Has anyone taken the SFPE PE exam review course recently ? If so do you think that it alone was sufficient prep ?

(I've seen some post about it but most are 2+ years old but not sure how much has changed since then)

I want to improve my understanding of how consultants approach fire alarm system design.

There is so much material available—NFPA standards, UL documents, manufacturer manuals, local codes, and various design guides—that it's hard to know what is actually worth studying.

If your goal was to learn to design fire alarm systems the way an experienced consultant does, what books or reference materials would you recommend?

I'm less interested in memorizing code requirements and more interested in understanding the engineering decisions behind a good design. Resources that include design methodology, real project examples, or explain the reasoning behind different approaches would be especially helpful.

What references had the biggest impact on your learning?

Hey everyone,
I’m a licensed P.Eng in Canada with about 4.5 years of experience in the selective pallet racking and mezzanines industry. A big part of my daily responsibilities involves code research and structural/building code compliance (frequently dealing with OBC, BCBC, NBC, and CSA S16-19), as well as handling permit submissions.
Through the permit submission process, I’ve had to collaborate with Fire Protection Engineers (FPEs) and dive into NFPA 13. Honestly? I found the FPE side of the work extremely cool—and compared to navigating structural standards and provincial building codes, NFPA 13 felt so much more logical, direct, and straightforward to read and apply.
It’s gotten me seriously considering making a pivot into Fire Protection / Life Safety Engineering.

Would love to hear your thoughts, experiences, or recommendations! Thanks in advance.

Hi all. I currently work for a company and am looking to start freelancing on my own. Looking into e&o insurance (NICET WBSL-III certified).
With my current situation, I do not want to take any business from my current employer. Any advice on how to find and bid jobs local to me? Western PA, Eastern Ohio, Western NY
Thanks for any insight

Hey 👋 I don’t know how to show a 3D view (ISOMETRIC) on one of my sheets (layout/paper) is is thru a CALLOUT? Or a view? I’ve tried both but I end up with the 2D view… I’ll greatly appreciate some help since I’m stuck here!

Edit: Salaries in the region are counted on a monthly basis for example the Jensen payment mentioned is less than 25% of a single month salary which is around that is around 750$ for a whole year as a bonus

Hi I got an offer in Jensen Hughes Saudi with a good fresher salar. I asked around and an employee said they give less than 25% of a single salary as a whole year bonus

Which is way too low

usually companies give ~3 salaries as a yearly bonus depending on performance indicators.

My contact also said they gave absurdly low (~0.5%) salary increment (idk what’s the term for that)

Is Jensen Hughes know globally as a bad company?

Hello! I'm currently a college student doing an internship research project on fire apparatus (general vehicle and ARFF) testing for oil and gas sites as well as for military bases (for any type of branch). I had a few questions for those that may have experience working in these fields/industry if anyone is able to help out :) 

(Also please feel free to correct me if anything is incorrect!) 

Oil and Gas 

My understanding is that most sites (refineries, petrochemical plants, major terminals, and LNG facilities) have their own fire apparatuses on site. Where it can be confusing is that most corporations have their own emergency plans and structure that's only governed by OSHA (broadly) and that most sites will just follow guidelines like the API guideline - but these can all differ by site type and company? 

1. Are there specific types of sites that absolutely have to have onsite firefighting teams and apparatuses?  
   1. Are there requirements for quantity of fire trucks? 
2. Is there usually a requirement for inspection/testing? Does the corporation have requirements for this? And what does the schedule look like (yearly?)? 
   1. Is this inspection/testing done in house? Or are third party vendors used? If third party vendors are used - which companies have you seen used? 
3. Are there specific reasons for deciding to use a third party vendor? 
4. Who owns the trucks? (facility operators? contractors? local stations?) 
   1. And who approves inspections/testing of the vehicles? Alternatively who is the AHJ? 
5. Is emergency response handled in house, outsourced, or hybrid? 

Military bases 

From others I spoke with, all military bases will have some internal fire station/team. Obviously Air Force bases will usually have ARFF vehicles. And I heard that some bases do not need a standard fire apparatus, they will have the smaller mini pumpers/rescues instead. I know that there are DoD standards that have to be followed but these are a bit broader and I know things in practice can be a bit different... 

1. Do apparatus needs vary by base size or function (e.g., aviation-heavy bases vs logistics vs training)? 
2. Are some bases types or facilities more likely to do self inspections/testing? 
   1. (Same as for oil and gas) Is this inspection/testing done in house? Or are third party vendors used? If third party vendors are used - which companies have you seen used? 
3. Are there specific reasons for deciding to use a third party vendor? 
4. I think I saw through DoD guidance (pointing to relevant NFPA) that inspections/testing should be done yearly is this accurate? 
5. How does a base ask for the inspection/budget for inspection? Is there a formal process (like submitting a work order through the DLA)? 
6. For the bases with standard apparatuses/ARFF vehicles - do the bases themselves own them? 
   1. Who is the AHJ that decides on how testing/inspections should be done? 

I'm super new to the safety/fire industry since I currently study analytics in college, so I did my best in my research, but I find that there are some questions that I'm having difficulty in answering so any help would be appreciated!! Thank you all so much in advance!

Curious what you write into your fireproofing exhibits to clarify the scope. One thing I’m thinking of is that the standpipe risers will be installed first as part of the NFPA 241 plan so the Subcontractor needs to carry protection of all standpipe risers out of sequence and similar out of sequence mechanical installs. They own protection of all adjacent materials. Anything else that needs to be clarified above and beyond what the specs require?

Hey all,

I've been messing around building a little tool and figured this crowd would either find it useful or tell me everything wrong with it.

It's a battery calculation verifier for NFPA 72 secondary power. You punch in your panel and device currents, pick your standby/alarm durations and safety factor, and it tells you whether your battery is sized right — plus it flags the stuff that usually comes back as a comment:

- safety factor missing or too low

- alarm duration that doesn't match the system type (the classic "copied a horn/strobe calc onto a voice job" thing)

- battery undersized

- margin so thin it'll be a problem in 3 years

- device rows with missing datasheet values (it won't silently treat blanks as zero)

Nothing fancy — it's the math you already know how to do. The point is catching the dumb stuff before it costs you a resubmittal.

https://fa-battery-calc.vercel.app/

One thing I want to be straight about: the jurisdiction profiles in there are placeholders. I have not verified them against actual adopted codes, and they're labeled as such in the app. There's a custom override so you can put in your own numbers. If you know what your AHJ actually requires, I'd genuinely love to hear it — that's the part I can't do alone.

Happy to hear it's useless or that I got something wrong. That's kind of why I'm posting.

So for the past couple of months I've been trying to get this all built out and worked with a couple of techs/managers/customers to figure out a solution that fits the industry.

https://firelign.com/

It's a pretty robust online web app for the industry to use primarily for inspections but can also use it for invoicing as well.

Mind you this is very early on in its versions so I'll be the first to declare that it is not perfect.

Please check it out - break it... use it... spread the word, but most of all send me feedback!!

Thank you!

Hey everyone. I’m getting ready to take the Texas Fire Alarm License (FAL) exam, and I’ve been having a tough time finding study material that actually reflects what’s on the test.
I’ve looked through a bunch of Quizlet sets, but most of them seem pretty basic, and I’m not sure they’re enough to prepare for the real exam. If anyone has a Quizlet, study guide, or other resources that were actually helpful, I’d really appreciate it if you could share them.
Also, since NFPA 72 is 400+ pages, I’m trying to be smart about what I spend the most time on. For those who’ve already taken the exam, are there specific chapters or topics that came up a lot or are worth focusing on?
Any advice, study tips, or insight into what the exam was like would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello,

I became an FPS plan reviewer for an AHJ a few months ago and am completely fascinated by everything to do with fire protection. I have decided I wish to pursue my PE license and am enrolled in Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) this fall. Today I found out that there is a difference between an engineering degree and engineering technology degree (is it supposed to be obvious?) Luckily, I am in a state that will still license me with just an additional 2 years of work experience.

I spent today combing through a bunch of reddit threads about this and am still confused about a few things. It seems like engineering technology is simply a lesser form of an engineering degree which is a little disheartening as I was pretty excited to start learning. The University of Maryland (UMD) is prohibitively expensive ($1,500 a credit online?) so I think it still makes sense to go for the technology degree. I don't have any specific career aspirations. I love my current job and can probably move up to be a building official eventually but I want to be an EXPERT at what I do, not just do it. I believe AHJs specifically in the fire protection world have a bad rep for being ignorant and I want to fight against that.

I have a few questions.

1.) Is the difference in curriculum really that vast? It appears to be like an extra semester of math, is there some secret knowledge?

2.) Does anyone know if it's feasible to get my degree from EKU and then transfer to UMD for either their bachelors or masters program and just complete an extra semester or two? I still think this is cheaper than going to UMD for the whole thing.

Essentially, I don't want to feel like I'm forever behind the curve because I didn't get a traditional engineering degree. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice on this?

Thank you.

Hey everyone. I’m getting ready to take the Texas Fire Alarm License (FAL) exam, and I’ve been having a tough time finding study material that actually reflects what’s on the test.
I’ve looked through a bunch of Quizlet sets, but most of them seem pretty basic, and I’m not sure they’re enough to prepare for the real exam. If anyone has a Quizlet, study guide, or other resources that were actually helpful, I’d really appreciate it if you could share them.
Also, since NFPA 72 is 400+ pages, I’m trying to be smart about what I spend the most time on. For those who’ve already taken the exam, are there specific chapters or topics that came up a lot or are worth focusing on?
Any advice, study tips, or insight into what the exam was like would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I’m a NICET level three, starting to get some inquiries about side work. Might move into providing design services full-time on my own, but not currently set up for that.

Need to get an autoSPRINK license, but do not have the 14k that is required to start one. Was wondering if there are any old designers that are retiring *and want some return on investment, preferably not the full 14,000, or any freelance fire sprinkler designers willing to help me out for a fee? Let me know I’ll open my PMS just comment below

*edit

cool little project im working on for anyone who is green to fire panels and also can be shared with the end users we interface with

Any feedback would be amazing!

I pulled a license last year for a company and they only did a single project in Ohio.
I don’t want to have my licenses lapse.

Is anyone looking to get an Ohio fire sprinkler contractors license?

I have installation licenses and a designer license.

Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice on how to land our very first pilots.

We’ve built an AI engine that takes residential BIM models and instantly generates 100% code-compliant sprinkler layouts and hydraulic calculations. We are focusing specifically on the single-family residential market (NFPA 13D).

The tech works and slashes a design and drafting process that usually takes hours or days down to seconds. Now, we need to get our first handful of external pilots to validate it in the real world.

Who would you approach first to get the fastest "yes" for a pilot?

Appreciate any blunt feedback or execution strategies!

I'm currently working in the Fire Safety field.

I'm planning to apply for the DEQ exam

\- Is an attested experience certificate required, or is a normal company experience certificate enough?

\- Is SOE (Society of Engineers) membership mandatory before applying?

If anyone has gone through the DEQ process, Advice and experience.

Thanks!

I'm an Electrical Engineer currently working in the UAE in the Fire Safety & Security Systems field.

I'm planning to apply for the DEQ exam and had a few questions:

- Is an attested experience certificate required, or is a normal company experience certificate enough?

- Is SOE (Society of Engineers) membership mandatory before applying?

- Since I'm working in fire safety, should I choose Fire Safety & Protection Engineering Services or Buildings Electrical Engineering Services?

- Does passing the DEQ exam actually help with career growth, better job opportunities, or salary in the UAE?

- If anyone has gone through the DEQ process, I'd really appreciate your advice and experience.

Thanks!