How much does smart home pre-wiring add to a new construction budget?

Smart home pre-wiring typically adds $3,000-$8,000 to a new construction budget, depending on the size of the home and scope of the installation. This includes structured cabling (Cat6A to every room), conduit runs for future expansion, a dedicated network closet, and low-voltage rough-in for cameras, speakers, and sensors. Compared to retrofitting an existing home, pre-wiring during construction saves 60-80% because walls are already open.

What should builders include in a smart-home-ready spec?

At minimum, every new home should have: Cat6A ethernet to every room, a dedicated low-voltage panel or closet with power, conduit from attic to panel, pre-wire for exterior cameras (4-6 locations), pre-wire for ceiling speakers in main living areas, smart switch-compatible wiring with neutral wires in every box, and a dedicated 20A circuit for the network equipment. This costs a fraction of what retrofitting would cost later.

Do smart home features increase the resale value of a new build?

Yes. National Association of Realtors surveys show smart home features are among the most requested upgrades by homebuyers. Pre-wired homes with automation sell for 3-5% more than comparable non-smart homes. In the Oklahoma City metro, where new construction is competitive, smart home integration helps builders differentiate their homes and sell faster.

Can Leios work directly with my general contractor?

Absolutely. We coordinate directly with your GC, electrician, and low-voltage contractor to ensure all smart home infrastructure is installed correctly during the rough-in phase. We provide detailed wiring diagrams, attend site walkthroughs, and verify installation before drywall goes up. Our partner Travis Horton Homes is an example of a builder we work with on every project.

What is the difference between this guide and the pre-wire guide?

This guide is designed for builders and contractors who want to understand smart home integration at a planning and business level: what to offer buyers, how to spec projects, and how to partner with a smart home integrator. Our Pre-Wire Guide is designed for homeowners who are building a new home and want to know exactly what to ask their builder for.

Smart Home New Construction Guide for Builders

1. Why Builders Should Care About Smart Homes

Smart home technology is no longer a luxury add-on. It is a buyer expectation. According to the National Association of Realtors, 85% of homebuyers say smart home features influence their purchase decision. That number has climbed steadily over the past five years, and it is not slowing down.

For builders operating in the Oklahoma City metro, where over 5,000 new homes are built annually, smart home integration is a competitive differentiator. Buyers touring model homes expect to see smart thermostats, automated lighting, and camera-ready infrastructure. When two comparable homes sit at the same price point, the one with smart home infrastructure wins.

The math is simple. Pre-wiring a home during construction costs $3,000-$8,000 depending on the size and scope. Retrofitting the same infrastructure after drywall is up costs $10,000-$25,000 or more, because every cable run requires cutting into finished walls, patching, and repainting. The open-wall phase of construction is the single best opportunity to install smart home infrastructure at a fraction of the after-market cost.

Builders who offer smart home packages close faster and get higher per-square-foot pricing. It is the same logic behind granite countertops a decade ago, or open floor plans before that. Buyers want it, and the builders who deliver it first capture the premium.

2. The Business Case: Smart Homes Sell Faster

The payoff does not stop at construction. Pre-wired smart homes typically sell 3-5% above comparable non-smart homes. On a $350,000 new build in the OKC metro, that translates to $10,500-$17,500 in additional value, far exceeding the $3,000-$8,000 investment in pre-wiring.

Smart home features also reduce days on market. When buyers can walk into a home and see a functioning camera system, automated lighting, and a smart thermostat already installed, the home feels move-in ready. Bare walls and builder-grade fixtures do not. For spec homes, where every day on market costs money, that matters.

Builders can also earn referral income. By partnering with a smart home integrator like Leios, you can offer installation packages at closing without maintaining in-house expertise. The integrator handles device procurement, installation, configuration, and ongoing support. The builder earns a referral margin, and the buyer gets a professionally installed system from day one.

Our partner Travis Horton Homes is a practical example of how this works. Every Travis Horton build includes smart home pre-wiring as standard, and buyers can select from tiered automation packages at the design phase. The result is homes that sell at higher prices and generate word-of-mouth referrals from happy homeowners.

Key Takeaway: Pre-wiring costs $3,000-$8,000 during construction but adds $10,000-$17,500 in resale value. The ROI is immediate and measurable. Every home you build without smart home infrastructure is leaving money on the table.

3. Infrastructure Checklist: What to Pre-Wire

The following checklist covers the core smart home infrastructure that should be included in every new build. These items are installed during the rough-in phase, before drywall, when labor costs are lowest and access is easiest.

Cat6A Ethernet

Run Cat6A ethernet cable to every room in the home. At minimum, install 2 drops per bedroom, 4 drops in each living area, and 2 drops in the home office. All runs terminate at the network closet on a structured patch panel. Cat6A supports 10-Gigabit ethernet and is future-proof for WiFi 7 access points, 4K/8K streaming, and high-bandwidth smart home devices. Do not use Cat5e in new construction. The material cost difference is negligible, but the performance ceiling is dramatically higher.

Conduit Runs

Install 1-inch smurf tube (flexible non-metallic conduit) for the following critical pathways: attic to network closet, exterior soffit to network closet (for future cable or fiber entry), and living room to network closet (for AV equipment). Conduit allows future cable pulls without opening walls. It is the single cheapest form of future-proofing you can install.

Camera Pre-Wire

Run Cat6A to 4-6 exterior camera locations: front door, garage, backyard, and both side yards. Mount locations should be at 9-10 feet height for optimal coverage and tamper resistance. Use weatherproof junction boxes at each location. PoE (Power over Ethernet) cameras draw power from the network cable, eliminating the need for separate electrical runs to each camera location.

Speaker Pre-Wire

Run 16/4 or 14/4 speaker wire to ceiling locations in the kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and covered patio. Use low-voltage brackets and leave 2-3 feet of slack coiled behind each cutout. Whole-home audio is one of the highest-satisfaction smart home upgrades, and pre-wiring during construction costs a fraction of what retrofit installation would require.

Neutral Wires in Every Switch Box

Every switch box in the home must contain a neutral wire. This is code in most jurisdictions, but it is critical to verify because smart switches universally require a neutral wire to operate. Without neutral wires, the homeowner is limited to expensive Lutron Caseta switches (which use a proprietary wireless bridge) instead of the full range of smart switch options.

Dedicated Circuits

Install a dedicated 20A circuit to the network closet for networking equipment. Add a second dedicated circuit for camera NVR and server equipment. Consider a dedicated circuit for the home theater area if the floor plan includes a media room. These circuits should be on their own breakers, clearly labeled in the electrical panel.

Low-Voltage Boxes

Use low-voltage "old work" style brackets at all camera pre-wire locations, speaker locations, and any location where a wall-mounted smart display or tablet may be installed. These brackets are inexpensive and provide a clean, finished mounting point.

Sensor Pre-Wire Locations

Pre-wire for motion sensors in main hallways and at entry points. Run cable for door/window sensors on all exterior doors. Install conduit or cable pathways to under-sink locations in kitchen and bathrooms for water leak sensors. While many sensors are wireless (Zigbee or Z-Wave), having wired pathways available gives the homeowner maximum flexibility for future upgrades.

Key Takeaway: The open-wall phase is your one chance to install infrastructure cheaply. Cat6A to every room, conduit to the attic, camera pre-wire, and neutral wires in every switch box. Miss this window and the homeowner pays 3-5x more to retrofit later.

4. Network Closet Design

The network closet is where everything comes together. Every ethernet run, every camera feed, and all the networking gear lives here. If the closet is undersized, poorly ventilated, or in the wrong spot, you will be dealing with service calls and overheating equipment.

Location

Place the network closet as centrally as possible within the home. A hallway closet, utility room, or dedicated space near the mechanical room works well. Do not put the network closet in the garage. Oklahoma summers push garage temperatures well above 120 degrees F, which exceeds the operating range of most networking equipment and dramatically shortens the lifespan of hard drives in camera NVRs. The closet should be in conditioned (heated and cooled) space.

Dimensions

Minimum dimensions are 36 inches wide by 24 inches deep by 8 feet tall. This provides enough room for a small wall-mounted rack or structured media panel, with space to work on cable terminations. Larger homes (3,000+ square feet) or homes with extensive automation should plan for a full walk-in closet.

Ventilation

Network equipment generates heat. At minimum, the closet needs an HVAC vent (supply and return) to maintain temperatures below 80 degrees F. For closets with a full rack of equipment (switch, NVR, server, UPS), consider a dedicated exhaust fan or supplemental cooling. A simple temperature sensor in the closet, connected to the smart home system, can alert the homeowner if temperatures exceed safe thresholds.

Power

Install two dedicated 20A circuits in the network closet. One circuit serves the networking equipment (switch, router, access points via PoE). The second circuit serves the NVR, Home Assistant server, and UPS (uninterruptible power supply). Having two circuits prevents a single breaker trip from taking down the entire smart home system.

Structured Cabling Termination

All Cat6A home runs terminate on a patch panel mounted in the network closet. From the patch panel, short patch cables connect to a managed PoE switch, which powers access points, cameras, and any other PoE devices throughout the home. A well-organized patch panel with labeled ports makes future troubleshooting and expansion easy.

Equipment Checklist

A typical network closet for a smart home includes: a 24 or 48 port patch panel, a managed PoE switch (UniFi USW-Pro-24-PoE or similar), a router/gateway, a camera NVR (if using PoE cameras), a Home Assistant server (Home Assistant Yellow or a mini PC), a UPS for battery backup during power outages, and a small shelf or rack to organize everything. The builder provides the closet, power, and ventilation. The smart home integrator specifies and installs the equipment.

5. Working with a Smart Home Integrator

The best time to bring in a smart home integrator is during the architectural planning phase, not after framing is complete. When the integrator is involved before construction starts, infrastructure requirements get captured in the plans, coordinated with trades, and installed correctly the first time.

When to Engage

Contact the integrator during the design phase, before permits are pulled. The integrator reviews floor plans and provides a wiring diagram that specifies every ethernet drop, camera location, speaker location, conduit run, and dedicated circuit. This document becomes part of the construction package, alongside electrical and plumbing plans.

What the Integrator Provides

Wiring diagramsFloor-plan overlays showing every cable run, labeled by type and destination
Camera placement planExterior camera locations with coverage maps, mounting heights, and field-of-view angles
Speaker layoutCeiling speaker locations optimized for coverage in each room
Network closet specificationDimensions, power requirements, ventilation needs, and equipment list
Smart switch scheduleWhich switches in which rooms should be smart-switch-compatible (may not be all of them)

Trade Coordination

The integrator coordinates directly with your electrician and low-voltage subcontractor. Key coordination points include: neutral wire verification in every switch box (electrician), Cat6A and speaker wire pulls (low-voltage sub), conduit installation (low-voltage sub or electrician), HVAC vent to network closet (HVAC contractor), and smart thermostat wiring with C-wire (electrician and HVAC).

Site Visits

Plan for four integrator site visits during construction:

Pre-rough-in walkthroughVerify locations and discuss any field adjustments before cables are pulled
Rough-in inspectionVerify all cable runs, conduit, and boxes are installed correctly before drywall closes the walls
Trim-outInstall devices (cameras, speakers, access points, smart switches) after painting is complete
Final commissioningConfigure all devices, build automations, test the complete system, and hand off to the homeowner

Leios Consulting works directly with builders across Oklahoma. We handle everything from initial wiring design to final commissioning, so your crew can focus on building while we handle the technology. Contact us to discuss your next project.

6. Smart Home Packages for Buyers

One of the most effective ways to monetize smart home integration is to offer buyers tiered packages during the design selection phase. This approach lets buyers choose their level of automation, just like they choose countertop materials or flooring upgrades. The builder includes the base infrastructure in every home, and buyers select add-on packages that the integrator installs during the trim-out phase.

Base Package (Included in Every Home)

This is the infrastructure layer that should be standard in every new build. It costs the builder approximately $3,000-$5,000 and provides the foundation for any future smart home system.

Network closet with dedicated power and ventilation
Cat6A ethernet to every room (minimum 2 drops per room)
Cat6A pre-wire to 4-6 exterior camera locations
Conduit runs from attic to network closet
Neutral wires in every switch box
Dedicated 20A circuit for network equipment

Upgrade 1: Connected Home ($5,000-$8,000 buyer upgrade)

This package adds the core smart home devices on top of the base infrastructure. It is the sweet spot for most buyers who want a functional smart home without going all-in.

Home AssistantLocal smart home hub with no subscription fees
Smart thermostatEcobee or Nest with room sensors for multi-zone awareness
4 exterior camerasPoE cameras with local NVR recording (no cloud subscription)
Smart lockKeypad entry on front door with temporary guest codes
WiFi systemEnterprise-grade access points for reliable whole-home WiFi
Professional installation, configuration, and homeowner training

Upgrade 2: Fully Automated ($10,000-$15,000 buyer upgrade)

The premium package adds whole-home audio, expanded camera coverage, lighting automation, and energy monitoring. This is for buyers who want their home to anticipate their needs.

Everything in Connected Home, plus:
Whole-home audioCeiling speakers in kitchen, living room, master, and patio with multi-room control
Expanded cameras6-8 camera system with AI person detection and garage integration
Smart lightingAutomated switches in every room with scene control and occupancy sensing
Energy monitoringCircuit-level power monitoring with real-time dashboard
Water leak sensorsUnder every sink, behind water heater, and at washing machine
Motorized shadesAutomated window treatments in main living areas
Advanced automations (welcome home scenes, goodnight routine, severe weather response)

The advantage for builders is that you do not need in-house smart home expertise. The integrator handles device procurement, installation, programming, and ongoing support. You earn margin on the upgrade packages, and your buyers get a finished product they are willing to pay more for.

For current Leios smart home service pricing and package details, see our Smart Home Services page.

Smart Home New Construction: What Every Builder Needs to Know