ADMCC V3 and SIRA 2025: The 2026 Guide to UAE CCTV Compliance Updates

Why 2026 Is a Reset Year for UAE CCTV Compliance

For the past several years, CCTV compliance in the UAE has run on two parallel frameworks: SIRA in Dubai and the Monitoring and Control Centre regime in Abu Dhabi. Both have now moved to a newer edition of their technical standards — SIRA 2025 and the ADMCC V3 manual of standards — and the changes are structural, not cosmetic. Coverage requirements are now defined by facility type, analytics are being pulled into the compliance surface, and evidence expectations at submission time have tightened.

This guide walks through what actually changed, where the two emirates now differ, the rejections we see most often, and how to prepare a submission that holds up to review. It is written for consultants, contractors, and in-house security teams working on live projects — not as legal advice. Always confirm the exact figures against the edition of the standard your project is assessed against.

ADMCC V3: What Changed in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi's surveillance oversight is handled by the Abu Dhabi Monitoring and Control Centre (ADMCC), the successor framework to the earlier MCC regime. The V3 edition of the manual of standards reorganises the requirements and raises the bar on documentation. The practical themes:

• Coverage is obligation-driven. Cameras must cover all entry and exit points and critical areas with no blind spots, while explicitly excluding private and restricted spaces such as restrooms.
• Retention stays at 31 days minimum for general footage, with longer periods expected at critical facilities.
• Integration is not optional. Systems must be capable of connecting to the authority's monitoring platform and providing real-time access to law enforcement when required.
• Submission is a stamped, engineered package. Drawings, camera placement plans, technical specifications, and network diagrams are reviewed before installation, and any deviation from the approved plan can trigger non-compliance.
• Only approved contractors may install. The vendor must be certified, and equipment must come from the approved list.

The most important shift for designers is that V3 is structured as numbered Sections, Chapters, and items. Every requirement now has a stable reference, which means a compliant design should cite the exact clause it satisfies rather than asserting coverage in the abstract.

SIRA 2025: What's New for Dubai

Dubai's Security Industry Regulatory Agency moved to its 2025 standard, which reshapes how coverage obligations are expressed. Instead of one generic rule, requirements are transcribed per facility type — hotels, shopping malls, healthcare, education, places of worship, precious-metal dealers, financial institutions, cinemas, entertainment venues, and high-importance complexes each carry their own coverage profile. Licence-plate recognition (ALPR/ANPR) clauses are annexed for facilities that require them.

The core approval mechanics remain familiar: use SIRA-approved cameras and recorders, install a SIRA-licensed company's design, place cameras in the mandatory areas (entry/exit, parking, cash points), submit installation drawings and network diagrams, and pass an inspection before the compliance certificate is issued — the certificate that trade-licence renewals depend on.

On resolution, the historic baseline for general surveillance has been 2MP (1080p). Current guidance trends higher for identification-grade and facial-capture zones, but the exact figure depends on the facility category and the edition applied to your assessment. Treat resolution as a value to verify, not to assume.

AI Video Analytics: The New Compliance Surface

Both frameworks increasingly acknowledge analytics as part of a compliant system — motion detection and real-time monitoring are called out in the Abu Dhabi requirements, and analytics coverage is being formalised in the newer standards. The key design principle is that an analytics obligation is its own finding: it should be modelled explicitly and traced through to the export, rather than buried inside generic camera coverage. A well-structured assessment treats analytics coverage as score-neutral — it must be present and evidenced, but it does not inflate or deflate the overall compliance picture.

Where ADMCC V3 and SIRA 2025 Differ

Common Rejections — and How to Avoid Them

• Coverage asserted, not evidenced. A plan that claims a space is covered without an explicit, traceable marker gets questioned. Show the evidence per zone.
• Double-counted coverage. When one camera is credited to multiple overlapping areas, totals look inflated and review flags it. Count each obligation once.
• Partial-scope assessments. Reviewing only the floor currently open, instead of the whole project, leaves gaps that surface at final inspection.
• Deviating from the approved design. Anything installed differently from the stamped plan is a compliance risk — keep the record aligned through revisions.
• Unverified numbers. Resolution and retention values copied from an older edition. Always confirm against the standard edition your project is assessed on.

How Securify Models Both Standards

The v2.6 release rebuilt Securify's Abu Dhabi rules layer directly on ADMCC V3 — coverage tables, the optics and max-range model, and category obligations now follow V3, and every checklist item cites its V3 Section, Chapter, and item number. The Dubai side was rebuilt on SIRA 2025, with facility-type coverage requirements transcribed from the standard plus ALPR/ANPR clause annexes.

• Whole-project deliverable: assessments cover the entire project, not just the open floor, with an evidence-based “covered” marker and no double-counting.
• Analytics as its own finding: AI video analytics obligations are modelled as a dedicated, score-neutral finding that flows through to the export.
• Clause citations: each checklist item references its exact clause, so the submission speaks the authority's language.

Preparing Your Next Submission

1. Confirm which framework applies — ADMCC V3 for Abu Dhabi, SIRA 2025 for Dubai — and note your facility's category.
2. Verify current resolution and retention figures against the standard edition being assessed.
3. Map coverage per zone with explicit, non-overlapping evidence and no double-counting.
4. Model analytics and ALPR/ANPR obligations as distinct findings.
5. Generate authority-ready, clause-cited exports and keep them aligned through every revision.

Get the standard right at design time and the inspection stops being a surprise.