Building codes are the law. NFPA standards are a standard of care. Knowing the difference can make or break your next fire station.

Recorded live at the Fire Station Design Symposium in Greenville, SC, FIERO board member Ron Cooley sits down with fire service consultant Marnie Schmidt to break down how codes and standards apply to firehouse design. They cover why a building can pass inspection and still fail the firefighters inside it, how to push back when an architect says “you can’t,” and how any firefighter can shape NFPA standards through public input. A rapid-fire “code, standard, best practice or myth” round tackles fire poles, PPE in living quarters, sprinklers, and the move away from hot/warm/cold zones in NFPA 1585.

“You are not meant to change your SOPs to accommodate the architect.”

FIERO (Fire Industry Education Resource Organization) brings the fire service, architects and industry partners together to build better, safer fire stations.

Resources Mentioned - F.I.E.R.O. (Fire Industry Education Resource Organization) Fire Station Symposium and upcoming PPE Symposium: - https://www.fieroonline.org/

- International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC):

- IBC: https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2021P1

- IFC: https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IFC2021P1

- NFPA Standards:

- NFPA 1550 (consolidated from NFPA 1500): https://www.nfpa.org/

- NFPA 1585 (Contamination Control): https://www.nfpa.org/

- NFPA 1850 (PPE and SCBA selection, care, and maintenance; consolidated from NFPA 1851 and related): https://www.nfpa.org/

- NFPA 1400 series (training-related standards such as NFPA 1403): https://www.nfpa.org/

- NFPA 1740 (Staffing): https://www.nfpa.org/

- NFPA Standards Development and Public Input portal:

- https://www.nfpa.org/standards

- Direct public input/search: https://www.nfpa.org/submitpi

Contact for further questions: - Marnie Schmidt: marnie@fortunes-collide.com