person is still there.
- Notification and report. How fast you hear, and how fast you hold a written report with the clip.
- Outage reporting. A camera that is offline is not a monitored camera. The RFP asks how the bidder knows one has gone dark and how soon you would hear.
- Availability of the service as a monthly percentage, with the calculation stated, and what happens to your coverage while the centre is down.
- False dispatches attributable to the vendor, with the municipal fee landing on whoever made the call.
Police, verification and the 0-to-4 scale
The RFP defaults to requesting police only on a verified incident — an operator has seen a person or vehicle and formed a view of intent. That is not caution; it is what dispatch policy now rewards. A growing number of police services will not respond to an unverified alarm at all, and the ANSI/TMA-AVS-01 Alarm Validation Scoring standard gives emergency communications centres a 0-to-4 scale for exactly this distinction, from “no call for service” to “confirmed threat to life”. The builder can require bidders to score every incident on that scale. In Canada the municipal rules are documented city by city in our verified response database; in the US, our trespass enforcement database covers the authorisation that lets police act on trespass when nobody from your organisation is on site.
Listings: ask, score, and think before you mandate
UL 827 is the standard for alarm central stations — the building, backup power, redundancy and staffing of a station that receives alarm signals. TMA Five Diamond is a designation from The Monitoring Association built around 100% of operators certified on its course, recertification every three years, an annual inspection commitment and membership; it is renewed yearly. ULC publishes the Canadian equivalents. All three are real evidence of a serious operation. None of them measures the thing you are buying, which is what an operator does in the first minute after a detection, and some purpose-built live video monitoring centres hold none of them because the standards were not written for video. The builder's default is to require disclosure and score it, while writing the physical requirements — backup power, redundant communications, a tested failover — into the RFP directly so any capable centre can answer. One click makes the listings mandatory if your policy requires that.
Licensing, by jurisdiction
Where we have read the regulator's own page, the RFP names it — California's Alarm Company Operator licence, which the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services describes as covering a business that installs, monitors or responds to alarm systems; Texas DPS, which regulates alarm systems installers and monitors; New Jersey's Fire Alarm, Burglar Alarm and Locksmith Advisory Committee, which licenses those who install, service or monitor alarm systems; New York's Security or Fire Alarm Installer licence; Florida's Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board; and Ontario's Private Security and Investigative Services Act. Everywhere, the clause puts the burden where it belongs: the bidder identifies every licence that applies, holds it, lists it with a number and an expiry, and says in writing where it considers one does not apply.
Data, privacy and the training clause
You own the footage and the event data; the vendor may not use, share, sell or train systems on it, and returns or destroys it at the end. Retention defaults to 30 days for video and the term plus a year for incident records, with a preservation obligation for anything you flag. Canadian buyers get PIPEDA and the Privacy Commissioner's guidelines for overt video surveillance in the private sector written in — notice before people enter, collect only what the purpose requires, keep it no longer than that purpose requires. Everywhere, signage is yours and advice on placing it is the vendor's.
How to run the process
- Build the RFP, read the flags at the top of it, and fix the answers they point at.
- Print it or copy it into your procurement template, and have counsel add the legal wrapper.
- Issue it with a questions deadline. Publish the answers to every bidder.
- Score the proposals against the weighted criteria in Section 9, clause by clause.
- Shortlist two or three and stage an event at one of your sites. Watch the clock, listen to what the operator says. That hour is worth more than every brochure.
- Call the references, including the one that has had a real incident.
- Run the pilot. Leave if the service levels are missed.
Where this comes from
- Performance specification discipline: Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 37.6, Performance-Based Acquisition — work described in terms of required results with measurable performance standards. acquisition.gov
- Alarm scoring: ANSI/TMA-AVS-01 2024, Alarm Validation Scoring Standard, The Monitoring Association — the level 0–4 definitions quoted above. tma.us
- Five Diamond: The Monitoring Association, Five Diamond Designation — the five commitments, 100% operator certification, three-year recertification, one-year validity. tma.us
- UL 827 and ULC: UL 827, Standard for Central-Station Alarm Services, and CAN/ULC-S561, Installation and Services for Fire Signal Receiving Centres and Systems. Paid standards; nothing is quoted from their text here.
- Licensing: the regulators named on their own pages — California BSIS, Texas DPS, New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, New York Department of State, Florida DBPR, Ontario. Retrieved 2026-08-28.
- Privacy (Canada): Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Guidelines for Overt Video Surveillance in the Private Sector (2008). priv.gc.ca
Everything on this page is a drafting aid. It is not legal advice, and the generated document is a specification, not a contract. Licensing, privacy and procurement rules vary by jurisdiction and change; confirm them before issue.
Frequently asked questions
What is a remote guarding scope of work?
The part of a contract or RFP that says what the monitoring company must actually do: which areas are watched, during which hours, what counts as a verified incident, what the operator does about it and how fast, who gets called in what order, what gets reported and when. A scope of work for remote video monitoring is different from one for guards because the deliverable is a response, not a presence — so the useful clauses are measured in seconds from detection, not in hours on post.
What should a security monitoring RFP include?
Ten things, and the builder on this page produces all of them: background on the property and the concern; the scope of work with the coverage window and the areas; service levels with a target and a measurement for each; technology and integration requirements; monitoring centre, staffing, licensing and insurance requirements; data, privacy and retention terms; commercial terms including termination; a pricing schedule every bidder must complete the same way; submission instructions and weighted evaluation criteria; and a questionnaire whose answers separate providers.
How is this different from a security services contract template?
The templates that rank for that phrase are generic legal shells — parties, term, payment, indemnity — with a blank where the scope should be. They are useful for the legal wrapper and useless for the specification, because they do not know what a verified incident is or why a 30-second response target needs a timestamp behind it. This builder writes the specification. Your counsel supplies the wrapper.
What questions should I ask a remote video monitoring company?
The ones with numbers for answers. What was your median and 95th-percentile detection-to-operator time last month, from your own reports? How many cameras is each operator responsible for at 2 AM on a Saturday? What happens when three incidents start in the same minute? How many police requests did you make last quarter and how many were false? What caused a client to leave in the last two years? Section 10 of the generated RFP holds the full list, filtered to the service you are specifying.
Should I require a UL 827 listing or TMA Five Diamond?
Ask for them, but think before you mandate them. UL 827 is the standard for alarm central stations that receive alarm signals; it specifies the building, backup power, redundancy and staffing of such a station. TMA Five Diamond is a designation from The Monitoring Association built around 100% operator certification on its training course, an annual laboratory inspection commitment and membership. Both are real evidence of a serious operation. Neither measures what you are buying, which is what an operator does in the first minute after a detection, and some purpose-built live video monitoring centres hold neither because the standards were not written for them. The builder defaults to requiring disclosure and scoring it, with the physical requirements — backup power, redundant communications, a tested failover — written in directly. You can make the listings mandatory with one click if your policy requires it.
What response time should I put in the RFP?
Two separate ones, because they measure different things. The first is detection to a trained operator on the live feed — the builder offers 30 seconds, 60 seconds or 2 minutes. The second is verification to first action, meaning the audio warning starts or the first escalation call is placed. The third that matters is time to notify you. Every target needs a measurement method beside it — timestamps from the system, not operator narrative — or a bidder can meet it on paper without meeting it at 1 AM.
Why does the RFP say police should only be called on a verified incident?
Because that is increasingly the only call that gets a response. A growing number of police services will not dispatch to an unverified alarm and most that do give it the lowest priority, while an operator reporting a person they can see on camera is treated as a crime in progress. The ANSI/TMA-AVS-01 standard now gives dispatchers a 0-to-4 scale for exactly this distinction. A requirement to call on every detection buys false-alarm fees, not faster police. Our Canadian verified response database documents the policies city by city.
Does the monitoring company need a licence in my state or province?
Usually something does, and it is the bidder’s job to identify and evidence it, which is how the generated clause is written. In some jurisdictions the alarm-company licence expressly covers monitoring — California’s Alarm Company Operator licence, for example, covers a business that installs, monitors or responds to alarm systems, and Texas DPS regulates alarm system installers and monitors. Where we have read the regulator’s own page, the RFP names it; everywhere else it requires the bidder to list every applicable licence with its number and expiry, and to state in writing where it considers a licence does not apply.
How long should the contract be?
Twelve months with a pilot clause is the usual right answer. A month-to-month term pushes installed hardware to an up-front charge or leaves the vendor owning it; a 36-month term gets the best per-camera rate but is a long time to be wrong. The pilot — the first sixty days or the first site, with a no-penalty exit if the service levels are missed — is the cheapest due diligence there is and any capable provider accepts it.
Does this builder store my answers or send them anywhere?
Nothing is sent anywhere. Your answers stay in this browser and the document is produced there, with no account and no submission. The answers are saved in that browser until you clear them, so you can leave and come back; “Start fresh” on the form and “Start over” under the document both erase them. You only give us contact details if you choose to have the RFP emailed to you or want Blinkless to bid on it, and you can read the whole document before deciding either way.
Can Blinkless bid on the RFP this produces?
Yes, and we would like to. The document is written so that any capable provider can respond to it — the requirements are results with measurements, not a description of one vendor — and it is more useful to you that way. If you want us in the bidder list, the “Ask Blinkless to bid” button under the document sends it to us with your contact details; nothing else does.
Want Blinkless on the bidder list?
The RFP is written so any capable provider can answer it. We would like to be one of them. Send it over and we will respond to every numbered clause, with the measured response times behind the answers.
Or call (212) 470-2511.