What does a fire inspector do?

Updated January 8, 2025

7 min read

A fire inspector is in charge of conducting inspections in establishments and structures to identify fire safety violations and ensure compliance with state and federal laws and fire codes. They typically travel and visit various buildings, review documents, examine fire alarm and control equipment, enforce corrective measures against violations, and produce inspection reports to be submitted at local permit offices. Furthermore, a fire inspector may also investigate fire cases, conducting investigations to identify its cause. In some situations, they must testify in court regarding the investigation's findings.

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Fire inspector responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real fire inspector resumes:

Direct and lead a hands-on approach to resolve a contagious communicable disease within the APG community daycare centers (CDC).
Achieve advance levels of Fire/EMS management certification.
Lead infantry teams in combat operations, providing tactical and technical guidance to subordinates and professional support to superiors.
Conduct annual base facility fire inspections ensuring continual code compliance with NFPA s, AFI s and other applicable standards.
Perform crash-rescue, and hazardous materials (HAZMAT) operations and assist in reducing and/or eliminating of potential fire hazards.
Administer medical aid and CPR to victims before ambulance arrives.
Comply with ISO requirements to get the city a rating of 7 ..
Supply 24 hour fire coverage for 25k+ annual aircraft sorties of USAF and DoD aircraft.
Case management for patients with infectious conditions: HIV, STDs, TB, and malaria
Provide first aid, CPR, emergency medical responder courses to agencies that need such services.
Implement combat orders and direct deployment of personnel in offensive, defensive, and retro-grade operations.
Work with the crew to obtain consensus on all members being certify at the first responder level.
Provide public fire & life safety education to 19K DoD military & civilian members, contractors, and dependents.
Schedule and conduct shift training on emergency medical, structural, aircraft, HAZMAT and confine space rescue operations.
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Fire inspector skills and personality traits

We calculated that 27% of Fire Inspectors are proficient in Fire Protection, Customer Service, and NFPA. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Physical strength, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Fire Inspectors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Fire Protection, 27%
Determine the type or quantity of extinguishers required for adequate protection in accordance with National Fire Protection Association standards.
Customer Service, 14%
Provide superior customer service by scheduling service appointments and providing accurate reports to the customer.
NFPA, 11%
Obtained voluntary compliance with Fire & Bldg Codes, adopted NFPA codes, standards and regulation 99% of the time.
Ladders, 7%
Trained to safely work of ladders at heights up to 25 feet.
Inspection Reports, 3%
Address operational discrepancies and deficiencies through fire inspection reports.
Fire Hazards, 3%
Located, isolated, and identified actual or potential fire hazards and safety deficiencies and initiated corrective actions.

"fire protection," "customer service," and "nfpa" are among the most common skills that fire inspectors use at work. You can find even more fire inspector responsibilities below, including:

Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a fire inspector to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "fire inspectors must notice minutiae when inspecting sites for code violations or fire risks or for investigating the cause of a fire." Fire inspectors often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided accurate and detailed inspection reports including the documentation to support needed repairs or improvements for industrial clients. "

Physical strength. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling fire inspector duties is physical strength. The role rewards competence in this skill because "fire investigators may have to move debris at the site of a fire in order to get a more accurate understanding of the scene." According to a fire inspector resume, here's how fire inspectors can utilize physical strength in their job responsibilities: "conducted physicalinspections of all facilities for compliance with the various fire codes. "

Communication skills. This is an important skill for fire inspectors to perform their duties. For an example of how fire inspector responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "fire inspectors must clearly explain fire code violations to building and property managers." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a fire inspector: "field public communication unit performed technical support inspections to detect unlawful violations of fire codes or city codes of local premises. ".

Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in fire inspector job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what fire inspectors do. Fire inspector responsibilities rely on this skill because "fire inspectors must be able to recognize code violations and fire risks and recommend a way to fix them." You can also see how fire inspector duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "provided excellent customer service by providing solutions and assistance. "

Most common fire inspector skills

The three companies that hire the most fire inspectors are:

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Compare different fire inspectors

Fire inspector vs. Deputy fire marshal

If we compare the average fire inspector annual salary with that of a deputy fire marshal, we find that deputy fire marshals typically earn a $10,775 lower salary than fire inspectors make annually.Even though fire inspectors and deputy fire marshals are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require fire protection, nfpa, and hazardous materials in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between fire inspectors and deputy fire marshal. For instance, fire inspector responsibilities require skills such as "customer service," "ladders," "inspection reports," and "fire hazards." Whereas a deputy fire marshal is skilled in "criminal justice," "incident reports," "fire safety," and "patrol." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Deputy fire marshals really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $37,629. Comparatively, fire inspectors tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $60,836.deputy fire marshals tend to reach similar levels of education than fire inspectors. In fact, deputy fire marshals are 4.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Fire inspector vs. Fire official

A career as a fire official brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a fire inspector. In fact, fire officials salary is $3,159 higher than the salary of fire inspectors per year.A few skills overlap for fire inspectors and fire officials. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "state fire," "fire safety codes," and "emergency calls. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real fire inspector resumes. While fire inspector responsibilities can utilize skills like "fire protection," "customer service," "nfpa," and "ladders," fire officials use skills like "non-life," "inspection programs," "borough," and "office programs."

In general, fire officials achieve similar levels of education than fire inspectors. They're 4.7% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Fire inspector vs. Fire assistant

On average, fire assistants earn higher salaries than fire inspectors, with a $2,894 difference per year.By looking over several fire inspectors and fire assistants resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "fire protection," "nfpa," and "ladders." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, fire inspectors are more likely to have skills like "customer service," "fire sprinkler systems," "code compliance," and "fire safety inspections." But a fire assistant is more likely to have skills like "fire safety," "emergency operations," "code violations," and "emergency response."

When it comes to education, fire assistants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to fire inspectors. In fact, they're 0.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Fire inspector vs. Fire prevention director

Fire prevention directors tend to earn a higher pay than fire inspectors by an average of $5,010 per year.According to resumes from fire inspectors and fire prevention directors, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "nfpa," "hazardous materials," and "code compliance. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A fire inspector uses "fire protection," "customer service," "ladders," and "inspection reports." Fire prevention directors are more likely to have duties that require skills in "safety policies," "environmental compliance," "medical waste," and "incident investigations. "In general, fire prevention directors hold similar degree levels compared to fire inspectors. Fire prevention directors are 4.7% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 7.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of fire inspector

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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