Fire Engineering 101: Legislation, Guidance, Training and the Commercial Market

FM200 fire suppression tanks (Photo: Robert Harker, under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Where can you get training and education in fire protection engineering? What are the primary pieces of legislation and guidance governing the sector? This is the 101 on fire protection engineering.

What is fire engineering?

Fire protection engineering and fire safety engineering together comprise the umbrella term ‘fire engineering’, a distinct discipline of engineering that applies scientific and engineering principles to the protection of people and property from the risks of fire and smoke.

Fire protection engineering focuses on fire detection systems, including heat, smoke and flame detectors and alarm systems; active fire protection and suppression; and passive fire protection, which is designed to contain and mitigate fires. Fire safety engineering, on the other hand, concentrates on human behaviour and evacuation strategy.

The job of a fire protection engineer these days is complex. It includes tasks such as design, planning, installing, servicing and maintaining fire alarm systems and equipment, emergency lighting and portable fire extinguishers; testing and maintenance of dry risers, hose reels and sprinkler systems; and installation of fire signage. Fire protection engineers work closely with architects, other engineers, investigators and legislators to identify risks and design protection from fire.

The fire engineering market

According to a US market research report, the fire protection systems market is predicted to be worth $79.18bn by 2020, up from $33.58bn in 2013 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.53 %.

This growth is estimated to be fuelled by increasing worldwide health and safety legislation, and expansion in the Asia-Pacific market.

According to this report, some of the major players in the fire protection market include Gentex Corporation (US), Halma PLC (UK), Hochiki Corporation (Japan), Honeywell International Inc. (US), Johnson Controls (US), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Siemens AG (Germany), Tyco (Switzerland), United Technologies Corporation (US) and VT MAK (US). The market is thus currently led by the US and Europe.

The global fire protection market is fragmented, with local players dominating. Fire protection is mainly used in consumer goods and retail; energy and power; government; healthcare; manufacturing; oil; gas and mining; transportation and logistics.

The report states that manufacturing offers huge potential for growth in the market, because of advances in technology in this sector.  Oil, gas and mining were initially responsible for the use of large scale fire protection systems, while consumer goods and retail is still an emerging market offering good opportunities for fire protection technologies to penetrate.

Associations such as the Fire Industry Association (FIA) represent the industry and publish regular reports on the market. The latest FIA market conditions survey of members and non-members in the UK states that an increase in construction is sustaining growth of the fire sector, although margins are not as high as desired.

The fire protection profession is represented in the UK by the Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP), (passive fire protection), the Fire Protection Association (FPA) and the Institute of Fire Engineers (IFE) and in the US and worldwide by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)

The IFE also operates internationally.

Articles about fire engineering

Training and education in fire protection engineering and fire engineering

In the UK, fire protection engineer training is offered by many associations, including the ASFP, FPA and the FIA.

The IFE lists recognised training providers on its website. Courses can generally be booked online and are run very frequently.

Training courses for fire protection engineers cover the causes of fires and how architecture and design influence their prevention and suppression. Their aim is to save lives before fires occur.

Fire projection engineers may be required to inspect building plans and structures to evaluate the most appropriate fire detection, alarm, and fire-fighting equipment to keep people and property safe from fire. Trainees will learn how to design and project-manage within the fire protection industry items including fire alarms, emergency lighting and access systems.

Learning to become a fire protection engineer can be undertaken in face-to-face classes, online, or by a combination of both. On-the-job training with experience in the field is another alternative to formal training courses.

A four-step guide to becoming a fire protection engineer in the US is available here.

In the US the recognition of fire protection engineering as a separate discipline varies from state to state.

Fire engineering degrees are offered by some UK universities, such as the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Leeds.

Continuing professional development (CPD) is also important for fire protection engineers to maintain competence. The University of Edinburgh offers fire safety engineering CPD courses.

Fire protection engineering Legislation

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into force in October 2006, is the main piece of legislation affecting fire protection engineering in England and Wales.

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 came into force on 1 October 2015. Private sector landlords are required to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their properties and a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm in any room containing a solid fuel burning appliance.

Scottish landlords were also required to supply CO alarms from December 2015.

The Equality Act 2010 requires additional consideration in the provision of a fire detection system for disabled people.

Most of the current fire legislation is based on a risk-assessment, rather than a prescriptive approach, with the employer or building owner or controller the person responsible for the safety of employees and others on the premises.

Fire protection talking points

Current controversies in fire protection engineering include the role of fire engineering in modern steel buildings, the subject of a recent round table that discussed how and where responsibility for fire protection should fall in the construction of increasingly complex steel structures. Points for debate included unsafe design principles due to cost or time constraints or bad practice, and the current complexity of fire protection engineering.

The use of highly flammable material in construction is another contentious issue. It is estimated that up to 70% of Dubai’s high-rise buildings are clad in combustible polyurethane and aluminium composite cladding, which could lead to fatalities.

An interesting large-scale research project by the ASFP and charity BRE Trust on the costs of passive fire protection and the costs of fires in commercial buildings is currently under way.

Other areas of controversy and debate in the fire protection engineering community include, in the US, a debate over whether fire sprinkler systems should be mandatory in newly-constructed single-family homes and a debate over the use of drones in fire protection.

The commissioning of fire protection systems also often seems to lead to keenly argued debate.