Low-voltage and security contractor software, shown on a fictional low-voltage and security company

Open the demo and you are inside Wirethistle Systems, a fictional low-voltage and security company running the real product: click anything, nothing changes.

See pricing — it's public · Why SelfConstruct

What works today for a low-voltage company, and what is not available yet

The demo's welcome card says the same. The names, people, jobs and prices in this demo are illustrative.

The low-voltage jobs in the demo

Each with what its estimate covers and how it is billed:

• Brackenholt Freight 8-camera recorder install — Eight cameras, recorder, switch and lift (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Dock doors open 6 to 2; lift work in the aisles only after the forklift shift.
• Ploverhythe Accounting 24-drop structured cabling — 24 Cat6 drops, rack, patch panel and testing (Fixed Price)
  Schedule: Low-voltage permit → Pull 24 Cat6 drops → Terminate, label and test every link → Rack, patch panel and handover walk.
  Daily log: “Pulled all 24 drops to the drop list. The electrician added the dedicated rack circuit (CO-1).”
• Benning home theater and distributed audio — Theater projector, receiver, amplifier and six speaker pairs (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Equipment list by room: theater, kitchen, patio and primary suite. Speaker grade picked for the patio..
  Schedule: Pre-wire the theater and audio zones → Trim, rack build and programming.
• Okafor alarm panel upgrade — New alarm panel, keypad and four wireless contacts (Time & Materials)
  Job notes: Monitoring agreement signed on site. Monitoring accounts are not available yet, so the agreement is noted on this job..
  Schedule: Alarm panel swap and zone test.
  Daily log: “Swapped the old panel and keypad, kept the wired contacts and added four wireless contacts. Tested every zone with the customer. She set her own code; nothing is written down.”
• Elkmere Ridge pre-wire, 31 Kestrel Rise — Standard pre-wire package with audio and two camera locations (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: Pre-wire map marked on the builder's plan: data, coax, speaker and camera locations. Pre-wire before insulation; trim after paint..
  Schedule: Plan review and device layout → Pre-wire walk → Pre-wire before insulation → Trim after paint.
  Daily log: “Plan review with the superintendent. Pre-wire map marked on the plan and sent to the builder.”
• Tansywold Animal Clinic four-door access control — Four card-reader doors with controllers and power (Fixed Price)
  Job notes: The practice manager set up the staff cards herself; no codes are kept on this job..
  Schedule: Controllers, cable and door hardware → Power for the door hardware → Program doors and staff card groups, test every door.
  Daily log: “Mounted the controllers in the back office, pulled cable to the four doors and hung the readers and strikes.”

Walk through one low-voltage job: Brackenholt Freight 8-camera recorder install

Its schedule, in order:

1. Site survey and camera locations
2. Pull cable to the camera locations
3. Mount cameras and set the recorder
4. Aim the views with the dock manager and hand over

Change orders on this job: “Two added exterior cameras”.

Purchase orders on this job: “Cameras, recorder and switch, Brackenholt Freight”.

To-dos on this job: “Order the recorder drives”; “Write the as-built camera list for the dock manager”.

From its daily log:

• Pulled cable to all eight camera locations from the lift. Every run labelled at both ends and written into the cable label and test log. Weather: Cold, dry.
• Mounted the four interior cameras and set the recorder and switch in the office rack. The dock manager asked for two more cameras on the yard side; CO-1 sent. Weather: Clear. Delays: Recorder drives not ordered yet.

A low-voltage proposal in the demo: Six cameras, recorder and alarm

Wirethistle Systems sent it to a lead. The scope reads:

Survey and mark device locations; install six IP cameras with a recorder and drive, an alarm panel with keypad, door contacts and two motion detectors; set up phone viewing; test every device with the customer and train the family.

The notes on that lead:

• Wants cameras on every door and an alarm before a long trip
• Site survey done: six camera locations, eight openings, recorder in the hall closet
• Sent the proposal with the equipment list by room

Other low-voltage leads in the demo

• Whole-home wireless and network clean-up: Weak wireless upstairs and in the garage office
• Gate access control and twelve cameras: Walked the gate and three buildings; wants card entry at the gate and cameras on every drive aisle
• Alarm keypad chirping, service visit

What goes on a low-voltage estimate in the demo

From Wirethistle Systems's price list, without the prices:

• IP turret camera, indoor and outdoor
• IP bullet camera, long range
• Network video recorder, 8 channels
• Recorder hard drive
• PoE network switch, 16 ports
• Cat6 cable, 1,000 ft box
• Cat6 jack, faceplate and labels
• Patch panel, 24 ports
• Wall-mount rack with power strip
• Cable test and label, per link
• Alarm control panel with cellular communicator
• Alarm keypad
• Door or window contact, wireless
• Door controller, two doors
• Card reader
• Electric strike
• Access power supply with battery
• In-ceiling speaker pair
• Multi-room audio amplifier, 8 zones
• Projector and screen
• Pre-wire labor, per hour
• Trim and device install labor, per hour
• Programming, per hour
• Service labor, per hour
• Scissor lift, per day

Low-voltage cost codes in the demo

Wirethistle Systems's own cost codes:

• Project management and design
• Permits, alarm registrations and fees
• Pre-wire and rough-in labor
• Cable and pathway materials
• Terminations, labeling and testing
• Intrusion and alarm equipment
• Video surveillance equipment
• Access control equipment
• Fire alarm equipment
• Audio-video equipment
• Network and wireless equipment
• Racks, power and surge protection
• Trim and device installation labor
• Programming and configuration
• Commissioning, testing and training
• Shop labor (rack build and pre-configuration)
• Lift and equipment rental
• Subcontracted work (electrical, patch and paint)
• Service labor
• Monitoring and hosted services (wholesale cost)
• Freight and shipping
• Warranty and callbacks
• Firestopping
• Contingency

Questions about SelfConstruct for low-voltage work

Is there a low-voltage version of SelfConstruct?

Not as a separate product. Wirethistle Systems opens with the business type “Low-voltage, security & audio-video”, so its menus are set for that trade. In a customer's company today, the menus are the same whatever the trade.

Can a low-voltage job be fixed price or time and materials?

Both are in the demo: Wirethistle Systems's “Brackenholt Freight 8-camera recorder install” is a fixed-price job, and “Okafor alarm panel upgrade” is billed time and materials.

Does SelfConstruct have “A pricebook with margin floors, service agreements and truck stock” for low-voltage companies yet?

Not yet. It is on the list the demo's welcome card shows under “Not available yet for your trade”.

See it working right now

Pricing is published on the site: $299/mo per company before sales tax, unlimited users, 50 GB of storage included.

Book a walkthrough · Construction Software by Trade

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