Training Expectations
Failure at fire protection always involves failure at defining educational metrics. The Coconut Grove fire passed its inspection just 8 days prior to the incident. The Station Nightclub fire passed its inspection 12 days prior. The Ghostship warehouse had a Fire Department member visit without identifying problems. These failures were due to inadequately trained inspectors.
Building Fire Inspector, Building Official and Energy Inspector training is defined below to match ICC expectations. This is done by defining a curriculum that matches the ICC Fire Inspector Category I (FI I) certification, the ICC CBO Building Code (BC) certification knowledge expectations, the ICC Residential Energy Inspector/Plans Examiner certification knowledge requirements and the ICC Commercial Electrical Inspector knowledge expectations. These curricula are below and are represented by a series of practice tests with questions taken strategically from the applicable building and fire codes that match what test takers will see on the ICC exams. The training process involves reviewing each of the tests in the respective sections below repeatedly, where each question is answered by opening the applicable codes and looking up the answer. The applicable reference needs to be highlighted or otherwise annotated. Even if the trainee knows the answer, the reference must be looked up every time. The quizzes need to be reviewed at least four times. Each of the certification sections takes approximately one week to complete the review four times. This process will ensure that the student can successfully pass the ICC exam.
| Building Owner and Fire Inspector (ICC FI I and II) (2015 ICC versions) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FI Quiz 1 | FI Quiz 2 | FI Quiz 3 | FI Quiz 4 | FI Quiz 5 |
| FI Quiz 6 | FI Quiz 7 | FI Quiz 8 | FI Quiz 9 | FI Quiz 10 |
| FI Quiz 11 | FI Quiz 12 | FI Quiz 13 | FI Quiz 14 | FI Quiz 15 |
| FI Quiz 16 | FI Quiz 17 | FI Quiz 18 | FI Quiz 19 | FI Quiz 20 |
| FI Quiz 21 | FI Quiz 22 | FI Quiz 23 | FI Quiz 24 | FI Quiz 25 | FI Quiz 26 | FI Quiz 27 | FI Quiz 28 | FI Quiz 29 | FI Quiz 30 |
| FI Quiz 31 | FI Quiz 32 |
| Residential Energy Inspector/Examiner (ICC 79) (2021 ICC IECC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| REI Quiz 1 | REI Quiz 2 | REI Quiz 3 | REI Quiz 4 | REI Quiz 5 |
| Commercial Electrical Inspector (ICC E2) (2020 NEC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEI Quiz 1 | CEI Quiz 2 | CEI Quiz 3 | CEI Quiz 4 | CEI Quiz 5 |
| CEI Quiz 6 |
| Commercial Mechanical Inspector (2021 IMC) (M2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMI Quiz 1 | CMI Quiz 2 | CMI Quiz 3 | CMI Quiz 4 | CMI Quiz 5 |
| Certified Fire Marshal Fire Codes and Standards (2021 FC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Quiz 1 | FC Quiz 2 | FC Quiz 3 | FC Quiz 4 | FC Quiz 5 |
| Legal Module (MG) for the CBO and CFM exams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| MG Quiz 1 | MG Quiz 2 | MG Quiz 3 | MG Quiz 4 |
| Management Module (MM) for the CBO and CFM exams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| MM Quiz 1 | MM Quiz 2 | MM Quiz 3 | MM Quiz 4 |
| Building Plans Examiner (2015 ICC B3) Exams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BPE Quiz 1 | BPE Quiz 2 | BPE Quiz 3 | BPE Quiz 4 | BPE Quiz 5 |
| Fire Plans Examiner (F3) ICC Exams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FPE Quiz 1 | FPE Quiz 2 | FPE Quiz 3 | FPE Quiz 4 |
| ICC Accessibility Inspector/Plans Examiner (21) Exams | |
|---|---|
| ADA Quiz 1 | ADA Quiz 2 |
| ICC Residential Building Inspector (B1) Exams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RBI Quiz 1 | RBI Quiz 2 | RBI Quiz 3 | RBI Quiz 4 | RBI Quiz 5 |
SFPE has defined expected base-level understanding of FPE to include several topics. Not all of those topics are applicable to most sites. For instance, explosion protection, smoke controls and clean agent suppression are typically not employed. An applicable subset of the SFPE topics that should be adopted by most programs is represented in the following sections. Each section has a basic summary. These are the type of knowledge topics required by most FPE related service companies.
| Fire Risk Assessment | ||
| Water-based Suppression Systems | ||
| Wildland Urban Interface | ||
| Passive Fire Protection Systems | ||
| Means of Egress | ||
| Fire Alarm, Detection and Signaling |
Each of these topics represents fields where basic understanding is expected from lead engineers. Individuals directing work or otherwise overseeing FPEs in training need to know where to find information for these subjects.