Fire Inspections

[Donald E. Viehman]

As a NACHI home inspector, can we take the approiate courses and do fire inspections? My son is a firefighter and we are looking to expand our business to do fire inspections. I recall seeing something about this on NACHI's website. How do we go about this?

[Allan G. Berdahl, CMI]

Donald,
Not sure how it would be in the U.S. but in Canada, if commercial the AHJ (City, County, Province) would issue an occupancy permit subject to a fire inspection. This was usually done by the fire department gratis.
For residential all an owner had to do was call the fire department and they again, would come out and do the inspection for free.
Not sure how lucrative this would be for you.
As background for you, I was a Provicial Fire inspector for 12 years.
If however, you would want to persue this further, I would suggest contacting the fire service in your area for a fire school that they use for training and take a fire inspection course/program.
Hope this helps a bit.

Allan

[Donald E. Viehman]

Thank you for the info. My son is signed up to take the fire inspector courses this summer thru our local fire training.

[cmcdonald]

Donald,
I would recommend seeing what the National Fire Protection Association, www.nfpa.org, has to offer. I know that they have Certified Fire Inspector I & II that might meet your needs. I would also recommend seeing if any of the colleges or universities in your area offers fire science classes that might be applicable to your needs in addition to the local fire training.

[tdietrich1]

For specific inspections, check with your state's licencing agencies.

tom

P.S. My fire cheif is also a very qualfied licensed fire inspector. He works as a manager in a hardware store. hint hint, wink, wink. Most muni inspectors I know are multi-qualified.

[dmcauley]

In order to become a Certified Fire Inspector I & II from NFPA, one has to be a member of an established fire department. I was a certified Inspector I, but since I retired from the fire service I can no longer claim that designation, at least in Illinois.

Not too sure if this is lucrative or not as a business venture. Fire depts. perform these inspections for free, albeit taxes are paid to depts., whether for a service to a property owner, scheduled inspections of commercial properties, or post fire inspection. It might be more lucrative to investigate lining your business up with an insurance company for post fire inspections. But you have to have some credentials to do this, not just a firefighter. Try to market this as a home maintenance or home safety inspection instead of a fire inspection. Might work out better for you. Good luck!

[David A. Andersen]

Oh no, are you going to be a fire truck chaser?!

Check with a lawyer, they are good with ambulances!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist!

Please don't take offence. Some of the greatest things come from those of us that never looked at something that way!

I would check with your local state.
Who does it now?
Like posted, if someone does it for free is may be tough to market.
However, if that was the real life case, there would be no need for HI's as the Gen Contractors job is to do what we do.

If your resources exceed that which the state or current inspectors provide you have a market. Your son is the referral source as he knows about every fire (regardless of size). He may also fill the state requirement for your company. Any stressful event on a building requires a good evaluation.