Jasmine a resident of Dubai Marina noticed an ugly scratch on her car one morning as she was leaving for work. Not a very good start to the day for her. She contacted her building manager and asked for the CCTV footage to find out who damaged her car. To her surprise, the building manager refused to share any footage unless police were called. Jasmine was very annoyed. However once explained how the process protects her and everyone else’s privacy and ensures surveillance data does not get into the wrong hands, she was relieved. 

According to Waseem Ahmed, building managers often receive requests from their residents to view surveillance footage when they have lost something or have been a victim of a crime. It is against the law, at least in Dubai, to copy, display, or transmit data and pictures obtained from security systems to any person who is not legally authorised to access them unless a special license is obtained every time. While video surveillance is a great tool for monitoring common areas, the challenges are many. 

Saeed Al Fahim who owns a Jointly Owned Property Management company in Dubai is concerned about the high cost of complying with the VideoGuard service as some buildings require the entire video surveillance system to be upgraded to make it compatible. Explaining the new system Ajmal Saeed who is a SIRA licensed service provider said that as per the Preventive Systems Manual, which establishes the standards to be followed related to security systems, VideoGuard is the service that connects the video surveillance system of the building to the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA). In the context of Jointly Owned Properties, it is needed for all buildings except for residential buildings with less than 50 apartments.

Frequently changing regulations, which are revised every year and at times even quicker, is a challenge that makes it difficult to budget and keep up with compliance said Osman Mumtaz, CMCA, AMS. While talking about the frequently changing regulations, Scott Sinclair, head of operations at a property Management firm highlights the lack of backward compatibility of technology, for example, analog infrastructure does not support newer devices that require ethernet. He is also of the opinion that interpretation of the Preventive Systems Manual could be improved, especially for existing buildings which should be provided reasonable time to comply with regulations that are issued after the buildings have been certified.

Syed Muhammad Hassan, CMCA, AMS who manages high-rise properties claims that the new regulations are not fully enforced yet. It is possible to receive concessions for existing buildings if they were compliant with previous standards. He also stated that the management company has the option to choose from a wide variety of compatible SIRA-approved devices from the market. There is no restriction as in the case of, fire-fighting systems, to stick to the same brand which often becomes costly. With open compatibility of the surveillance devices, the prices remain competitive. 

The author, Waqar Hasan, is the President of CAI Middle East and CEO of Itihad Community Management.