Network, alarm, video, access control, video entry and KNX come from different worlds and are meant to add up to one house. We plan them as a single trade — technical room, connection schedule, interfaces and roles are settled before anything goes out to tender.
Before any make is chosen, we settle the map: which system leads, which stays self-contained, which connection is a genuine interface and which is only a contact. We record those decisions with the reasoning behind them. They determine later what can be linked, and what stays operable when one subsystem is down.
Network, alarm, video, access control and video entry usually come from different suppliers, with quotes that are hard to lay side by side. We bring them together in one tender specification, written manufacturer-neutral. What goes out to tender is a service, not a make and not a company: smartfabrik plans and oversees, the work is carried out by our sister company elektrofabrik or by the electrical contractor you are building with anyway.
The handover includes network plan and port allocation, address plan, detector and camera register, permissions list and the function record of the links between systems. The cabling test records come from the contractor; we check them against the plan and add them to the set. The access credentials are entirely in your hands.
The router came with the connection, the alarm from the security firm, the cameras from the electrician, access control from the door supplier. Each of them knows their field. It gets laborious the moment the systems are supposed to know about each other and somebody has to answer for the sum of them.
One concept across all six topics, one tender specification, one acceptance. The technical depth of the individual topics stays — it gains a shared framework and someone who answers for it.
Each of the six topics has its own page. What sits between them is here: the room where everything comes together, the interfaces between the systems, and the documents you end up holding.
We bring it into the design like a utility room: named, dimensioned, located. This is not a matter of taste — a permanently installed copper link carries 90 metres, 100 with patch cords. The position of the room decides which point in the house, in an outbuilding or at the garden house can be reached at all.
DIN EN 50173-4 covers cabling in residential buildings and provides for a home distributor as the star point — with its own power supply for the active equipment. Precisely where plans tend to stay thin. So the technical room is not an idea of ours, it is a requirement.
What goes into it follows from the schedule, and the height follows from that. Spare capacity is recorded as a decision rather than left to hope. And an IT room runs continuously and is audible: fan noise does not belong on the bedroom wall.
Dedicated protected circuits, sockets in sufficient number. We settle beforehand which devices should keep running during an outage — the uninterruptible supply follows from that. The location is chosen so that a battery change is possible later without rebuilding.
The room needs an equipotential bonding bar with short, unambiguous connections — the point where screened cabling gets its reference. The electromagnetic compatibility requirement and the protection of people and property are two different things and belong together early.
The intruder alarm stays functional on its own, video provides the image, access control provides the authorisation, KNX provides the operation. We draw one line deliberately: arming stays with the alarm system's own control unit, KNX only displays the state. These decisions belong in the concept, not in commissioning.
ONVIF defines cross-manufacturer profiles — S and T for video, G for recording, A and C for access control. The reading matters: if a device supports a profile, you get what the profile describes, not every manufacturer feature. We check that before anything is fixed.
The bus is a medium of its own with its own cable, the network is the motorway beside it. They meet where KNX couples over IP — and then the network has to be set up for it and the devices have to match. We plan both together rather than one after the other.
A list in which every point in the house appears once: access points, cameras, door station, panels, detectors, access points, gate, multiroom. Per point: room, cable type, supply, target port, responsibility. Port count and equipment list follow from it — derived, not estimated.
The tender specification describes the service, not a make. Only then do quotes become comparable. elektrofabrik bids on the same item as any other contractor, our recommendation comes with reasoning, and the decision is yours. The documents are ready for execution, whoever carries it out.
At the end there is a test record per link, not the assurance that everything works. Measurement follows DIN EN 50346 against the performance class from DIN EN 50173-1. We check the records against the plan and pursue deviations until they are fixed and measured again.
DIN VDE 0833-1 sets out the framework of inspection, servicing and repair for hazard alarm systems — a usable benchmark in a private house too. For switch, firewall, recorder and panel we agree the rhythm in writing. Our own diagnostic access is part of it and can be switched off.
Six documents from us — for tendering, execution and acceptance.
The map across alarm, video, access control, video entry, network and KNX: which system leads, what stays self-contained, which interface comes first. With reasoning, so the decision still makes sense years later.
Position on the floor plan, floor area and access, cabinet height derived from the equipment list, requirements for heat removal and quiet operation, dedicated circuits. Written as a requirement that goes into the design.
Every point in the house: room, cable type, supply, target port, responsibility. Port count, equipment list and spare capacity follow from it — derived, not estimated.
Written manufacturer-neutral, item by item — together with an award recommendation and the reasoning behind it.
One model covering camera, alarm, access control, panel and network together. Per role we define what is visible, what is operable and what is read-only — and how an access is withdrawn again.
Network plan and port allocation, address plan, detector and camera register, permissions list, function record. We check the cabling test records against the plan. Gone through together, not simply filed.
Technical room, cable routes and riser zones go into the design together with the architect and the structural engineer. In parallel the system concept takes shape: which systems, which hierarchy, which interface.
The one appointment where camera, door station and exterior lighting all need the same answer. Window and door orders include the points ordered with them; façade and canopy are agreed while cable outlets can still be moved.
Tender specification, comparison of quotes, award recommendation with reasoning — you decide. We look at the installation during shell construction, before anything is closed up.
The contractor carries out the measurements, acceptance is against the plan. Then we run the chain through once for real — ring, unlock, disarm, scene — and hand over the documents and access.
Electrical and network planning in a former industrial and wine warehouse: lighting scenes, projector and screen control and voice operation all came out of the same plan.
Listed building, so not a single wall was opened: lighting, blinds, alarm, access control and irrigation over a wireless system, plus the door station with exterior camera in the same interface.
The planning and the fully assembled control cabinet came from Cologne, the local team did the connecting. Proof that the documents hold up even when someone else carries out the work.
smartfabrik is a smart home planning practice based in Düsseldorf (Reisholzer Werftstr. 31A). We plan for private clients and companies in Cologne, Düsseldorf and across North Rhine-Westphalia — and, where wanted, nationwide and internationally. A selection of the places we have already planned and delivered in:
The architecture is on this page. How we plan each individual topic is on its own.
They plan the trade as a whole instead of picking individual devices: system concept, technical room, connection schedule, manufacturer-neutral tender specification, oversight during execution, acceptance against the plan. At the end there is a handover set with drawings, records and access. The execution itself is a separate package.
Yes. The tender specification describes the service and not a make, and the drawings are ready for execution. Our role stays the same: tender, review the quotes, inspect the installation during shell construction, accept against the plan. Who carries out the work changes nothing about the documents.
We calculate that from the connection schedule. What goes into it gives the height of the cabinet, plus working space in front, movement space behind, the heat load and dedicated circuits. What that means in floor area we settle on the plan — together with the architect.
The distribution board carries the circuits and the actuators. The IT side holds the active network equipment, the recording and the uninterruptible supply. Two tasks, usually two cabinets, kept apart with separate cable routes — but planned together, because they share space, power and heat removal.
We decide that in the system concept, before any make is fixed. We draw one line explicitly: arming and disarming stays with the alarm system's own control unit, the panel displays states and triggers scenes from them.
A roles model that applies across all systems together: family, property management, changing service providers, and us for diagnosis. Per role it is defined what is visible, operable or read-only. Access is tied to a person — and there is a described way to withdraw one again.
Network plan and port allocation, address plan, detector and camera register, permissions list, function record of the links between systems, and the cabling test records. The access credentials are entirely yours. We go through all of it together and run the chain through once for real.
We agree that in writing rather than leaving it open. For hazard alarm systems, DIN VDE 0833-1 sets out the framework of inspection, servicing and repair. For switch, firewall, recorder and panel we set the rhythm per project — with named contacts.
A site survey, an honest assessment, a clear picture of the effort involved — before anyone talks about products.
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