John Smith wrote:

I am building a new house, and as an almost afterthought, I want to install
prewiring for an alarm system. I am thinking of just prewiring the system for
now, and purchase the system/subscription later. The drywall is not up, so
this should be reasonably easy to do.

System wise, I don't want to commit to a particular system/vendor yet, and I
want flexibility of choosing from different provider later. I assume that all
the wires are compatible amongst the many different systems (ie, the three
wires for power, ground, and signal, same gauge requirements, etc)? If not,
what should I look for?

What can I expect to pay for this? How do I spot a good installer? What
questions do I ask? How many sensors should I install (I am thinking all the
doors, all the windows, fire, water, smoke, low O2 (is there such thing), what
else am I missing?)?

Thanks.
while at it why not install for the cable TV, the high speed computer
stuff, etc... put the wires in now and later if you want something you
will have the wires installed and just the modules are needed.. the guy
down the block just built a new two story house and had a company come
out and install his wiring for him before they put up the sheetrock...
dont know what it cost, but he is in business now for the future....