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Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Install, program, maintain, and repair security and fire alarm wiring and equipment. Ensure that work is in accordance with relevant codes.

Related: Electrical & Electronics Installers & Repairers, Transportation Equipment Electronic Equipment Installers & Repairers, Motor Vehicles Lighting Technicians Security Management Specialists Telecommunications Equipment Installers & Repairers

Industries: Administration & Support Services Construction

Summary
Details

Feed cables through access holes, roof spaces, or cavity walls to reach fixture outlets, positioning and terminating cables, wires, or strapping.
Mount and fasten control panels, door and window contacts, sensors, or video cameras, and attach electrical and telephone wiring to connect components.
Install, maintain, or repair security systems, alarm devices, or related equipment, following blueprints of electrical layouts and building plans.
Drill holes for wiring in wall studs, joists, ceilings, or floors.
Mount raceways and conduits and fasten wires to wood framing, using staplers.
Order replacement parts.
Inspect installation sites and study work orders, building plans, and installation manuals to determine materials requirements and installation procedures.
Consult with clients to assess risks and to determine security requirements.
Test and repair circuits and sensors, following wiring and system specifications.
Demonstrate systems for customers and explain details, such as the causes and consequences of false alarms.
Test backup batteries, keypad programming, sirens, or other security features to ensure proper functioning or to diagnose malfunctions.
Install, maintain, or repair security systems, alarm devices, or related equipment, following blueprints of electrical layouts and building plans.
Provide customers with cost estimates for equipment installation.
Inspect installation sites and study work orders, building plans, and installation manuals to determine materials requirements and installation procedures.
Examine systems to locate problems, such as loose connections or broken insulation.
Mount and fasten control panels, door and window contacts, sensors, or video cameras, and attach electrical and telephone wiring to connect components.
Keep informed of new products and developments.
Prepare documents, such as invoices or warranties.
Adjust sensitivity of units, based on room structures and manufacturers' recommendations, using programming keypads.
Test and repair circuits and sensors, following wiring and system specifications.

Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.

Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.

Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

64590/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

31.05/hr

Currently Employed

2,010

Yearly Projected Openings

270

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability
Integrity
Attention to Detail
Independence
Self Control
Stress Tolerance

Adjustable widemouth pliers
Battery testers
Claw hammer
Electrical frequency meters
Electronic measuring probes
Field strength measuring equipment
Fish tape
Ladders
Levels
Locking pliers
Lug crimping tool dies
Manlift or personnel lift
Multimeters
Needlenose pliers
Notebook computers
Offset socket wrenches
Ohmmeters
Oscilloscopes
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
Phasemeters
Power drills
Power meters
Razor knives
Reflectometers
Scaffolding
Screwdrivers
Signal generators
Soldering iron
Sound measuring apparatus or decibel meter
Staple guns
Stripping tools
Telephony equipment service observing units
Vectorscope
Video monitors
Voltage or current meters
Wire cutters
Wire lug crimping tool

Computer aided design CAD software
Electronic mail software
Network monitoring software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Platform interconnectivity software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Video creation and editing software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers

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