I'll start by saying I'm not perfect. I've learned some things the hard way that I could have avoided, which in part spurned this whole blog. This week's topic covers one of those things learned by trial and error (but mostly error).

If you are responsible for fire protection bid plans and you expect a contractor to provide hydraulic calculations, then you should include flow test information on your plans.

NFPA 13 does just about everything but require a flow test to be completed on the preliminary plans.

Annex material, for instance, has long spelled out that preliminary plans should be submitted to the AHJ prior to the development of working plans by a contractor (A.14.1 in 2002 Edition, A.22.1 in 2007-10, A.23.1 in 2013-16, A.27.1 in 2019). These preliminary plans should include test information with date and time, conducting party, location of hydrants, and size of mains.

If it is not a requirement in 13 to have it included in preliminary plans, then why provide it when the contractor can?

Well, there are several reasons.

1. Determine Fire Pump & Water Storage Tank Prior to Bidding

Is a fire pump required for the project?

It’s an important question – the cost impact to an owner is often between $50,000 and $120,000 between the pump, controls, piping and equipment, and possible generator when a pump is required.

Is the available flow to the site low, needing a break-tank or a full water storage tank?

The cost impact to an owner here is even greater.

If a flow test is not included on preliminary plans, how is a contractor supposed to confirm that a pump or a tank are not necessary? Take the word of the engineer? Guess based on past-history?

For flat-terrain areas with little construction activity over time, anticipating the available supply might be possible. For hilly areas where I live with a wide variety of water main sizes, it can be next-to-impossible to guess an available water supply at any given location.

If you are a prudent contractor and you are to bid a job without clear water supply information, what would you do? Bid a price conservatively high to anticipate large pipe sizes with a poor water supply? That’s possible – but then you’re also far less likely to win the job. Bid a competitive price, but exclude larger pipe sizes or a fire pump/tank? That could work to win the job, but what happens when the actual flow test is run and you determine a fire pump is necessary?

I’ll tell you what happens – the owner gets a very large change order they weren’t anticipating and the general contractor, sprinkler contractor, and design team all look bad.

Part of my role is creating upfront preliminary plans for owners & architects that go out to bid, but I also work for sprinkler contractors to produce installation/shop drawings. I’m very fortunate in that I get to see both sides of the industry.

A Real-World Example

One current job that I’m working for a local sprinkler contractor on is a new-construction five-story medical office building. It’s a great building with tall floor-to-ceiling heights and a fifth-story ceiling that’s about 80 feet above ground level.

The preliminary plans call for an FM Global Hazard Category-2 shelled area (0.20 gpm over 2,500 sqft) on the top level. Once the flow test came in, even with good pressure, it wasn’t enough to support this hazard classification.

Could the hazard classification get bumped down to better align with the future tenant use? Possibly. Could a fire pump be added to the project at a significant cost, late in construction? Possibly.

Either case, this all could have been avoided had flow test information been provided on the original plans. Bidding contractors wouldn’t be eligible to claim large change orders based on unanticipated pressure, and they can flag issues before they even submit bids.
​
2. Reduce Potential for Major Change Orders

Too often the single cost that a building owner is concerned with is the total cost of the job at bid. They should be concerned about the total cost of the project, including change orders and including the lifecycle of the system.
What good does accepting a low bid do if it is later rife with change order cost additions? It happens all the time with poorly prepared bid plans.

Including a flow test as part of the preliminary plans removes a major potential change order opportunity as it enables the sprinkler contractor to do their own pre-bid layout and calculation should they choose to do so.

3. Removes Potential Conflict of Interest

I have encountered misreadings of pressures from a gauge in the field, test results that were incorrectly copied between documents, and flow tests that were suspicious enough to go and re-test.

I (thankfully) have never come across anyone doctoring flow test numbers.

Is it possible that a contractor could fudge flow test numbers to save on pipe sizes and improve their bottom line? It’s possible. Virtually all of the contractors I’ve come across are very proud of their installations and are in the business because they care about life safety. Have I ever seen it happen? No. Could it? Yes.

When an engineer provides the water supply information upfront, however, this potential conflict of interest evaporates.

4. It’s Not That Hard to Get

For all the information we expect contractors to produce after they win a job, could we as engineers not produce such an important (and basic) piece of information?

Some water purveyors run hydrant flow tests at no cost. Some jurisdictions will do the same.

Even when both don’t run the tests, you can do it yourself. Read and follow NFPA 291, watch some videos, pickup a flow test kit for $400-$600, and remember to open and close valves slowly. It’s not terribly hard to do.

If you aren’t interested in running the test, hire a contractor. I’ve seen tests run as cheap as $150 and as expensive as $1,200 (a 3-hour drive each way), but they are often between $350 and $550 to have completed. Local contractors are more than capable of providing this service and they can do so quickly.

One of the biggest hassles in running a test early is often the tight design schedule many projects are on, and explaining to the owner why a flow test should be done upfront when a sprinkler contractor could just to it later. This article at least helps you address the later concern.

5. It’s Fair to Bidders

Bidding contractors are often not as concerned about how much or how little you want them to do. If you want schedule 40 throughout, they’ll provide schedule 40 throughout. If you want a nitrogen system, they’re provide a nitrogen system.
What contractors are extremely concerned about is that their bid price is fairly compared to other contractors. They will not provide schedule 40 if they feel another contractor will not provide it. Same with nitrogen or any other upgrades that could otherwise greatly benefit the building owner.

Water supply information is one of those key pieces of information that allow contractors to bid on an even playing field.

6. Retain Data History

How often do you find old building design documents that don’t include shop drawings? If you’re like me, it’s all the time. An engineer’s pre-bid plans don’t often have a wealth of helpful information – but having a little water supply block is a helpful data point when comparing historical water supply points.

Since engineer’s preliminary plans often get stored and tracked with the rest of the construction documents, including the water supply information can be a helpful way to retain that information for designs and renovations in the future.

​I’ll slowly now descend from my soapbox by saying again that I’m not perfect. I’ve sent far too projects out to bid without water supply information than I would like to admit, often without any legitimate excuse.  As an in-house goal we now try to hunt down water supply information for every project that we expect to see a hydraulic calculation by the contractor. That’s every building addition, occupancy hazard change, and every new construction project. It’s just too important of a data point to leave out for bidders.
 
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This week I'm wrapping up some coverage of fire standpipe systems. In case you missed it, here are the recent articles on this topic thus far:

   An Introduction to Standpipes
   Addressing Egress & Clearances for Standpipe Hose Connections
   Standpipe Connection Location by Code Edition

Whether a standpipe hose connection should be located on a floor-level landing or an intermediate-level landing has been a classic tactical and design discussion in the fire protection community.

Defining Floor versus Intermediate Landings
A main floor-level landing is the horizontal portion of a stairway where the stair risers stop and occupants can enter a floor level, leave a floor level, or turn to walk on the stair itself.

Intermediate-level landings are the horizontal portion of a stairway where the stair risers top and occupants can turn to continue onto the stair.
​

Connections at intermediate level landing requires that designers and engineers account
​for the additional hose length needed just to cross the stair. ​

Benefits of Connections at Intermediate-Level Landings
With all the benefits to designers, installers, and overall simplicity, why would intermediate-level landings be considered? Mostly it’s about first responders and the tactical approach in firefighting.
​

In January, suppression expert Bob Upson presented a webinar on frequently asked questions concerning standpipe systems out of NFPA 14 with NFSA's online teaching platform. If you work with standpipe systems regularly, I'd highly recommend it. 

One of the topics he discussed was a brief history of how both the International Building Code (IBC) and NFPA 14 (Standard for the Installation of Standpipe and Hose Systems) have changed over time between requiring standpipe hose connections on intermediate floor-level landings to floor-level landings.

By floor-level landings, typically you would have a hose connection 3-5 feet above the floor level immediately at the landing upon entering an exit stair.

To get to a hose connection on an intermediate-level landing, you would enter the stair and walk down a single flight of stairs to get to the next landing (typically opposite of the main floor level landing).

I was interested in exploring this code history in a little more detail - so below is a compilation of the last 20 years of the IBC and NFPA 14 and where standpipe hose connections have been required by each code edition within exit stairs.

This week’s 2019 NFPA Conference and Expo in San Antonio is the first professional conference I have attended. I couldn’t have imagined how positive and productive just three days here would be.

A special shout-out and thank you to Engineered Corrosion Solutions (ECS) for offering to host me in booth 460 and for all the encouragement and support along the way. Last year they offered to carve out a space in their both for me to set up shop, and I greatly appreciate that opportunity!

As a complete rookie to the conference experience, here are my top takeaways from attending my first one:
​
1. I'm Fortunate to be in the PE Space
In the first two days alone I’ve met a good handful of people that stopped by to talk about their PE experience and share feedback from buying the prep guide or online prep series questions. All of the interactions were overwhelmingly positive.

I genuinely relish these experiences – it’s one thing to know fundamentally that the prep guide and online resources are helpful, but it’s a humbling experience to shake hands with people who’ve tried 4 times to pass and didn’t until they went all in with the prep material I’ve helped curate.

Those that pass can attest passing is all about time and intentional focus, and it's all in the individual taking the test. There's no material that can pass a test for someone, but I'm so thrilled every time to hear from those that have succeeded and am happy to help however I can.

It’s hard to say how much I appreciate those of you that I’ve met this week that stopped in to share your experience. I really do enjoy celebrating your success and accomplishment.

​2. It's a Great Opportunity to See Former Colleagues
Conferences like these are great ways to pull together people from all over the country (and world). Catching up with former friends as well as my former boss is time well spent re-connecting. 

3. Alumni networks are alive and well
Speaking of reconnecting – for those who studied fire protection at Oklahoma State, WPI, or Maryland – the conference is a great meeting ground to connect with other major players in the industry. I attended the University of Maryland’s top-secret and exclusive dinner for the first time and met some fun, fascinating and really outstanding people. I’m not allowed to talk about the sacrificed animals or secret handshake to get into the dinner, but if you ever get a chance to attend one of your alumni meetups I’d very much encourage you to do so.

4. The Fire Protection Ecosystem
The main theme of the conference has been the improvement of fire protection and life safety through the ecosystem – essentially each person within industry plays to different roles and certainly has different strengths.

“The more connected we are, the more effective we’ll be at protecting the world together.” - Keith Williams, UL President and CEO and Trustee, NFPA Board of Directors.

The emphasis is that the better connected we are and the better we understand our strengths and our roles – the better we’ll be able to move the industry forward as a whole. While a fairly high-level concept, I’ve thought about this a lot and the website and emphasis on access and sharing of knowledge is exactly where I feel I can help support this effort.

5. Developing Platforms for the Right Knowledge at the Right Time
One of the fundamental questions about the Ecosystem is how do we create the platforms that foster getting the right knowledge at the right time, in the right environment. In the NFPA-lens I’m sure that discussion is about availability of standards and how that’s developed, marketed, and distributed.

In a similar sense that’s exactly what I’ve concerned myself with over the past few years. We know that the generation who’s grown up with google (and didn’t have to wait for Jeeves to answer everything) desire and are often better at grabbing information instantaneously. What are those platforms that can help foster quality information in real time? It’s an open-ended question but it’s something that I’ve heard through many organizations that are looking to help transition information for the new way the industry works.

6. Chris Logan is One Cool Dude
As a parent of young kids we read these books on “Pete the Cat”. If you’ve ever read them you’ve probably wondered like me what 7th grader is now a millionaire by writing and illustrating these books about a savvy and all around groovy cat named Pete. I don’t understand how they’re popular, but my 2-year old and 4-year old love them and of course Pete is one top cat in a world of dogs.

Back to the topic at hand – I think of Chris Logan as a real life version of Pete the Cat. If you don’t know, Chris created the Fire Sprinkler Podcast out of Ontario less than a year ago and it has really become a major success. I was very fortunate to grab drinks with him at the conference and he described exactly my feelings about the industry our impact – we’re not the expert but we are happy to bring together quality people in the industry to at least start the conversation.

If you haven’t tuned in to some of his podcasts, you might consider it. I see Chris’ trajectory with his podcast project as becoming a very big deal (even more-so than it already is) in the coming years.

7. Lots of Great Things Coming
Without being too shady, there are a lot of projects I’m excited to work on with the website and in collaboration with some organizations that could happen in the very near future.

​While some of these concepts we discussed for just the first time, I’m optimistic that there are very good things in store that can have a relevant and positive impact for you and I. Thanks for reading and taking part in the journey!

Hope your week in fire protection is going well.

Standpipes within stairs can be an important item to coordinate with the project architect, as the fix for the lack of coordination can be extremely difficult to accomplish in the field. This week I'm breaking down an enlarged floor plan detail for a standpipe hose connection within a stairwell.

Avoiding the Egress Path
The image above shows the clear span that's required to maintain clearance. How do you know the radius of this line? Just take the width of the stair, set the center of your arc to the edge of the stair, and draw your arc from one end of the stair to the other. This is an extension of the required egress of the stair to turn on the landing and move the other direction.

Is it possible and allowed to locate small parts of the hose connection within this clear span? There could be a basis for it. 

In design I try to avoid any controversy by locating both the standpipe and those valve entirely outside of this egress path. Doing so may require a little extra space on the landing, but it is far better than finding out after the stair is constructed that you're short on space.

Structural Conflicts
A traditional new-construction stair will likely have support for the stairwell landing incorporated into the stair enclosure, or contain a beam across the landing where the landing meets the beginning of the stairs if it's a concrete stair. These new builds don't present too much of a challenge to coordinate with structure.

However, for retrofits or stairs that do not simply jog back and forth, beware of beams that could run where you'd like to locate the standpipe connections. Core drilling a 4-inch to 10-inch hole through a concrete beam will not make you good friends with the structural engineer.

Handle Clearance
The hose connection is required to have 3-inches of clearance on all sides of the handle. (NFPA 14 2013-19 4.7.5)

​It's not enough to just stick your hand and start turning the valve, we have to remember that it's the firefighter's thermally insulated and rigid gloves that must turn the hose valve while the building is literally on fire. Giving 3-inches of clearance just feels like a minimally-nice gesture to thank your local first responder.

Drain Riser
Lastly, don't forget about the drain riser.

If the standpipe includes pressure-reducing valves, these valves require testing and it's required to have a way to connect directly to an oversized drain riser that can handle the testing. This can be done with capped outlets on the drain riser that can accept a hose connection for testing.

NFPA 14 provides guidance on sizing the drain riser in this scenario: 3-inch drain riser for 2-1/2-inch pressure reducing devices, a 2-inch riser for 1-1/2-inch pressure reducing devices, or sized large enough to handle the full flow from the largest pressure reducing device. (NFPA 14 20037.12, 2007-19 7.11.1)

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​If you'll be in San Antonio next week, be sure to stop by and say hi at booth 460. Would be happy to meet you in person! Drop me a note here or an email and let me know!

Hope your week is going very well.

This week I'd like to open a short series on standpipes. Today's article is a basic overview of some basic requirements associated with standpipes used for fire suppression.

Purpose
Standpipes are used to support manual firefighting efforts by delivering water to hard-to-reach areas of a building. The intent of a standpipe system is to avoid having to distribute and connect hundreds of feet of hose for a single interior attack by firefighters.

Hard-to-reach areas of a building aren't confined to one direction. Buildings which are very tall (highrises) or are deep underground, or are very wide by nature could all have portions of the building which would be difficult to reach.

Applicable Codes & Standards
In the US, the International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC) are often the first stop for standpipe requirements. While the two codes mirror each other, the International Building Code requires standpipes based on:

• height (a story located more than 30 feet above the lowest level of fire department access, or 30 feet below the highest level of fire department access) (see IBC Section 905.3.1)
• unsprinklered assembly occupancies (see IBC Section 905.3.2)
• covered and open mall buildings (see IBC Section 905.3.3)
• stages (see IBC Section 905.3.4)
• underground buildings (see IBC Section 905.3.5)
• helistops and heliports (see IBC Section 905.3.6)
• marinas and boatyards (see IBC Section 905.3.7)
• rooftop gardens and landscaped roofs (see IBC Section 905.3.8)

Once it has been determined whether a standpipe system is required or not, the IBC and IFC defer to NFPA 14 to prescribe how the system is to be installed.

Class of Standpipes
Standpipes can be classified in several areas. The first is the class of standpipe, which relates directly to the hose connection type and the intended user. Based on 1-1/2 inch hose failures and the associated testing that goes along with them, 1-1/2 inch hose stations are much less common today.

I've found many situations with sprinklered buildings where hose stations have been removed as they are no longer required and are a burden for testing and maintenance. Here are the standpipe classifications, with Class I being by far the most common in the US today:

• Class I: provides 2-1/2 inch (64 mm) hose connections for fire department and trained use.
• Class II: provides 1-1/2 inch (38 mm) hose stations to supply for building occupants or initial fire department response
• Class III: provides 1-1/2 inch (38 mm) hose stations for building occupants and 2-1/2 inch (64 mm) hose connections for fire department and trained use

Types of Standpipe
The other defining description for standpipe is when water is delivered, and at what relative pressure. Types of standpipes include:

• Automatic dry: normally filled with pressurized air where water is delivered automatically when a standpipe hose cap is removed. The water, when delivered, is capable of supplying the system demand.
• Automatic wet: normally filled with water capable of supplying the system demand automatically.
• Manual dry: normally filled with air and without a permanent water supply. Water is required from a pumper truck in order to meet system demand.
• Manual wet: normally filled with water that is not at a pressure capable of supplying the system demand. Manual wet systems require  water to be pressurized by a fire department pump in order to meet system demand.

Components of a Vertical Standpipe
Standpipes are not always vertical standpipes, but for multi-story buildings they are the most prevalent and are the topic of discussion this week.

Flexible Coupling

• Purpose: Flexible couplings are included near floor levels to prevent catastrophic damage to the suppression system from the building structure while the building structure is moving in an earthquake. Flexible couplings allow the vertical pipe within a standpipe (or sprinkler system) to tolerate the horizontal building movement and still stay connected.
• Where Required: Within 12 inches above and 24 inches below floor level in multi-story buildings. [NFPA 13 2002-16 9.3.2.3(2), 2019 18.2.3]
• When Required: When the building requires seismic protection (seismic design category C, D, E, or F). Couplings are also provided at each floor level (often just above the floor level) to aid in installation.

Isolation Valve

• Purpose: Standpipe isolation valves allow shutdown of a single standpipe without interrupting the water supply to other vertical standpipes. This can play an important role with maintenance, repair, modification, or during active firefighting scenarios.
• Where Required: Isolation valves are required on all standpipes (including dry standpipes). [NFPA 14 2003 6.2.2, 2007-19 6.3.2]

Penetration Clearance

• Purpose: Clearance around floor penetrations are important for seismic bracing, again to prevent damage to the system from the building structure during an earthquake.
• Size: The diameter of the hole or sleeve must be 2-inches larger for pipes 1 to 3-inches in diameter, or 4-inches larger than the pipe for pipe 4-inches or larger in diameter. [NFPA 13 2002-16 9.3.4.2 and 9.3.4.3, 2019 18.4.2 and 18.4.3]
• Where Required: Where pipe passes through platforms, foundations, walls or floors, except where flexible couplings are located within 1-foot of each side of the penetration. [NFPA 13 2002-16 9.3.4.5, 2019 18.4.5]

Pressure Gauge

• Size: Not smaller than ¼-inch (6 mm). [NFPA 14 2003 5.6.1, 2007-19 5.5.1]
• Where Required: For standpipes, a pressure gauge is required at the top of each standpipe. [NFPA 14 2003 5.6.1, 2007-19 5.5.1]

Riser Clamp

• Purpose: Riser clamps are used to provide support to vertical pipe.
• Where Required: Within 24-inches (610 mm) of the centerline of the riser, to support the riser horizontally. In multi-story buildings, riser supports are required at the lowest level, at each alternate level, above and below offsets, and at the top of the riser. [NFPA 13 2002 9.2.5.3.1, 2007-16 9.2.5.4.1, 2019 17.4.5.4.1] Support above the lowest level to prevent movement upward when flexible fittings are used. [NFPA 13 2002 9.2.5.3.2, 2007-16 9.2.5.4.2, 2019 17.4.5.4.2]

Standpipe Hose Connections

• Purpose: To provide a point of connection for firefighters to connect hoses and get water to manually fight the fire.
• Where Located: At 3-feet (0.9 m) to 5-feet (1.5 m) above floor level. [NFPA 14 2003 7.3.1, 2007-19 7.3.1.1]
• Where Required: We’ll explore this in greater detail in the articles to come. There's volumes of information about these requirements, but for reference be sure to check NFPA 14 2003-19 7.3.2-7.3.4 and IFC 905.4-905.6.

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A few times each month I get questions about various parts of the website. This week I thought I'd introduce myself and the process around here a little more with the most commonly asked questions about the site:

Who Does the Sketches?
Originally when I started the website I did all of the illustrations posted on the blog. I started sketching during our architectural studio courses in college and even still run an online art shop selling minimalist sketches on Etsy.

Starting in late 2017, however, I realized I was able to focus more on blog content if I hired help for the illustrations, which was when I brought in an artisan Diana who is both an architect and an illustrator. She does most of the fantastic illustrations you see around the website now.

How are the Illustrations Completed?
The illustrations are simply created using a tablet and Adobe Photoshop.

The typically thick outlines with thinner interiors is fundamentally a method used in architectural renderings that is commonly taught in architecture school. The color function is typically a combination of digital brushes that offer texture to the piece, and the font used in all of these illustrations is actually a custom font I created many years ago based on my handwriting (a far more tedious and difficult process than I ever would have guessed).

How Much & When Do I Work on the Website?
A couple months ago I met a client for lunch who received a blog post via email as I was in the parking lot walking up to meet him. He laughed and asked if I pressed the send button while parking.

Fortunately, the blog content, daily questions, toolkit updates, and just about everything else on this site doesn't have to be posted live. I get up between 5 and 5:30 am every day of the week to write and develop resources until my kids wake up around 6:30. All in all it's roughly 6-8 hours a week to put together what you see here, and certainly not written and sent at 11:00am while I'm working my day job.

Why Do MeyerFire?
First, fire protection is way too important of an industry to take casually and not care about. You didn't get into this field to be a casual observer and neither did I - people in fire protection are regularly far more passionate about the trade than what you'll find in other disciplines like mechanical and electrical engineering. Not a knock on them - but us fire protection folk or a pretty tight-knit and passionate group.

I'm fortunate to have experience working for large and small companies, and I've found that overall the fire protection industry is comprised of many small outfits - contractors, engineers, designers - and one of the best ways I can bring value and positively impact the industry is by connecting smart people and good ideas. That's what this website is all about.

I once heard a presentation on more regulation and oversight will rule out bad fire protection design & installation. I don't think the problem is with regulation - I think it's with education. The more resources and helpful material we can share around the industry the better off we'll all be. As JFK said, "a rising tide raises all boats."

How Long is MeyerFire Going to Continue?
You got it, this site is going to self destruct in August.

Just kidding - I have long-term and sustainable plans to continue writing weekly while continuing PE Prep material as well as developing improvements to the Toolkit and other resources. Being that I've scratched about 5% of my list of future ideas, there's plenty of work still to be done.

Is it Profitable?
There was a local SFPE golf tournament last year where I had the privilege of golfing with a local colleague who had purchased a PE Prep Guide in the prior year and passes the PE Exam. I was excited to meet him in person and he felt the same - however he said he was disappointed that (1) I was younger than he was and (2) I didn't roll up in a Mercedes with how expensive the book was.

Despite the high cost of the PE Prep Guide, most of the profit I use to roll forward and invest into development of other tools. I still do all of the website editing, tool development, writing for the Prep Guide, and blog development, but I hire help for illustrations, industry research, software development, and marketing. For all of the time I put in "blogging" has paid about or a little less than my day job on an hourly basis, but the impact of this endeavour has been far more valuable than just the financials.

Also, despite working with contractors in a land full of Ford F-350s, I drive a Corolla.

​Who is Joe Meyer?
I used to say I'm just a guy typing away in his basement in the wee hours of the morning.

Fortunately I got a major promotion a few months ago and now type out of the first floor office. The best part of this story is that this office is also not in my parent's house. I live in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, with my beautiful wife, three kids and a dog. We have a four-year-old, two-year-old, and a four-month old - so as you can imagine our home is very lively.

I first became interested in fire protection engineering while studying architectural engineering at the University of Kansas. A guest speaker came into one of our freshman introductory courses and the industry sounded very appealing - good career prospects, expertise in a niche, and most important fighting to help save lives. I turned that piqued interest into a couple different fire protection internships and later studied under the University of Maryland's Master of Engineering in Fire Protection program.

After school I worked at a large MEP firm in Kansas City, Missouri, with a leading group of 40+ fire protection engineers and designers. I've since moved to run fire protection design for a small 35-person MEP, Structural and Fire Protection firm in St. Louis.

My experience and education to date does not make me an expert in the field. I believe there's something to learn from everyone every single day. For me, this blog and website are about two things - the first is to connect & empower people in the industry so that all of us in the industry benefit, and the second is to chart some of my own journey in trying to understand more about fire protection all the time. Thank you for supporting this effort!

Meetup at the NFPA Conference & Expo
If you're attending NFPA's Conference in San Antonio in two weeks (June 17th-19th), be sure to stop by booth 460 and say hello. Some great colleagues at Engineered Corrosion Solutions (also headquartered in St. Louis) have graciously allowed me to hang out in their booth during the Expo so that I can meet people like you.

​Let me know you'll be there by dropping a line at jdmeyer@meyerfire.com or commenting here.

I'm excited to announce a new addition to the Toolkit that has been in development for a long time - the NFPA 13 Edition Translator.

2019 Changes

With the major restructuring changes in the 2019 Edition of NFPA 13 - it has been difficult for me to flip straight to the content I'm used to doing. From the feedback I've heard I'm not alone on that learning curve.

As a result, a couple weeks ago I released the first version of the translator, which takes any numerical section from the 2016 or 2019 edition, and returns the matching section from the opposite edition.

Full Tool Now Available

This full version is quite the powerhouse. With over 130 hours of research included, it can now take any numerical section from any edition of NFPA 13 from 1999 through the 2019 edition, and returns the matching section throughout it's history.

Why?

Why could this be helpful? If you work across multiple jurisdictions or your local jurisdiction just updated to a new edition of NFPA 13, the shift in organization can be frustrating. 

If you use the free versions of NFPA 13 that are supported by NFPA, then this tool could help you quickly navigate equivalent sections.

Probably the most common use I have is finding the back-history of where a section first appeared and where to look for it in past editions. This comes up occasionally for projects when there's disagreement about a particular section of code and searching for the back-history and any clarifications in future editions is very helpful.

Available Now

If you're a Toolkit subscriber, you can download the latest version of the Toolkit, including this edition translator, here. 

I've made it easier to download updates for Toolkit users. You can access the latest version and quickly download it at www.meyerfire.com/download. No sign in required.

​Find this interesting? Consider sending to a friend or colleague who might find it helpful.

It's always a bit of a wild ride between March and May around here publishing the new edition of the PE Prep Guide. Each year I go through all of the prior year's feedback, make the updates I want, and then wait for the official SFPE list of required references to make any changes and publish.

​Good & Bad News

The good news is for 2019 that the books are here a whole month earlier than I was anticipating - thanks to SFPE's early posting of the 2019 required reference list in early April. If you order a copy with our current sale, we'll get it headed your way in less than 24 hours.

The bad news is that SFPE has also just revised the required reference list again just last week, well after their usual April posting and also after I sent the 2019 edition to the publisher. I guess this isn't really bad news at the latest update just took NFPA 25 from the 2014 edition to the 2014 OR 2017 edition, and NFPA 92 from the 2012 edition to the 2012 OR 2015 edition. 
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I don't know for sure, but I suspect that this change was based on recent feedback SFPE gathered about introducing older standards to the exam than what they've previously used. I'm guessing it was in good faith to not force examinees to go hunt down older versions of these standards while not materially affecting this exam.

Regardless, this week I was happy to receive the largest shipment of books we've ever had (a FedEx Freight semi-truck dropped off a 480 pound pallet of books at our home Thursday) and we've already shipped over three dozen books in the last 24 hours. 
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PE Guide Growth

If you're in the hunt for the PE Exam this year, you might consider getting a copy of the PE Prep Guide. Last year over 2 out of every 3 examinee had the 2018 edition in hand, and many of the last 1/3rd had prior editions of the guide. It's quickly becoming the go-to resource for the Fire Protection PE Exam and is well beyond what I could ever have hoped would happen when I put the first guide together in 2016.

Weekly Exam Prep Series

If you already have the 2018 Edition, you might consider the Weekly Exam Prep Series. It's a 20-week set of mini-exams that simulate the pace and difficulty of the actual PE Exam, with a bank of on-demand questions as well.

For the numbers we're still gathering from last year's users of the Weekly Exam Series, we're having tremendous success with those who are taking the exam for the 2nd or 3rd time with a pass rate double the average of all repeat examinees. Check it out especially if you're a repeat examinee.

The feedback and growth for the Weekly Exam Series has also been great - there's already as many people signed up for this year as we did all of 2018. 

Thank you for the feedback and interest so far - I can't wait to get these books out to everyone and get the summer of study rolling. Any questions/concerns - I'm always here at jdmeyer@meyerfire.com. 
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