A warehouse is one of the harder buildings to cover with CCTV: long racking aisles that hide sightlines, loading docks with changing light, and big open spans where one camera has to do the work of several. Guess the layout and you pay for cameras that overlap in the open and leave blind spots down every aisle. This guide shows how to plan a warehouse CCTV layout on a floor plan with RoomPlot, so you can see exactly what each camera covers before a single bracket goes up.
Where a warehouse is hard to cover
Effective warehouse surveillance is zone-based - you cover the points that matter rather than trying to paint every square metre evenly. The zones that drive the design are:
- Racking aisles - long and narrow, so each needs a camera looking straight down it.
- Loading docks and shutters - the highest-value choke points for goods in and out.
- Open dispatch and marshalling areas - wide spans suited to a PTZ or a 360 camera.
- Entrances and the perimeter - personnel doors, the yard and the fence line.
Start from an accurate plan
Coverage is only as good as the plan under it, so capture the building first. On a Pro iPhone or iPad, scan the space with LiDAR and RoomPlot detects the walls and openings automatically, merging area after area into one structure; on any device, draw the shell by hand from a room-shape template with snapping keeping it square. Then place the racking blocks as objects so the aisles on the plan match the aisles on the floor - which is what makes the coverage that follows meaningful.
Pick the camera for each zone
RoomPlot's CCTV library covers the full range - dome, turret, bullet, PTZ, 360, ANPR, thermal and multi-sensor - and each camera draws the area it actually covers the moment you place it. Match the camera to the zone:
- Aisles: a bullet camera (a narrow 60 degree cone with long range) aimed straight down each aisle.
- Docks: a dome or turret over each shutter to catch faces and plates at the choke point.
- Open areas: a PTZ or 360 camera where one unit can watch a wide marshalling span.
- Perimeter: bullets along the wall or fence line, angled to cover the run between them.
Tip. Aim the aisle cameras before you add more units. RoomPlot's coverage is wall-occluded - a camera pointed down an aisle only lights up the part it can actually see, and the blind spot behind the racking updates live as you rotate it - so you can prove one camera clears an aisle instead of doubling up on faith.
Check the coverage on the plan
This is where a plan beats a parts list. Every camera's field of view is editable - set the FOV from 10 to 360 degrees and the range up to 40 metres, and rotate the symbol to aim it - so you can tune each one until the overlaps are sensible and the gaps are gone. Because the cones are raycast against the walls and racking, the plan shows the true visible area, not an optimistic circle. Toggle coverage on to review the whole scheme, then off for a clean layout drawing.
Export the design
When the layout works, export it. A single-page PDF or PNG suits a quick quote; the multi-page branded Report PDF adds a cover, an automatic legend that counts every distinct camera and symbol used, and your company logo and signature. The Fire/Security report preset keeps the coverage overlays on, so the client sees exactly what they are paying to see. Need the geometry in CAD for a main contractor? Export DXF and it opens in any CAD package or viewer.
New to coverage planning? Start with our guide to planning CCTV camera coverage. Browse the full set of RoomPlot guides, then map your warehouse and prove the coverage before you quote.
