If you’re building in Guayaquil, Samborondón, Quito, or any city in Ecuador, now is the ideal time to plan your home automation system. Integrating automation during construction is up to 40% cheaper than doing it in a finished house — and the quality of the final result is radically better.

The reason is simple: once the house is finished, installing automation means opening walls, breaking plaster, hiding cables, and working around finishes that are already in place. That drives up the cost of the installation, creates dust and mess, and almost always leaves visible traces. In new construction, by contrast, the integrator can design the system from scratch with complete freedom.

Why is it better to plan during construction?

While the structure is still open:

Conduit piping and junction boxes are installed before the plaster, perfectly integrated into the slab and walls
The wiring stays completely hidden with no visible traces
No damage to finished floors, walls, or ceilings
The total cost is significantly lower — the savings in labor more than cover the cost of planning ahead
The system can be designed for the next 15–20 years, not just for today’s needs

A common mistake in new builds: the owner delegates all the infrastructure to the conventional electrician, who installs the bare minimum to pass inspection, and later discovers that adding a smart dimmer means breaking walls because there’s no neutral or return conduit.

When should you call the integrator?

As early as possible — ideally while you’re still at the blueprint stage. At DomuLab we can review the architectural and electrical plans to define:

The location of the technical rack (the heart of the system): it should be in a ventilated closet, near the electrical panel, with easy access for maintenance
The routing of conduit piping for structured cabling from the rack to each point
The placement of Control4 control panels and touchscreens on the walls
Zoned lighting circuits (essential for Lutron)
WiFi access points and how to power them with PoE
The location of in-ceiling speakers
The routing of security cabling to each camera and perimeter sensor

If you’re already at the shell stage (obra gris), it’s still a good moment — you just have to act fast before the plastering. If the build is already plastered, it’s possible but more expensive; in that case we evaluate wireless solutions that minimize the impact on finishes.

The wiring you can’t skip

Structured cabling (data and network)

Network infrastructure is the backbone of any smart system. Without it, nothing works properly.

Certified Cat6A to each WiFi access point (minimum 1 AP per 60–80 m² of effective area, placed in the ceiling)
Cat6A to each TV, projector, and AV device in the living room, bedrooms, and home theater
Cat6A to the central rack from every control, security, and AV point
Consider additional points for future-proofing: terraces, game room, service areas

Lighting cabling (for Lutron RadioRA 3)

The premium lighting system requires specific electrical infrastructure that the conventional electrician usually doesn’t account for:

Independent circuits per zone: each lighting zone needs its own circuit, not shared with outlets or other devices
Neutral return on every circuit: modern smart dimmers require a neutral. If the circuit only has line and ground, you can’t install a quality dimmer
A dimmer box per zone with enough room for the Lutron module
Conduit from the panel to the technical rack for the central Lutron processor

Embedded audio cabling

For multiroom audio with Triad, Episode, or Sonance in-ceiling speakers:

2x16 AWG speaker cable (minimum) from each pair of speakers to the technical rack
Embedded slab boxes for each ceiling speaker
A separate conduit for the subwoofer if the living room has a home theater
Line-level signal cable (RCA or balanced XLR) for external amplifiers

Perimeter security cabling

Cat6 or coaxial cable from each IP camera point to the rack (modern NVRs use Ethernet/PoE)
PoE power available at the rack for cameras — a managed PoE switch with at least 8 ports
Cabling for PIR motion sensors, door contacts, and sirens
Conduit for the video intercom at the main and secondary entrances

Cabling for motorized shades

If the design includes motorized shades or curtains from Lutron Palladiom or Nice:

2-conductor 24VDC cable from the rack to each motor
Wall boxes for the drop cable of each shade
Consider wall boxes for the local wall switches

The technical rack: the heart of the system

The rack is where everything is centralized: the Control4 controller, Lutron processors, PoE switch, NVR, audio amplifiers, patch panels, and UPS. It should be in:

A service closet or rack room with cross-ventilation or an exhaust fan (the equipment generates heat)
A spot with easy access for maintenance without moving furniture or passing through private bedrooms
Near the main electrical panel to minimize power cable runs
With a regulated power outlet — ideally with a UPS to protect the equipment against power outages

Recommended rack size:

Home of 150–250 m²: 12U rack (rack units), wall- or floor-mounted
Home of 250–400 m²: 18–24U rack
Residences with a home theater and advanced audio: 24–42U rack

An important investment that many owners skip: the patch panel. Terminating all the Cat6A cables in a labeled patch panel turns the rack into something maintainable and documented, instead of an unmanageable “cable spaghetti.”

Checklist for the architect and builder

Before plastering walls and ceilings, verify that the following are installed and documented:

Data conduit from the rack to each AP/TV/camera point
Audio conduit from the rack to each speaker zone
Lighting electrical boxes with conduit to the panel — with neutral available
Security conduit to each perimeter camera and alarm sensor
Space, ventilation, and electrical access for the technical rack
Independent circuits per lighting zone (not shared with outlets)
Shade cable run to each motor if applicable
Raceways or conduit for speaker cable in the ceiling slab
Updated as-built plans with the exact conduit routing

Budget for cabling and infrastructure during construction

The cost of structured cabling during construction (without end devices, infrastructure only) for a home of 250–350 m² in Guayaquil typically ranges between $3,500 and $8,000, depending on the level of detail and the number of zones.

For reference, installing the same cabling in a finished house can cost 2 to 3 times more in labor — plus the cost of repairing the damaged finishes.

Approximate breakdown of the infrastructure:

Component	Estimated cost
Cat6A cabling + conduit	$1,200 – $2,500
Lighting cabling (independent circuits)	$800 – $1,500
Audio cabling (speakers)	$400 – $800
Security cabling (cameras + sensors)	$500 – $1,200
Rack + patch panel + organization	$600 – $2,000
Total infrastructure	$3,500 – $8,000

These figures don’t include the end devices (controllers, dimmers, cameras, speakers, etc.), which make up the bulk of the total project budget.

Coordination with the architect and builder: how it works

At DomuLab we offer a technical construction coordination service where we work directly with the architect, site manager, and master electrician:

Plan review: we analyze the architectural and electrical plans to identify opportunities and conflicts
Infrastructure proposal: we deliver a document with the exact location of every conduit, box, and installation point
Coordination with the electrician: a meeting with the site electrician to align lighting circuits, neutrals, and power circuits for AV equipment
Site supervision visits: we visit at key stages — before pouring slabs, during wall framing, before plastering — to verify the infrastructure is correct
As-built plans: at the end of the build we deliver updated plans with the real location of every conduit and cable installed

This process avoids the most common mistakes: electricians who install shared circuits, dimmers without a neutral, racks in spots without ventilation, or WiFi access from a single centralized router with no cabling to the upper floors.

What happens when you don’t plan from the construction stage

We’ve walked into finished residences where the owner wanted to install automation and found:

All lighting circuits shared with outlets, no neutral available
A single network point in the whole house, connected to an ISP router on the ground floor
No conduit at all for speakers or cameras
A 60×80 cm “service room” with no ventilation or adequate electrical access

Installing automation in that situation is possible, but the result is always a compromise: visible cables, wireless solutions with their limitations, and a cost that far exceeds what it would have cost to plan it from the start.

Building in Ecuador? Get in touch to plan your home automation system from the blueprints. We do free consultation visits and coordinate directly with your architect and builder.

Smart Home in New Construction Ecuador

Why is it better to plan during construction?

When should you call the integrator?