Vendor-neutral security system design means the specification is written around what your facility needs, not around a product line someone is trying to sell. You own the resulting documents and can competitively bid them to any qualified installer.
That single fact tends to pay for the design work by itself, because a specification three integrators can bid against is a very different purchase from a proposal only one of them can fulfill.
Paul holds a California C-10 electrical contractor's license and has spent 46 years on the installation side of this trade. That matters in a specification because:
A specification that cannot be built is not a design. It is a wish.
The deliverable is yours. You can take it to any installer in the market, including installers we have never worked with. We do not bid the work, we do not install it, and we take no commission from anyone who does.
If a consultant's specification can only be fulfilled by one particular vendor, you did not buy a specification. You bought a sales document.
Wittner Security Consultants staffs no guards, sells no hardware, and does not bid or install the work it recommends. You own every deliverable and can competitively bid it to any installer. Read the full independence policy.
It means the design specifies performance requirements and standards rather than steering you to one manufacturer's catalogue. Where a specific product is named, it is named with equivalents so the bid stays competitive. We receive no commissions, referral fees, or incentives from any manufacturer or integrator.
Yes, and you should. That is the entire point. The specification is written so multiple qualified installers can bid it accurately and you can compare those bids on equal terms.
No. Wittner Security Consultants is advisory only and does not bid, install, or profit from the work it recommends. Paul also operates Western Security Systems, a licensed alarm and low voltage company, and we disclose that openly rather than leave you to discover it. The full independence policy is here.
Often, yes, and that is usually the first question worth asking. Plenty of underperforming systems are the result of placement, configuration, or lighting rather than inadequate equipment. An independent designer has no reason to recommend replacement when a correction will do.
Tell him what you are protecting and what prompted the question. He will tell you honestly what the work involves and whether he is the right person for it.