Home Security Systems in Irvine, CA
A local alarm company, twenty minutes from Irvine. Installation, 24/7 UL-listed monitoring, and straight answers about the city’s alarm permit before it costs you money.
Serving Orange County from Anaheim
UL-listed monitoring, every day
Irvine customers still with us
Licensed by the State of California
Epic Alarm has protected Orange County homes and businesses for over 15 years, from our office in Anaheim. We install, monitor and service security systems across the city, Woodbridge and Westpark among them, and some of our Irvine customers have been with us since 2017.
Irvine requires an alarm permit, and it’s free
Required city-wide. Issued free by Irvine PD.
Before you operate an alarm system anywhere in Irvine, the city requires a valid alarm permit. That comes from City Council Ordinance No. 98-15, and it applies to homes and businesses alike. The permit itself is free, and applications go through the Irvine Police Department. Irvine Police ask you to allow seven to ten business days, so it’s worth starting before your system goes in.
Why it matters: a permitted address gets its first three false alarms free. Without a permit on file you get none. Irvine issues a written warning to comply first, and after that every false alarm is charged at the higher unpermitted rate. If you need the application itself, we keep a list of alarm permit links for every city we serve.
How Irvine’s false alarm rules work
Three free, then fees, then no response.
Irvine gives permitted addresses three false alarms at no charge. After that a fee applies to each one, escalating as they accumulate, and roughly doubling for commercial properties. That is the widest allowance of the five Orange County cities we write about: Garden Grove gives two, Anaheim and Santa Ana give one each, and Huntington Beach counts within your registration year rather than a rolling one.
From the seventh false alarm, your address is placed on the police department’s “No Response” list. That means an alarm at your address stops producing a police response at all. That’s the outcome worth avoiding, and it’s the reason we spend time tuning a system rather than just fitting the equipment.
The first three
Three false alarms in a consecutive 365-day period carry no charge. This is where nearly every well tuned system stays.
Fees begin
From the fourth, each false alarm carries a fee, and the amount escalates as they accumulate. Commercial addresses pay roughly double.
No Response
From the seventh, burglary alarms at your address stop producing a police response. Panic and robbery silent alarms still get one.
One thing worth knowing if you ever get there: the No Response list applies to burglary alarms. Irvine Police continue to respond to panic and robbery silent alarms regardless, so the part of your system that matters most in an emergency keeps working even at the worst point of the escalation. Current fee amounts are published by the Irvine Police Department.
Who files the permit
The permit is issued to the alarm user, not the installer, so it’s yours to file. We’ll tell you exactly what the city needs during the install, and you can apply through the Irvine Police Department or call them on (949) 724-6467. It’s free, and it takes seven to ten business days.
What that means for how your system is set up
Four things that keep the count down.
Irvine’s rules reward systems configured carefully rather than aggressively. Four things keep false alarms down:
Verification before dispatch
Sensible entry and exit delays
Pet-immune motion sensors
Camera verification
Home security for Irvine’s HOA communities
Designed around architectural rules.
Much of Irvine is made up of master-planned villages with active homeowners associations, and HOA architectural rules frequently govern what can be mounted on an exterior wall, how visible cabling can be, and what may be fitted to an attached or shared-wall property. It’s worth checking your association’s guidelines before deciding on outdoor camera positions. We design around those restrictions routinely, using wireless equipment and discreet mounting where the rules require it.
What we install for Irvine homes
Six systems we install and monitor across the city.
An Irvine install, nine years on
An Irvine account we still service.
One of our longest-standing Irvine customers has been with us since 2017. It began as a straightforward residential job on a single-family home: panel, door and window contacts, motion detection. It was later extended with cameras, a glass-break sensor and programmed smart light switches.
What’s worth mentioning isn’t the install. It’s the nine years since. We’ve been back to retune a front door entry delay that was causing nuisance trips, replace the panel, swap out door contacts, handle a lock replacement, and clear a sensor supervision fault that came in this January. Every one logged, scheduled and closed out.
That’s the practical difference a local company makes. When something needs attention you’re not filing a ticket with a national call centre and waiting for a window three weeks out. And with Irvine’s three-strike allowance, a sensor left misbehaving is a fine waiting to happen.
Service and response in Irvine
Anaheim office. Monitoring around the clock.
Our office is in Anaheim and our monitoring runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, through a UL-listed centre. We work across Orange County. Epic Alarm is licensed by the State of California, ACO #7125.
For non-emergency police matters in Irvine, including questions about your alarm permit, the Irvine Police Department can be reached at (949) 724-6467.
Common questions about alarms in Irvine
Permits, false alarms and HOA rules.
Do I need an alarm permit in Irvine, and what does it cost?
Yes. Irvine requires a valid alarm permit for any alarm system, residential or commercial, under City Council Ordinance No. 98-15. The permit is issued free of charge. Apply through the Irvine Police Department and allow seven to ten business days for processing.
What happens if my alarm goes off by mistake too many times?
Your first three false alarms carry no fee. After that a charge applies to each one and escalates as they accumulate, and from the seventh your address is placed on the police department’s No Response list. If you have no permit on file, Irvine issues a written warning to comply first, and after that every false alarm is charged at the higher unpermitted rate.
Can I install outdoor cameras if my HOA has architectural restrictions?
Usually yes, but placement and cabling may be constrained. Check your association’s architectural guidelines first, and we’ll design the camera layout to work within them. Wireless equipment and discreet mounting handle most HOA rules without a variance.
How long does an Irvine alarm permit take to come through?
Irvine Police ask you to allow seven to ten business days for an application to be processed, so it is worth applying before your system goes in rather than after. The permit is free, and you can apply online or by calling the alarm coordination office on (949) 724-6467.
What actually counts as a false alarm, and over what period?
The city counts police responses, not alarm activations. A fine applies once your system generates more than three police responses in a consecutive 365-day period. It is a rolling window rather than a calendar year, so the date each response falls on matters.
What happens if I use my alarm system without a permit?
You are not fined immediately. Irvine issues a written warning to comply within 30 days first. After that, false alarms at an address with no valid permit carry a fine at the higher unpermitted rate, and there is no free allowance to fall back on. Current amounts are published by the Irvine Police Department.
When my alarm goes off, who contacts the police?
Our monitoring centre does, and not before it has checked. The centre is UL-listed and staffed 24 hours a day, every day of the year. It attempts to verify the alarm before requesting a police response, which is what keeps accidental trips from counting against you. Irvine Police give the same advice from their side: if your central station verifies alarms, wait for its call rather than phoning in yourself.
What should I check before arming the system?
Irvine Police publish a short list, and it matches what we see on service calls. Secure all doors and windows. Make sure pets are properly contained. Switch off any unnecessary fans, heaters or air conditioning, since moving air sets off motion sensors. Check that your monitoring centre has current contact details for you or someone responsible. Then leave within the exit delay, and disarm immediately if you come back in.
My alarm has just gone off by accident. What should I do?
Shut the system down and use your abort code if you have one. If your central station verifies alarms, wait for the verification call rather than trying to call them. You will need your password, so keep it to hand, and make sure anyone else with access to the property knows the code and password too. Getting this right is usually the difference between an accidental trip and a logged police response.
I have changed my phone number or my alarm company. Do I need to tell the city?
Yes. Irvine asks you to submit any changes within 10 days, and the permit belongs to you as the alarm user rather than to your installer, so it stays with you when your equipment or provider changes. Keeping your contact details current also matters practically: it is what lets the monitoring centre reach you before anyone is dispatched.
Get a free quote for your Irvine home
No obligation. We’ll walk your property, design a system around your HOA’s rules, and show you exactly what the city needs for your alarm permit.