Recruiting and Training Technicians for a Growing Sprinkler Market

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Recruiting and Training Technicians for a Growing
Sprinkler Market

• Kenneth E. Isman, P.E.
• Vice President of Engineering
• National Fire Sprinkler Association
• Presented at the IFSA 7th International
• Fire Sprinkler Conference
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• June 25, 2008

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Ceiling Jet for Steady State Fires
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Recruiting and Training Technicians

• Terminology
• History
• Present
• Future

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Terminology

• Technician The person who determines the layout
  and detail associated with the location of
  sprinklers and related equipment and performs the
  hydraulic calculations to verify that the pipe
  sizes will be sufficient and will work with the
  available water supply.
• In other words, they prepare the working plans.
• Note that we do not use the term design.

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Terminology

• In most states in the US, the term design is
  reserved for Professional Engineers under
  Engineering Licensing Laws
• Design is the use of judgment to assign hazard
  classifications to occupancies and to determine
  what the available water supply to a property
  might be.

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Terminology

• Unfortunately, most sprinkler contractors use the
  term designer for their technicians
• We prefer
• Fire Sprinkler Technician
• Fire Protection Specialist

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History of Sprinkler Technicians

• Sprinkler industry begins in late 19th Century
• Controlled by manufacturers
• Do the installation or
• License installers
• Insurance companies approve plans before
  installation

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History of Sprinkler Technicians

• Limited number of choices in the early days
• Not many different kinds of sprinklers
• Not many different kinds of pipe
• Installation standard relatively small

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History of Sprinkler Technicians

• 1975 Insurance Services Office stops reviewing
  plans for approval
• 1980 National Institute for Certification in
  Engineering Technology (NICET) begins to certify
  Fire Protection Technicians
• Fire Sprinkler Layout and Detail
• Fire Alarm System Layout and Detail
• Fire Suppression Systems
• Inspection and Testing of Water-Based Systems

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Growth of Products 1980 - 2005

• Hundreds of new types of sprinklers now on the
  market
• Many different types of pipe materials to chose
  from
• Three different sprinkler standards
• (NFPA 13, NFPA 13R, NFPA 13D)
• NFPA 13 is over 350 pages long

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Growth of United States Sprinkler Market 1980 -
2005
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Where are we now?

• Certified NICET Fire Sprinkler Layout
  Technicians 5002
• Estimated total number of technicians 10,000

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Where do we find technicians now?

• Fire Protection Schools
• Oklahoma State, Delaware Tech, Seneca Col.
• Still need some training when they get out
• General technical schools
• All over country
• Need a great deal of training when they get out
• High School (need even more training)
• Former fitters (need least amount of training,
  but still need some)

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Where can Techniciansget training now?

• NFSA
• Two-week technician training seminar
• Two-year Certificate Program
• Phase 1 Two-week class
• Phase 2 Internet study modules
• Phase 3 On the job training with mentor
• Phase 4 Internet study modules
• Phase 5 On the job training with mentor
• Phase 6 Three-day classroom and final exam
• Various classes ranging from 90 min. to 3-days

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Where can Techniciansget training now?

• NFSA
• On-line courses
• Self-study textbook
• 700 pages
• Basic material on layout and calculations
• Other textbooks in planning stages
• Beyond the Basics
• Advanced

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What is the current age demographicof the
Technician?
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Need for Future Technicians

• If the information from the 2006 survey is a
  representative sample, 2500 Technicians will
  reach retirement age in the next 10 years
• At the same time, the sprinkler industry is
  expected to grow to 70 million sprinklers in the
  U.S. by 2018

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Need for Future Technicians

• To replace retiring Technicians 2500
• To handle additional growth 5000
• Total new technicians in 10 years 7500
• Not sure that we can meet this demand with
  traditional methods of recruitment and training

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Potential Idea for Training Technicians

• Set up programs with community colleges
• 4 semester program
• English, math, CAD, plus fire protection classes
• Partnership with local sprinkler contractors for
  on-the-job training
• Job placement after graduation

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Potential Problems with Community College Solution

• 7500 technicians in 10 years
• 15 technicians per year per state
• Most people that attend community college will
  only travel 50 or 60 miles to look for a job
  after graduation
• No single program will be able to sustain itself

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Recruiting Technicians

• Need to make people aware of the fire sprinkler
  industry as a career
• High school students
• College students taking general CAD and
  construction/architecture/engineering programs
• Guidance counselors
• Parents

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Recruiting Technicians

• Viral Video
• Sprinklers putting out fire
• Quick basic information on industry
• Direct people to a website
• Website
• Descriptions of jobs in industry
• More video
• Direct people to contractors in their area

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Thank You!