One thing to keep in mind is that this issue is not exclusive to FPE's alone. Being in the fire prot industry they are our direct contact from a professional level but in my younger days I worked as design/proj mgr for a mechanical contractor and the same gripes and complaints reflected here about FPE's could be applied to ME's as well.
There should be far more practical experience as well as some field training needed before someone is granted an engineering license. It's quite appalling to think that someone with such a broad brush education and by passing a test of generalities, one could be deemed and licensed as an expert in their field. I find it annoying at times that one has to prove more actual experience to obtain a NICET certification than one does to obtain an engineering license. How does that work? There are great inequities within the engineering field that need tweaking but unfortunately it won't happen because those who make the rules won't do anything to change the rules that exclusively benefit them. I'm sure there are plenty of non-degreed designers out there who could pass the FPE exam. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Sornsin Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 5:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: FPE I pretty much agree with everyone else. But I can't resist. No is the answer. I know FPEs by education and by professional exam. Some are qualified to design fire suppression systems because they have experience in that area; many are not because their expertise is focused on other aspects of the discipline, e.g. fire alarm egress, smoke evacuation, etc. Some are well versed in all of these areas. Then there are those who have a reasonable understanding about the general design parameters relating to fire suppression - densities, areas, EQ bracing, etc.; but they may not have any significant experience running hydraulic calculations or optimizing systems hydraulically. These folks can be very frustrating because they are often the ones implementing velocity restrictions or similar constraints on designs. They just don't understand that simply increasing pipe sizes DOESN'T always work (particularly when balancing multiple systems like Hi-ex foam and overhead sprinklers). It seems these folks like to reside in federal government positions - several command layers out of reach and located across country so there is no chance of a one-on-one meeting... But I digress. Mark A. Sornsin, PE | Fire Protection Engineer Ulteig Engineers, Inc. |Fargo, ND Direct: 701. 280.8591 | www.ulteig.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Garth W. Warren Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 9:41 AM To: [email protected] Subject: FPE Does being an FPE necessarily mean that you have training in, or a knowledge of, fire sprinklers? Thanks, Garth _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
