Joe Meyer, PE | Fire Protection Engineer at MeyerFire
 
We’re a few weeks out from the P.E. Exam. I’ve been studying – not exactly as much as I would like, but I’ve been trying.

My scores aren’t exactly where I would want them to be. I don’t feel ready. Should I even take this exam?

THAT FEELING
If you’re taking the P.E. Exam (or have taken it), you know the feeling.

It feels like there’s a lot at stake.

Why? The exam is only once a year. It matters for my future career. For options, flexibility, pay, and recognition. Prep costs a lot. The exam itself isn’t free. I really don’t want to take it again.

As a college student, I didn’t know anything about fire protection.

I knew sprinkler systems existed. I knew fire alarms were loud. I knew how a fire drill worked. But as a career path? No idea that it was even an engineering discipline.

As it turns out, I wasn’t alone. Most college students don’t know about fire protection as a career.

Most don’t realize that it’s (1) in high demand, (2) well-paying, (3) technically challenging, and (4) is very meaningful work. Most people don’t plan to enter fire protection at all. Many fall into it and end up loving it.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT
I was studying architectural engineering at the time. Loved architecture. Loved construction. Was decent at math and science. Then one day in an intro-level class, I caught a guest lecture on fire protection engineering.

Seemed viable. Stable. Different. 

Perhaps most appealing was that it seemed like an industry where I could make an actual impact.

LANDING THAT FIRST INTERNSHIP
But, knowing about a field was one thing. Having that spark is great. But what’s that next step?

How do I actually land an internship or job? As a student, that’s not an obvious answer.

What companies actually do fire protection? Who hires interns? Are jobs even posted anywhere? Will calling 30 places actually go anywhere?

Many of the best opportunities don’t even show up online. As I know now, many smaller organizations – often the best places to learn – don’t have formal recruiting at all. So there ends up being this massive gap between being interested and landing that first opportunity.

HIRING COMPANIES EXIST
As I know now, companies are hiring. They’re looking for talent.

But - they can’t be at every career fair. They don’t always recruit consistently. Many don’t have the systems to find the students.

Both sides exist - they just don’t easily connect. There’s a massive disconnect.

Fire protection is a great field. Real demand. Real opportunity. Unfilled jobs. Long-term impact.

But the path to it isn’t obvious.

What seems like charting our own course is actually the most common path.

85% of fire protection designers and engineers in consulting firms didn’t have a fire protection degree going in. The industry is a melting pot of people from many different backgrounds.

THE STUDENT CONNECTOR
Being on the other side now, our fix is pretty simple. We’re calling it the Student Connector.

If you’re a student, and you’re even a little interested in fire protection, the industry wants to know!

Consultants, contractors and agencies often right in your neighborhood don’t know you exist.

How it works:
- You share a few details about yourself (school, degree, what you’re seeking)
- We make that visible to vetted fire protection organizations actively looking for talent
- Employers can see who’s interested – especially in their area
​

A man is walking through the woods and sees a lumberjack working hard to cut a tree. The lumberjack is exhausted, sweating, and has been sawing for hours with little progress.

The man asks, “How long have you been cutting that tree?”

Lumberjack replies, “Five hours – and I’m exhausted!”

The man looks at the saw and says, “Why don’t you take a break and sharpen your saw?”

The Lumberjack responds, “I can’t, I’m too busy cutting!”
 
There are different versions of the parable; you may have heard it before. Yet today, more than ever, our work lives are too busy to spend time helping ourselves out.

OUR CRITICAL ASSET
Our most critical asset is time. It’s a massive limitation, and yet we are all given the same amount each week.

What I’d like to beg you to consider is investing your time in your future. Not in a “work hard today so you don’t have to tomorrow,” or even “go make as much money as you possibly can,” that seemed to be an undertone in our parents’ and their parents’ generations.

I’m talking about investing time in order to get more time back.
 
THINKING LINEARLY
Our brains evolved to survive in environments where change was mostly linear and local. Survival was based on gradual change, local change, and physical outcomes. We’re wired to be extremely good at pattern recognition, cause-and-effect thinking, and short-term projections.

Not long-term exponential returns or compounding benefits.

To be fully candid, it’s a topic I can’t wrap my head around. Not in a self-deprecating way, but in a "I see it but struggle to accept it" kind of way. I can see it on paper. I can map it out. I can see investment in concept, but every projection I write or spreadsheet I drag out, my inner gut simply cannot accept that future path to be true. It’s as if once the trajectory starts to curve, I reject it as being far too sunny and optimistic.

So if you look at compounding returns as a magical theory of futurists – I can appreciate that because my inner gut agrees with you.

That said, it’s time to think of your most precious resource as a very important investment.

If you’re busy – overloaded – more stressed than you want to be – or working with smaller margins than you want to be – then you need to invest in getting back your own time.

Metaphorically, it’s time to stop sawing the tree and time to spend even just a fraction of your time sharpening your own blade.

The funny thing is that I actually just came from the future with the future you, and the one thing you kept saying was “PLEASE TELL ME TO FREE UP MY TIME! IT’S CRAZYLAND OUT HERE.”

So I’m doing the only responsible thing I can think to do and tell you now – it’s time to sharpen your blade.

How can we invest time in our own methods when we don’t have any time? How can we invest time when we don’t have any of it? I’m already working 50 hours a week!

A few tips that have worked for me.

TIP #1: JUST START
First, start. Start with just 15 minutes a week. You have to start a snowball by rolling just a little bit of snow. You can’t eat an elephant without taking the first bite. Any progress is better than no progress.

TIP #2: START SMALL
Second, start small. Don’t shoot for that report template that will take a week and has been on your to-do list for three years. Don’t. Start small, exceptionally small. That one detail that you have to change, and it irks you on every project. That one paragraph you have to hunt down and paste into emails every few weeks. That one prompt you can’t easily find and have to go look up. Start small with easy wins.

TIP #3: DO IT FIRST
Third, do it first. Your week will have fires you’ll have to put out. You’ll have meetings. You’ll have your workload. If you save this “sharpen the tool” effort until Friday afternoon, it will never happen. You know that to be true. If you want it done, do it first. Before anything else. Remember, we’re only starting with 15 minutes a week. Do it before you even open up your email in the morning.

TIP #4: GRAB THE LOW-HANGING FRUIT
Attack the lowest-hanging fruit. The analogy is obvious – the lowest-hanging fruit is the easiest fruit to grab. Start there. Start with small, quick and easy wins to regain even small chunks of time.

TIP #5: REINVEST YOUR TIME SAVINGS
Then finally, reinvest your time. At first, your time savings are extremely small. That’s how compounding works. Your 15-minute time investment that first week should only save you a minute of work in your next. Maybe, maybe you earn a minute back… fine. Add that minute to your 15 from week 1, and now you’ve got 16 minutes to reinvest into sharpening your saw. Update your templates. Update your library. Save down your process. Make a checklist. Save down a good prompt. Organize.

I’ll talk more about methods next week, but these investments are all about you building your own tools that help you work more smoothly and smartly going forward.

After Week 2?

Same thing, maybe you earn a minute more of your time back. In fact, weeks into recharging your life, we’re still talking about very, very small time returns.

​If you gain back just 10% of your invested time as future time savings… it actually accrues exceptionally slowly. Here’s what investing 15 minutes at the start of your week looks like, represented at scale:​Nothing amazing happens, even weeks in. That’s very commonly the frustration I think we’ve all experienced at one time or another. What little time we spend improving our own workflows, we get so little time back, and then we get busy and give up.

If we’re going to break through to what the other side can look like, it’s a longer-play. Prioritize earning your time back first, work with small wins, and roll that time savings forward.
​

It’s easy to project – run the numbers and make the assumptions you’d find realistic. My feedback here is that early on, we’ll hardly see the results. It’s only down the road, as each of these little changes compounds, that we’ll start to see the results.
 
When I first went into business for myself, I found that working hard on improving any one thing never showed up with quick results. It was always about six months later when I’d think, “Oh, that’s a lot easier now,” or “That’s not a problem anymore.” The returns were never immediate.
​
And I think that’s generally a healthier mindset looking forward. If we want to change any one thing six months from now, we have to push hard at that thing now.

We work our way into getting 1-hour a week back. Then, it’s 2. Then it’s more, and more, and more. All the while having just as good (if not better) output than we’d had before, yet having more time. Better, more consistent processes. Better quality work. Less stress.

I’m talking in concept. It very well sounds more philosophical and theoretical than real-world boots on the ground realism. But anyone who knows me well or has worked with me in the past ten years knows this is very much a real thing – a real way to operate. Have a worklife and workflow that’s more predictable, lower stress, with more consistent and higher quality work than before.

I’m not asking for your time for something I need. I’m asking for your time for something you need, and we all need. Get your time back, where you’re more in control, doing the best work you’ve ever done, and living a healthier, less-stressful life through that process.

Next we’ll talk on the objections that we get when trying to live in fantasy-land, but more realistically address how we can best invest our time to earn more of it and our sanity back. Check it out here.
 
​
- Joe

FIRE PROTECTION DEGREES
In mechanical engineering, you can show up to one of hundreds of college career fairs and (boom!) you have 100+ candidates that have a relevant, directly-applicable degree.

In fire protection, we have engineering and tech programs, but of course, many of us know that they’re not enough. Too few programs, too scattered, with too few graduates.

There are geographical issues (think "no fire protection programs within a 6-hour drive of my business"). Then there's natural constraints of competition for those students.

We know the numbers – we studied it just a few years ago - in the architectural and engineering space, 88% of people entering the fire protection industry don’t start with a fire protection degree.

There are more people like me (with an Architectural Engineering Bachelor’s degree) than there are with a Fire Protection Engineering Bachelor’s degree when entering the field in the A/E space.

It’s July.
 
I have a question for you – in January of 2026, where will you be?
 
What will you be doing?
 
Who will you be?
 
SITUATIONAL IMPROVEMENT
July isn’t exactly a time for New Year’s Resolutions, but we’re squarely halfway through the year.
 
Coincidental timing that I just discovered – 6 months ago I wrote a piece on how, practically, we can create improvement in our own working life. (https://www.meyerfire.com/blog/its-my-fault-so-what-has-to-change)
 
The concept is fairly simple. If I want different results than what I’m getting today, then I first need to accept the responsibility for my own path, and be actively willing to alter my own trajectory.
 
The concept is – it’s my fault – now what do I need to change about my situation?
 
WHAT HAS TO CHANGE?
Today, I want to expand on that just slightly.
 
Six months from today – what has to change? What do you want to be different? Who do you need to become to achieve that?
 
If you’re fine with everything staying the same just as it is today, then great! You’ve found a nice niche. Build on it and continue the course.
 
But if there are things that you’d wish were better. Were easier. Were less-stressful. Were more impactful… then it’s time to take action on altering what things look like six months from now.
 
Just in my own experience, it’s the 6-month window where the change actually comes to fruition.
 
I’m not talking about short-term tasks. Short-term goals. Easily achievable things.
 
I’m talking about the things we wished were better.
 
IMMEDIATE IMPACT?
My common expectation is that if I work on something hard enough, I’ll immediately see an impact; immediately see results.
 
That’s just not how big, impactful things happen.
 
It seems like the effort is more like pushing a giant boulder down a slight slope. I can push and push and push, but I hardly see any traction at all—hardly any momentum.

​​Yet, if I keep at it for long enough, eventually it starts to roll.
 
Applying the same effort to that boulder starts to get more and more movement.
 
Eventually, with time, it starts to roll.
 
With momentum, the pushing gets easier, and the movement starts to happen. Eventually, under its own momentum, the boulder starts to move faster and faster, where pushing isn’t needed at all.
 
That’s the 6-month mark.
 
The problem I have is that my expectation feels like the return should be short. Should be in days, maybe weeks.
​

 
But in reality, for big impactful things that truly affect our current situation, it’s that 6-month mark where results are notably different.
​

  
That doesn’t happen without a whole lot of effort, but it still takes time before that impact hits.
 
YOUR VIEW
What do you need to have changed in your life come January?
 
What change in direction can you make that alters your course?
 
What do you wish could be better?
 
Are you pushing that boulder now?
 
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

​What result do you want to achieve that is different from what you have now?

​Are you willing to make the change?
 
 

p.s. This is the last in a two-part series where I’ve talked about development and the impact-related world I’ve lived in recently, and what I’ve learned from living there.
 
In the coming weeks, I’m very excited to share new articles from Jocelyn Sarrantonio (our new Technical Director and also a Fire Protection Engineer); I think you’ll find her writing to be similarly accessible, casual, and thoughtful, but with a new perspective and different areas of expertise. I’ll continue to contribute, of course, but between the two of us, my hope is that you’ll get to read new content more frequently.
 
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week!
 
- Joe

In terms of workplace culture and career trajectory, saying that someone “has great potential” or any potential already presupposes a role or a specific level of achievement. “Maybe they could be a [insert job title] someday.”
 
Potential is always used in the context of an outside observer. Maybe a manager, maybe an executive, maybe an HR recruiter.
 
This person “has great potential.” For what? That’s my question.
 
Potential to do great things in the world, or potential to execute a job especially well?
 
It may sound like semantics, but in today’s world, I think that distinction is actually becoming really important.
 
Do we look at people’s future in the context of their potential – that is, what they could do in the context of our organization's roles and structures?
 
Or, do we look at people’s future in terms of impact with continuous support in their areas of skill and interest?
 
I think using the term ‘potential’ might unintentionally place a ceiling on any one person’s impact.
 
For hundreds of years now, in a post-industrialized workplace, we operate in roles. Established jobs, established roles, established titles. The work demands these X jobs with Y roles. We build companies on these roles, and try to fill them with good people.
 
By extension, leaders look at others and try to “maximize their potential”, but it’s still in the context of our pre-defined roles.
 
What happens when those roles shift?
 
When tasks change?
 
What happens when AI supplants plenty of things we used to do, and brings about many new things that we’ll only begin to do in the future?

The problem with my description of someone’s 'potential' is that I’m assuming a natural limit to what they can achieve based on the roles I envision.

 
The problem is that there isn’t a limit.
 
I keep coming back to 2004's Cady Heron (it's pronounced "Katie", IYKYK)... there is no limit!

 
If my peak potential had been the best foodrunner in a country club, I would never have left the job I started at 16.
 
If my potential had been doing art sketches in college, I’d still be drawing away on Etsy.
 
If my potential had been to be the best fire protection designer, I’d still be furiously hammering away in that regard.
 
You see where I’m going, and it’s the same for you too.
 
What I’m seeing in today’s world is people breaking through ceilings that they previously would never have thought possible.
 
It’s not just a “huh, I wouldn’t have thought I could do that” – it’s a rocket ship ride of learning and growth far, far faster than they would have ever thought possible.
 
Accessible information online. AI as a coach and a tutor. Leaning into learning and truly owning our education and upskilling.
 
I’m not talking about “ChatGPT made me this nice bobblehead image of myself that I posted online,” I’m talking about designers becoming tool creators, plan reviewers turned entrepreneurs, FPEs turned product designers.

 
There’s a world where you can imagine, brainstorm, and create easier and faster than we’ve ever seen before. There’s a world where we can all be multi-faceted and skilled in multiple ways that we’ve never been able to lean into before. And it’s happening right now, all the time.
 
How many people do you know who had side hustles back in the 1990s? Early 2000s?
 
Maybe there was under-the-table moonlight work going on. People have always had some hobbies on the side.
 
But compared to now?
 
Every day, I hear from people who have toes in different pools. Maybe it’s fire-related, maybe not. Maybe it’s consulting during the day, writing at night. Plan reviews at sunup, teaching at sundown. Wherever you want to learn and grow – wherever you want to upskill – it’s right there.
 
Leaning into our areas of skill and interest – even if they don’t fit into a conventional role – perhaps especially when they don’t fit in a conventional role – those are the ways we end up having far greater impact than we’d ever think possible.
 
Looking at someone through the lens of their potential might be an outdated perspective for our roles and the workplace today.
 
What truly is our ‘potential’ if what we’re able to achieve is limitless? What is ‘potential’ if our learning, our skills, our interests are always-evolving?
 
Our potential is no longer fixed, nor tied to predefined roles.
 
We should embrace the idea that we can always adapt, evolve, and be newer and better versions of ourselves. We don’t need to be defined by ‘potential’ – the future’s out there for us to create for ourselves.
 
 
 
 
p.s. Thanks for joining me for another soapbox of career commentary. I get fired up about these things, and I hope you find the perspective useful-enough to take something away and apply it to what you do.
 
In the next article, I’ll share the six-month-out analogy that is almost always top of mind, and is the only way that I think we can alter our near-term future. It’ll be a bit more grounded than this one. Thanks for reading!

​- Joe

Two weeks ago, we pondered – where is AI today, in March of 2025?

How do baseline, now-popular large language models (LLMs) compare to a practicing Fire Protection Engineer?
Do the models themselves make much of a difference?

That’s both an easy and difficult question to answer, and it raises more questions downstream, too.
 
A FAIR DISCLAIMER
For a little context, I’m not arguing that AI is replacing humans in fire protection. I’m not losing sleep over our industry adapting to changes in technology. I’m not trying to hype AI. I’m not arguing for more use of ChatGPT in our practice.

I am monitoring the ability of AI LLMs compared to our industry benchmarks, and as with everything else, I do favor finding ways for us all to adapt, improve, and make use of resources for our industry.
 
AI VERSES THE FIRE PROTECTION P.E. EXAM
Here’s what common AI LLMs score on a practice Fire Protection P.E. Exam, today, with 70% correct being an approximation for a passing score:

Earlier this week I needed to copy a four-unit apartment where I designed the 13R sprinkler system and simply roll it over into a new job.

It was a complete duplicate building, just in a different location (new jurisdiction, different water supply).

Slam dunk. Easy, done. Right?

Well sure, except then I looked at my prior layout. I couldn’t stand it. I looked at my own set of plans from just three years ago (2020!) and they look terrible.

Now, the actual layout was fine. The sprinkler, locations, pipe are fine. Plans are OK. They were not at a stage that I think the average person would look at them and puke – but when I look at them I want to.

Why?

There are so many different tweaks and improvements on the presentation in three years that the work I do today simply looks very little like the work I was doing just 36 months ago.

The titleblock is hard to read. When you look at the coversheet, it’s a mess of schedules and details and sections seemingly thrown around wherever they would fit. There’s no big bold title at the top, nor any kind of easy recognition on whether this project is on Main Street or Mars.

It’s disjointed, doesn’t flow, isn’t what I would choose to do today. I get little goosebumps now having to stare at it now.

IMPROVEMENT 
We don’t all stand on the shoulders of giants when we start out. We don’t hit perfection right off the bat.

In reality, we should acknowledge that we’re very clearly never operating in a state of perfection. There is always room for improvement.

And even if tradition says that our organization has done something the same way for 25 years, we need to be adapting to the needs of today and making use of the tools of today.

One single big overhaul that changes a whole organization’s work style and work output simply never happens. OK – maybe somewhere for somebody, a big, conscious overhaul of standardization and workflow is theoretically possible. But if it actually has happened somewhere, then it had to be exceptionally painful and surely not quick.

Improvement doesn’t happen ‘when we have time to take that on’. It happens in very very small increments. Micro improvements. A tweak here on this job. A nudge here on this job. A lightbulb on this job.

What worked better? What worked worse?

Adapt and move the chains forward. It’s far better in our world to take the 4-yard gain every single play than it is to throw 3 Hail Mary’s, fail, and then punt on the idea.
 
NO LIGHTNING-STRIKE CHANGES
If we tinker and tweak (surely I’m using some kind of Gen-Z curse word here or something?) things constantly, find what works, and adapt over time – that’s when we do actually make change happen.

We also don’t get this lightning-strike ideas all at once. We get lots of little ideas over time, that, when executed, add up.

It’s only after implementing all the constant little improvements that the big differences can start to show.

That’s why my gut sinks when I look at the presentation from a 2020 project.

It’s not one thing – it’s the 30 things that have all improved since then.

THANKS, JOE. 
Yes, I’m somewhat embarrassed of the work that happened not even that long ago.

But no, I didn’t come here today to brag about my own self-improvement.
 
SPINNING IT FORWARD
What I’m really interested in – is taking that look back and spinning it around.

Where do we want to be, as an organization, in the next three years?

Where do I want to be, as a person, in three years?

Where do we want to take the industry, in three years?

3-YEARS TO TEN? 
Where is it that we can take things? For me as a person, for my team, but also – what about all of us?
 
Three years seems hard enough to imagine. But carry out that thought – where can we all be, as an industry, in ten years?
 
Let’s set aside the news network hysteria and world ending predictions for just a second and assume that things are going to be mostly around in 2033.

That the fire protection industry will be growing and adapting just as it has for the last 120+ years.

What do we want the industry to be in 2033?

OVERESTIMATING THE SHORT GAME, UNDERESTIMATING THE LONG 
A famous person once said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

I find this to be slap-me-in-my-face true.

And I find the evidence for that easily when I look back on the last ten years.

What happened?

Where was I?

What did I know then?

What did I not know then? (answer: it was much more than what I knew)

What was I doing then?

What am I doing now?

2033 
In 2033, will we all be sitting around and griping about the same issues that we gripe about today?

Are we going to fix the issues surrounding delegated design? The boilerplate specs from 1985? Bid drawings that themselves obstruct code? Or perhaps just as important, the apathy some people have towards fire protection?

Is it still going to be a problem?
 
If not – what must happen?

How far away are we from changing the outcome?

Even if it is big – or would take a lot of effort, or resources, or awareness – is it not something that we couldn’t completely change by 2033?

THOUSAND SMALL INCREMENTS 
If we look back – see how all our small changes stack up – and then look back forward: it’s the thousand small increments that will make the big difference.

What are the small actionable items, today, that move us all in the right direction?

How do we break giant problems down so that we can hit the 4-yards of progress now instead of waiting for a Hail Mary in nine years?

What is that?

What does that look like?

TIME + PRESSURE 
I’ve spoken with enough people I admire that I believe in my core that there are few things we can’t solve given enough pressure and enough time. I see a path where we can change the trajectory of the industry if we choose to do so, collectively.

It all depends on what we choose to do today.

What will we etch in a small way today that keeps us moving towards big change tomorrow?

And without sounding like I’ve completely gone off the rails; I think about these things a lot. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to do so with the website and the content and community that hang around here. I am so thankful for that.
I don’t mean taking on big challenges in a figurative sense – I mean it as an actionable challenge.

If you’ve got a gripe with how our industry operates – what are you doing about it? What change can you make now that moves things in a better direction for all of us?

Around here we’ve got “irons in the fire” so to speak to be making progress towards the areas we really care about. Some things maybe awareness. Others education. Maybe resources. Maybe advocacy. 

Maybe they’re slow burns – maybe they won’t come to life for some time – but after lots and lots and lots of little victories maybe they will make it out to the world and make some real tangible change.
 
Ten years from now simply seems unfathomable for me to comprehend. Maybe it’s my age or my kids’ ages or that so much has changed in my world in the last decade. It’s difficult for me to picture it. I can only barely imagine what 2 years from now could look like.

But if you assume that 2033 will happen, that it will hit us at some point: will we be looking back and be mildly embarrassed by how things used to be – because so much has changed? Or will we gripe about the same issues without doing anything about it?

When I first started in the industry I figured every company had access to the senior-level mentors – the knowledge hubs – the experts – the people that could cite code verses faster than they could show you their sprinkler tattoos.
 
Turns out, that situation was more rare than I would have thought.
 
Many organizations – contractors, consultants, building departments, plan reviewers, inspection teams – many do not have a wealth of highly-experienced, highly-trained expertise at their fingertips.
 
If your office does, consider yourself lucky.
 
There are many small businesses throughout the world with some level of fire protection involvement. With the retirement of many Baby Boomers in the US, we are transitioning to a new era beyond having a generation that held so many answers for many years.
 
The reality is – there are many, many organizations where the responsibility of fire protection falls to someone who (shriek!) doesn’t have any sprinkler tattoos.
 
Well, what happens when you’re that person?

What happens when you're the someone who is supposed to have all the fire protection answers?
 
What happens if you’re the “fire protection guy”?
 
[Important note: I mean the term ‘guy’ in a Midwestern-sense, not as a male in gender but as a human. We don’t say “hey y’all” here, nor do we properly say “you all”, rather, it’s usually said as “you guys”. I know. We is what we is. Can't predict the future but I hope this will still age well.]
 
Well, what happens then?
 
WHEN THE BUCK STOPS WITH YOU
This was a big fear of mine when I moved from a large company with many senior-level experts and many resources to a smaller company where I was to be in charge of fire protection issues. I was the end of the line – where the proverbial “buck stopped” as things related to fire protection.
 
My big fear was that without someone else with better technical knowledge, I’d be exposed, the company would be exposed, I'd miss things, or do poor quality work.
 
It’s hard to "know what you don’t know". I’ve certainly learned lessons in avoidable ways.
 
But what I found after the move, without having a direct “fire protection” mentor, is that getting answers could still happen. Help could be made up in a few ways where I could still learn and still maintain a relatively high standard of work.
 
What I had to learn was where to turn when I was the "end of the road."

I had to figure out where to go to conjure an answer for something I didn’t previously know.
 
Simply "guessing," “shooting from the hip," or doing what I “think” is right just doesn’t cut it. I do not, and cannot, instinctively know the industry standard of what has been debated and adopted into code over a hundred years. I can’t “predict” what I think code will say. When I have, I've been wrong.
 
When I have a new or unique situation – a question – a challenge – an ask – for something that I haven’t encountered before – here’s my secret list of go-tos to find that best path forward.
 
For those in large offices, large companies, or who are working under experienced staff – much of this might be trivial. But for those of us in small teams or small organizations, some of these resources can offer major lifelines to collect answers that we didn’t know where already available.
 
Here goes:
 
#1 DEVELOP YOUR OWN CODE PATH
We talk about this a lot on the University platform; and that is developing a formal code path.
 
Codes and standards have a hierarchy. Most begin with a title, chapters, sections and then subsections.
 
It’s far too easy and way too common nowadays to open a code and click “CTRL+F” until we find a sentence that fits the narrative we wanted.
 
CTRL+F is a good method to jump to a term, but a poor way of gaining context.
 
Instead, when we’re trying to find a solution to a particular problem, try starting from the very beginning and document every step along your path. Make a trail. Leave yourself bread crumbs behind you so that if you have to walk backwards, or walk this path again, that it’ll be easier the next time.

Well, what does a “code path” look like?
 
It’s a documented path, from the highest level all the way down to the answer, that charts each step along the way.
 
My question yesterday was what was the Fire Flow for a building (military job). I didn't know.

Here was my resulting code path, starting with the applicable standard that I knew applied (UFC 3-600-01), and working my way down to the applicable content I needed:
 
• UFC 3-600-01 (8 AUG 2016 WITH CHANGE 6, 6 MAY 2021)
    • Chapter 9 Fire Protection Systems­
        • Section 9-2 FIRE FLOW FOR FACILITIES
            • Section 9.2.2 Non-Sprinklered Facilities
              Fire Flow must be in accordance with NFPA 1, except the following special facilities. ➾
 
➾ NFPA 1 (2018 EDITION)
       • Chapter 18 Fire Department Access and Water Supply
           • Section 18.4 Fire Flow Requirements for Buildings.
               • Section 18.4.3 Modifications
                  • Section 18.4.3.1 Decreases in Fire Flow Requirements
                     Fire flow requirements shall be permitted to be decreased by the AHJ for isolated buildings
                     or a group of buildings in rural areas or suburban areas where the development of full fire flow
                     requirements is impractical as determined by the AHJ.
               • Section 18.4.5 Fire Flow Requirements for Buildings
                  • Section 18.4.5.3 Buildings Other than One- and Two-Family Dwellings
                      • Section 18.4.5.3.1
                        The minimum fire flow and flow duration for buildings other than one- and two-family dwellings
                        shall be as specified in Table 18.4.5.2.1. ➾➾
 
                        ➾➾ Table 18.4.5.2.1
                        Requires Type II-B Construction up to 22,700 sqft in size to have a
                        minimum Fire Flow of 1,500 gpm, at 20 psi, for 2-hours.
 
My simplified answer therefore was 1,500 gpm, at 20 psi, for 2-hours, unless the AHJ permits a decrease, based on NFPA 1-2018 Section 18.4.5.3.1, Table 18.4.5.2.1, and Section 18.4.3.1 with the code path above as a basis.
 
DUH, JOE.
Now with this question some might say “well of course it’s 1,500 gpm” or “I would have just jumped right to NFPA 1”, but the reality is – if that’s the first time you’re getting that answer for yourself – how are you supposed to know where to go? Just guess NFPA 1? Why not NFPA 1142? Or the International Fire Code?
 
Novel situations – new questions – deserve at least an individual attempt at looking through code and charting that path. Basically - read the book and see if we can't find the answer ourselves. 
 
SAVE YOUR WORK
With every one of these, I save them down in Microsoft Word files in a specific folder, and I can go back and reference them whenever I need. There’s probably a good 50+ in there by now.
 
What happens if we get a similar question, but it’s slightly different?

What about a different code edition?

Well, we can follow our same path until it’s no longer true.

Copy over, start the path and blaze the new trail.

If you want to spice up your life, consider each question you're own little 'puzzle of the day' and see what the code book kicks back out. 

Life's too short not to have a little fun in your life, right?
 
HIERARCHY
Remember that codes have hierarchy. If there is a title to a section, that says “Combustible Concealed Spaces”, with subsections below it – chances are “noncombustible” spaces, or “nonconcealed” spaces will not apply. That’s deliberate. Citing a line of code without the context can get us into trouble (it’s gotten me into trouble).
 
I’ve had code paths from model codes that were similar, but with a different end result, based on a locally adopted code. Those prior documented paths were major timesavers the second and third time around.
 
In short, the first place I go when I don’t have an answer is to dig into the code or standard itself. Find a path, document the justification for it, and if there’s no ambiguity, then we have our answer with support behind it.
 
#2 ANNEXES & COMMENTARIES
I had a salesperson visit once who said the only value he really provides to his customers is reading the Annex and Commentaries of each code.
 
He says the extra hundred dollars for each standard he buys has made him look the part of the expert – because “hardly anyone ever reads it!”
 
Sometimes we hop around in codes & standards and lose context of what part of code their in – or if that code even applies in the first place.

The Annex portion of the code often has material that expands upon the body of the code with input from the codes and standards committees themselves.
 
Commentary can also be a huge help. But, just as a word of caution, these are sometimes (perhaps mostly) not from committee members – so they can provide help but ultimately are not as well-reviewed and approved as the Annex or the body of the code or standard itself. 
 
#3 USE ALL THE RESOURCES YOU CAN
Back to Algebra class for a second:
 
If your billable rate is $60 an hour – how much time do you need to save in order to justify a $120 book?
 
Roughly two hours.
 
Yeah there’s shipping, and billable rate isn’t exactly a translation for your internal cost versus net profit and all that.
 
But in the big picture – if a $120 book saves you more than two hours – then it roughly paid for itself.
 
What if that book saves you four hours? Now you have a solid return on your investment.
 
What if that book saves you eight? It’s not crazy – think about time over a year or two. Tabbing, bookmarks, indexes, quick references: all of those things could save you time here and time there that adds up in the long run.
 
The thing is – having the book is only one part of the ask. That’s the surface-level debate that goes on inside offices – do we spend money on a color printer? Can we get larger monitors? What about that software? Do we really need more books?
 
Those are all part of the business decision making and limiting overall cost.
 
But what if you have a book and also then use the references to their full potential?
 
What if a textbook helped you understand an area you were previously lacking, or a topic that you’ve never covered before?
 
What if that book provides informal interpretations that helps you make more informed decisions?
 
There are many materials out there that are widely underutilized.
 
Two that I’ve been fortunate to work on are NFSA’s Layout Book (Layout, Detail and Calculation of Fire Sprinkler Systems 3rd Edition) and NFSA’s Expert of the Day Handbook. Those are excellent resources for someone practicing in the sprinkler field.
 
Within those books there are step-by-steps and literally over two-thousand answered questions related to fire sprinkler systems.
 
Is your question simply sitting in that book? It’s possible.
 
There are other books, introductory and advanced, that exist for life safety and fire alarm as well. Do some research, ask around, and see what tools you can have in your toolkit that help you be more informed and more effective at what you do.
 
Not just books too – but Forums and online communities (here and elsewhere) – where can you plug in and get answers from your peers.
 
#4 ASK
 
Joe – you said the buck stops with me. Who am I supposed to ask?
 
There is help.
 
Help in a traditional sense would often come from within your own organization.
 
But consider those outside your walls for a second. The ICC and NFPA both have request lines where you can ask for informal, and if need be, formal interpretations on their own codes and standards.
 
But there’s also informal interpretations, too. On the suppression side, AFSA and NFSA both have fantastic expert references that will answer project-specific questions with informal interpretations for members. These experts have far more collective knowledge than I hope to gain in my whole career. They’re an excellent resource.
 
Lastly, there are Forums. Here, I started the MeyerFire Forum to provide an opportunity to have quality discussions, at a deliberate pace, with anonymity so that we all can learn. Use that as a resource in your toolkit. Ask when you need input.
 
SO WHEN I DON'T KNOW, WHAT DO I SAY?
The biggest fear I had when I first started was what if my client asks a question and I didn’t know the answer?
 
Well – here’s some news – this happens to me. Still. Like Today. And All. The. Time.
 
And there’s a line you need to rehearse and hold tight. That line is “I don’t know offhand, but I’ll do some research and get this for you.”
 
That’s it. Simple. Buy yourself time to do the legwork and point someone in the right direction. And then follow up as soon as you can with a well-documented code path.
 
Are they going to be upset? Are they going to be belligerent because you don’t have code memorized?
 
Perhaps – but that’s on them. High pressure situations or bad attitudes isn’t going to make someone suddenly know something that they don’t know.
 
If you want a complete cop-out answer and partial lie, then just say “it depends” without any explanation.
 
Just kidding – don’t do that.

I can’t stand it when “it depends” is the answer I get, when really someone doesn’t know. Just say you “don’t know offhand” – like you remembered that person's maiden name from from high school but just can’t recall it at this particular moment. It’s OK! You’re human. We still like ya.
 
Whether you’re the “fire protection guy” or not, more practice and more familiarity is all we can do to grow our fire protection “muscle” and become, slowly, more comfortable with what we do over time.

To get there, just be sure you’re making good use of all the resources you have available to you.
 
Keep up the good fight. It's good to be the "fire protection guy". Not easy, but it’s good. 

We ran an open-ended study about the why and how fire protection professionals get into the industry and the roles they are currently in.

This is our fourth dive into that data. In the upcoming week or two we’ll summarize and offer tips for business owners, recruiters, and HR professionals on where to look for future talent and how best to “make the pitch”.

WHY EXPLORE THIS
For one, we need more talent in the industry. More quality people mean better overall advocacy for the industry. We will never be recognized at a major discipline if there are far too few people to speak up for fire protection, much less if there’s hardly anyone to do the work.

So then, if we’re actively looking for help and looking to spot future potential – how do we “make that pitch?”

WHAT'S THE ALLURE TO THE INDUSTRY
What should we celebrate about the industry to people that don’t know about it?

Well, like we explored before, the best way to answer that is looking backwards at why we got into the industry in the first place.
 
We asked - as an open-ended question – why did you go into fire protection?

THE RESPONSE
We received 297 unique responses to this question.

Many cited multiple reasons for entering the field. In total, we received 655 cited reasons why our group of 297 people entered the industry.

Now before we get to the full breakout, I’d like to offer a few special shout outs to unique reasons why some people got into the fire protection field. Here are a few of the favorites and important ones as well:

I went into fire protection because...
   ... of the TV Show “Emergency”.
   ... I wanted “to put the fire department out of business.”
   ...“of the beautiful receptionist at the company, whom I later dated.”
   ... “I visited an engineering firm and the engineers bored me to death. I didn’t want to go down that road so I checked into fire protection.”
   ... “after I broke up with the bosses daughter, I figured it was in my best interest to find other employment.” That’s why I got into fire protection.
 
Aside from unique causes, there are more noble ones that became a theme:
   “I wanted to contribute to safety for the people I was really passionate about, the elderly and kids.”
   “It was very interesting and is beneficial to society.”
   “I wanted to feel good about the work I did.”
   “Wanted to make a difference.”
   “I saw it as the way to make the greatest impact and least harm among other engineering disciplines.”
   “I wanted a career that matters.”
 
There were plenty of ‘nerdy’ responses (I say this being a part of that crowd):
   “I enjoyed hydraulic calculations.”
 
There were reasons related to people in the industry:
   “FPE students had a spirit of cooperation that was nonexistent in electrical engineering.”
   “The family, community spirit” of the industry.
 
There were also tragic reasons:
   “When I was 8-years old the house down from us burned down and a great family lost their home.”
   “Lost a brother and father to fire-related deaths.”
   “Our house burned down.”
 
THIRTY REASONS
In all, we could generally categorize each response in one of thirty categories. Many responses cited multiple reasons, so we categorized those under both.

Here are the top 15 reasons why people went into fire protection, broken down by the different industries.

ARCHITECTURAL & ENGINEERING
143 Responses; 229 reasons "why" they went into fire protection.

If you recall back to the first couple parts of this study, you can see the influence of family (24%), friends (19%) as reasons people first heard about fire protection. If that’s a big contributor for awareness of the industry, then it would also jive that many in contracting got into the industry because of these same influences. "Because of Family" ranked as the #6 reasons why those in contracting got into fire protection, which didn't show up at all in Architectural and/or Engineering firm circles.

AHJ & GOVERNMENT
64 respondents, 178 reasons.

TAKEAWAYS

#1 Wide-Range of Responses
I think my favorite part of combing through this was seeing the variety of reasons why people went into fire protection. I would have guessed that the reasoning could have been categorized in maybe five or six reasons, but it's much more nuanced than that. 

In reading through responses, things like "the challenge" versus "learning something new" and "sounded interesting" are very much in the same vein, or similar source, but they're different and a little more nuanced than that.

Things like "job security" and "job stability" can be tied together, they're very related, but many people cited how the industry is "unique", "niche", and "specialized". That's different than saying the industry is "diverse" or "has a wide range of work". 

What were the others reasons that didn't crack the Top 15 lists? They were:

• Because of Location / Didn't Want to Move / Wanted Remote Work
• Passionate / Cooperative People
• There was Little Training Required
• Diverse / Wide Range of Work
• Job Benefits
• Personal Loss
• To Preserve Old Buildings
• Because of a TV Show
• Wanted to Date Someone

#2 Many Motivators Other than Money
To be honest, I thought career potential, salary and benefits would rank a whole lot higher than they have. Job benefits didn't crack the Top 15 reasons for any group, and Money / Pay only ever reached as high as Reason #5 why people entered fire protection. I would have guessed it to rank much higher. 

#3 Think about "The Pitch"
Think about the opportunity you might have to talk to someone new about going into fire protection.

What 'angle' do you take?

What reasons resonate for you? Do those reasons match up with the majority?

If you're looking to craft your reasoning why someone should hop into fire protection - wherever that happens to be - consider first where you are (what type of organization you're in), and then check out the top reasons. Chances are if you can quickly cite those top three-to-five reasons why people go into fire protection, then you may have that 'hook' that helps your case.


I hope this has been interesting. Feel free to shoot me an email or comment below with your own thoughts & takeaways. 

- Joe