The questions
we are asked most.

Bring TechnoGuru in at the design-development stage, before plaster — typically 6–12 weeks ahead of construction. Ideally at the design-development stage, before plaster. Cabling pathways, panel locations, riser routing and acoustic envelopes are dramatically more effective and visually integrated when designed alongside the building. We are happy to engage at later stages too — but the architectural integration becomes harder past concrete-pour and the hardware budget often grows because of retrofit pathways.

Yes — we work directly with architects and interior designers as a discreet sub-consultant on most premium projects. Most of our premium projects route through the architect or interior designer as a discreet sub-consultant rather than a parallel vendor. We deliver shop drawings to the architect's drawing-set standard, attend design coordination meetings, and respect the design intent end-to-end.

Engagements begin with a 60-to-90-minute conversation, a written scoping note within a week, and a design proposal with indicative BOQ within two-to-three weeks. We open with a 60-to-90-minute conversation — usually with the architect and client in the same room — to understand brief, budget envelope and the site. From there we issue a written scoping note within a week, followed by a design proposal and indicative BOQ within two-to-three weeks. Engagement converts to a signed letter of intent before any drawing leaves our office, and to a formal contract before procurement begins. We will tell you up-front if a project sits outside what our practice does well.

Both — we deliver new builds and retrofits, but only retrofits where the result will read as deliberate rather than apologetic. Both, with different design discipline. New builds let us route cabling and acoustic envelopes alongside the architecture — that is always the cleaner path. Retrofits force us to mix wired and wireless solutions (Rako wireless, Fibaro Z-Wave, surface conduit where pull-points allow) and to make peace with what the existing wiring permits. We will only take on retrofits where the result will read as deliberate rather than apologetic.

A premium villa runs 10–18 weeks from contract to handover; corporate fit-outs 8–14 weeks; hotel and hospital phases 18–32 weeks. A premium villa runs 10–18 weeks from contract to handover, broken across pre-wiring during civil, fit-out during interior and commissioning after wall finishes. A corporate fit-out runs 8–14 weeks. A hotel or hospital phase runs 18–32 weeks depending on scope. We publish a written programme in week one and report against it weekly — slips are flagged early and in writing, never absorbed quietly.

A named project lead, a resident site supervisor and rotated discipline engineers from our Guwahati office are on site through every project — supervision is never subcontracted. Every project has a named project lead from our Guwahati office who owns it end-to-end, plus a site supervisor resident through first-fix and second-fix, and discipline engineers (automation, AV, ELV, BMS, network) rotated in for their specific commissioning windows. The project lead's name and number sit in the client's contact folder from day one. We do not subcontract supervision — we deliver our own.

Yes — most of our projects run as a discreet sub-consultant routing through the architect, interior designer or main contractor. That is how most of our projects run. We act as a discreet sub-consultant routing through the architect or interior designer rather than as a parallel vendor competing for the client's attention. We deliver shop drawings to the architect's standard, attend coordination meetings, and respect the design intent. Where the main contractor holds the construction contract, we coordinate cable schedules and pathway sequencing with them so the build never stops waiting on us.

Multi-discipline coordination runs through one project lead, a published shop-drawing calendar and a written cause-and-effect matrix tying every system into a coordinated response. Through a single project lead and a published shop-drawing release calendar. Cabling pathways, panel locations, riser routing, acoustic envelopes and rack layouts are agreed against the architect's drawings before procurement. Discipline engineers work to one written cause-and-effect matrix that ties fire, CCTV, access, BMS, AV and automation into a coordinated response. The seams between disciplines become our problem, not yours.

Handover ships a documentation pack: as-built drawings, labelling schedules, configuration files, calibration reports, AMC enrolment and an operations manual — printed and digital, mirrored to our offline archive. Every project hands over with a documentation pack — as-built drawings, rack and patch labelling schedules, controller configuration files, calibration reports, software licence registers, AMC enrolment, escalation contact list and an operations manual written for the people who will actually use the system. Both printed and digital copies are delivered, and the digital pack is mirrored in our practice's offline archive so we can recover it years later if the client's copy is misplaced.

Because client privacy is the brief itself in most of our residential, hospital, government and hospitality work — public case studies are reserved for clients who explicitly invite publication. Most of our work sits inside private homes, hospitals, government buildings and hotels where the client's privacy is the brief itself. We are happy to walk a serious prospect through specific projects in a closed conversation, with the relevant client's permission, including site visits to handed-over installations within the North-East. Public case studies are reserved for the small number of clients who have explicitly invited the practice to publish.

Yes — references can be arranged with the client's consent, typically once a serious shortlist has formed and after a first technical scoping meeting. At the right point in the conversation, with the relevant client's consent. We typically arrange this once a serious shortlist has formed, after a first technical scoping meeting. References are matched to the prospect's profile (residential to residential, hospital to hospital, hotel to hotel) so the conversation is genuinely useful rather than ceremonial. We do not publish contact details unsolicited.

Premium home automation in India starts around ₹6–10 lakh for a two-bedroom apartment and ₹35 lakh upward for a full-villa Rako deployment. A two-bedroom apartment with lighting, shade and audio control on a Fibaro or Rako backbone typically begins around ₹6–10 lakh. A standalone villa with full Rako — including cinema, multi-room audio, climate and security — usually runs ₹35 lakh upward depending on light fixture count and audio zones. Every quote is itemised against the architectural plans before commitment.

An AMC contract typically costs 6–10% of the original installed value per year, rising to 8–12% for specialist systems. AMC is typically 6–10% of the original installed value annually for active systems (CCTV, fire, BMS, automation), and 8–12% for niche or specialist systems (Rako, addressable fire panels, hospital nurse-call). The exact number depends on response targets, after-hours coverage and parts inclusion.

We quote from a measured BOQ against the architect's drawings, with labour, commissioning and documentation as visible line items — which is why we sit above the lowest bid but hold the price for the project's lifetime. Every quote begins with a measured BOQ against the architectural drawings, line-itemed by discipline and brand, with the labour, supervision, commissioning and documentation costs visible rather than buried. We tend to sit above the lowest bid because we specify branded backbones (Rako, Fibaro, KNX, JBL Professional), we price commissioning and as-built drawings as a real line item, and we hold spares against our active deployments. The aim is a number that holds for the life of the project — not a thin entry price that rebuilds itself through change orders.

Yes — staged milestone billing is standard; financing is arranged through the client's banker or NBFC partners where the project warrants it. Staged billing is the norm — typically a mobilisation advance, milestone payments at procurement, first-fix and second-fix, and a retention released after handover and AMC enrolment. We do not offer financing ourselves, but we work routinely with the client's banker on stage-linked LCs and with NBFC partners where the project warrants it. Every milestone is tied to a deliverable that the client can verify, never a calendar date.

Budget overruns are flagged early and in writing, with formal change orders and stage-linked descopes — never silent absorption. We flag it early and in writing — never silently. Variations are routed through a formal change-order process with the architect and client, with written cost and schedule impact before any work proceeds. Where budget pressure surfaces from outside our scope (civil delays, design changes, client additions), we propose stage-linked descopes that preserve the most important elements rather than diluting the whole specification. The aim is a finished room or building that holds its design intent, not a half-engineered compromise.

Addressable fire alarm is mandatory under NBC for buildings above 15 m height or 1,500 sq m floor area; conventional only suits small standalone buildings. Addressable is mandatory above ~15 m height under NBC and is the right answer for any building above 1,500 sq m. Conventional remains acceptable for small standalone buildings and warehouses, but you lose forensic localisation when an event occurs.

Yes — automation systems operate fully offline; internet is only needed for remote app access, voice assistants and firmware updates. Every scene, keypad and local control function continues to operate offline. Internet is only required for remote app access, voice control and software updates.

Choose Rako for wireless retrofit-friendly lighting and reference cinema, Fibaro for villas up to 30 zones with a polished app, KNX for buildings that must scale to hundreds of devices over 20+ years. Rako is unmatched for wireless lighting and shade in homes where retrofit is the constraint and the cinema and audio path is reference-grade. Fibaro is the right answer for residential villas up to ~30 controllable zones — Z-Wave, fast to deploy, polished mobile app. KNX is the wired open-protocol bus we specify for buildings that need to scale to hundreds of devices and last 20+ years. We will not recommend a platform the architecture does not need.

If a specified brand is discontinued mid-project we propose a like-for-like substitution within the same family and absorb forced cost differences. We hold our brand selections against products with a documented manufacturer lifecycle, but discontinuations do happen. Where it occurs mid-project, we propose a like-for-like substitution within the same family, document the change against the original specification, and absorb the cost difference where the substitution is forced by the manufacturer rather than the client. Post-handover, our AMC firmware-and-config baselines mean we can still service older hardware long after it has left the catalogue.

Yes — we AMC inherited systems on most platforms we have factory-trained engineers for, starting with a paid audit and a written stabilisation plan. We open every inheritance with an audit, document the baseline state, and offer a stabilisation plan before signing the AMC so neither of us inherits silent surprises.

An AMC covers preventive inspections, written response SLAs, a deployment-specific spares pool, offline firmware-and-config baselines and a single named engineer. A documented preventive-maintenance calendar (quarterly inspections at minimum, more frequent for critical systems), defined response and resolution targets in writing, a spares pool held against your specific deployment in our Lachit Nagar office, firmware and configuration baselines stored offline, and a single named engineer who owns the relationship. Quarterly health-check reports are issued to whoever you designate. Out-of-scope work is quoted before it is done — never billed by surprise.

Never — configuration files, controller passwords and licence registers belong to the client and are handed over on day one, so the system stays functional after any AMC ends. Configuration files, controller passwords and licence registers belong to the client and are handed over on day one. If the AMC lapses or moves to another integrator, the client retains a working system with documented baselines. Our practice's view is that hostage-taking by integrator is the surest way to lose the next project the client commissions; clean exits make for repeat clients.

TechnoGuru delivers projects across the North-East, West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the GCC, all run from our Guwahati office. Our office and the entire engineering bench is in Guwahati — every project across the North-East, West Bengal, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and our planned GCC engagements is run from there. We hold GST registrations in Dimapur and Agartala for clean inter-state contracting; site supervision, commissioning and AMC are delivered through scheduled rotations of our Guwahati team to the project site.

Yes — cross-border procurement, customs liaison and partner-coordinated installation in Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan are routine for our practice. Cross-border projects are routine for us. We handle import documentation, customs clearance and partner-coordinated installation as standard, with scheduled engineering rotations from our Guwahati office.

We currently deliver across the North-East, West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, with planned engagements in the GCC. Active project geography covers the entire North-East, West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, with planned engagements in the GCC. Cross-border projects are routine — we hold the import licences, customs documentation discipline and partner-coordinated installation pattern that makes them work. For project enquiries outside this footprint, we will be candid up-front about whether our supervision rotation and AMC reach can serve the site at the standard our practice expects.