30 years of life-safety in California
BEC was founded in 1995 to do one thing: make California buildings safer when fire alarms, smoke control, and emergency communication systems have to work the first time. Three decades and ten NECA Excellence Awards later, that's still the only thing we do.
We design, install, monitor, test, and maintain life-safety systems for high-rise commercial, healthcare, education, hospitality, public, and motion-picture buildings — including the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Our crews are IBEW union, our project managers live in the markets they serve, and our certifications include WBE, NECA, CAFAA, and Edwards EST.
Our history
From a Glendora storefront in 1995 to a statewide integrator with 23 counties of coverage, BEC's growth has tracked the transformation of California's commercial building stock. We've installed life-safety on every major LA high-rise built since 2010 and now serve clients from San Diego to Sonoma.
How we work
- In-house engineering. Plans drafted by our own NICET-certified designers, not subbed out.
- AHJ pre-submittal review. We meet with the AHJ before plans are submitted, so corrections happen on paper, not in the field.
- Union craft installation. IBEW Local 11 / Local 441 / Local 6 / Local 569 / Local 595 / Local 332.
- Commissioning by the same crew. The team that installed the panel turns it over.
- One-vendor lifecycle. Annual testing, central-station monitoring, and emergency repair handled in-house.
In the community
BEC is an active member of CAFAA (California Automatic Fire Alarm Association), NECA Los Angeles County, and the California Fire Chiefs Association. Our team serves on local NFPA committees and we sponsor the LAFD Foundation's annual training drive.
"BEC's commissioning team caught three plan-review issues the day before the AHJ walk. That kind of attention is why we keep them on the bid list."
— Senior Project Manager, Top-3 LA General Contractor
Sustainability
We specify low-power, long-life-cycle equipment by default and migrate legacy panels (EST2, EST3) into modern Edwards EST4 architecture rather than rip-and-replace. Less landfill, longer building life.
Safety
Zero lost-time incidents in our last three reporting years. All field staff hold OSHA-30 certifications. Project safety plans are reviewed weekly by a third-party safety consultant.
Manufacturer partners
- Edwards (EST3, EST4, Edge, EST2, IRC-3, ModuLaser, IO-Series)
- Xtralis (VESDA, VLF, VLP, VEU)
- Napco (StarLink communicators)
- Cornell and Jeron (Area of Rescue)
- ERRCS/ERCES (Comba and ADRF - Emergency Responder Radio Communication System)
- Axis, Synology, Ubiquiti - Fire Fighter Surveillance System
Awards & recognition
- NECA Electrical Excellence Awards — 10× since 2014
- WBE Certification — California Public Utilities Commission
- Edwards EST Top Partner — Western Region
