New P.E. Exam Spec & PE Prep Guide 9th Edition

By Joe Meyer, PE | Founder / Fire Protection Engineer at MeyerFire

Just after this year's completion of the Fire Protection P.E. Exam in April, NCEES released a new exam specification for the Fire Protection P.E. Exam starting in April 2027.

THE CHANGES
On the surface, the topic weights seem to favor less data analysis and fundamentals and more systems-based applications. For instance, water-based suppression, special hazard, fire alarm, smoke control, and passive systems all gained 15 questions, on average, against the prior exam specification. That's a fairly significant shift, and it seems to be in line with the gripe many have had against the exam for years in that it's leaned too heavily in theory and not in practical, real-world application.

This shift may get us closer to regular Fire Protection Engineering applications, at least from the design and reviewer's regular working experience.
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​REFERENCE UPDATES
Along with the topic reorganization, the referenced standards have shifted too. Every reference standard has a code edition update. NFPA 12 and NFPA 25 were removed, and NFPA 855 is a new edition to the P.E. Exam references.

There's an entire side of the industry that would probably lament that FPEs may never brush up against NFPA 25, including as part of the P.E. Exam efforts, but the modernization effort seems to be shifting to more modern challenges (introduction of NFPA 855) and away from less-common FPE applications (Carbon Dioxide Systems & ITM).

The full new exam specification can be found on NCEES's website here: ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/fire-protection/

OPPORTUNITY
If we're looking at this glass-half-full, this is a welcome change for many in the industry. Aligning closer to today's challenges and less on fundamentals has been an ask from many people for a long time. 

Is there a missed opportunity in not skipping straight to 2025 and 2026 standard editions? Certainly (I think), though I'm sure that'll come in time.

With shifts to the computer-based exam, we've seen pass rates temporarily rise. We'll likely know the pass rates for this April 2026's results in July. As with anything, it's hard to feel like a guinea pig in trying out the first iteration of any change, but historically those who have first passed through the wall have tended to score well; so my glass-half-full suggestion would be if you feel ready to study and take the exam, don't hesitate just because of some new nuance to the exam.

MEYERFIRE UNIVERSITY UPDATES
We've already put together our internal plans for updating all of our University content to reflect the new exam specification. It'll be implemented on a rolling basis, with all the new University content to be done before the bulk of the 2027 PE Exam study season in January. If you're studying in the fall you'll likely notice many updates already incorporated.

PE PREP GUIDE, 9TH EDITION
Because of the major update to the exam specification and new references, we're also working on a new edition to the popular PE Prep Guide. It'll be published as soon as it's complete, which will likely be this fall. All questions, study schedule, weighting, and programmatic advice need to be brought up to the new exam specification.

If we want to get an early start, will studying from an older edition suffice in the meantime? Of course! There is far more overlap from past exams than there are differences. Studying more, and earlier, never hurts. 

Any questions, let us know! Hope you have a great rest of your week.

​- Joe