As your company’s building chief or facilities director, fire and life safety systems are the last place you want to cut costs. Whether you’re shopping for a new service vendor, or looking to replace an existing, subpar contractor, you want the best. After all, your building’s fire alarms, hoods, sprinklers, etc., are your first and last line of defense when disaster strikes.
To ensure your company complies with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes and regulations, you must hire technicians and technologists that are certified by the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET).
Having your facilities serviced and inspected by NICET-certified and factory-trained technicians will grant you more than just compliance, however. It will provide you with peace of mind that your building, your assets, and most of all — your employees — are protected by highly trained specialists.
Located in Virginia and established in 1961, the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) is a nonprofit organization that provides certification for engineering technicians throughout the country. Across a variety of engineering fields, NICET certification is the gold standard that employers look for when hiring new technicians and technologists.
The organization’s “vision” is, “…providing recognition of qualified technology professionals who reliably apply engineering principles and practices for the benefit and safety of the public.”
Regarding the fire and life safety service industry, NICET offers certification programs in many crucial areas, specifically:
No matter if you are a building manager, facilities director, or estimator, if you are in charge of your company’s fire and life safety service contracts, only hire a vendor that employs NICET-certified technicians. Retention of anything less could result in compliance and safety issues.
Now that we know what NICET certification is, let’s discuss the level of training candidates must undergo before becoming certified.
Depending on the specialty (see the above list), there are different levels of mastery.
For example, there are 4 levels of certification for fire alarm systems:
Remember, these requirements are only for certification in fire alarm systems. Applicants may become certified in multiple specialties, each of which will require additional training. Furthermore, NICET requires certificate holders to recertify every 3 years to ensure they are current with new technologies, regulations, codes, and methods, and to protect the public’s interests.
If it isn’t clear enough already, hiring NICET-certified technicians is the most important decision you can make when it comes to managing your building’s facilities and fire and life safety systems — it ensures a high standard of excellence and competence.
Some of the additional benefits you gain by choosing a vendor comprised of NICET-certified technicians include:
NICET-certified professionals undergo extensive training so that they can quickly identify and remedy deficiencies in fire and life safety systems. By hiring NICET-certified technicians, you can rest assured that your facilities are being maintained and inspected by the best in the business.
Founded in 2002, Performance Systems Integration (PSI) is the premier fire and life safety systems vendor in the Pacific Northwest. Offering a single point of management for fire protection and compliance services and solutions, our NICET-certified technicians routinely service schools, property management, hotels, hospitals, and other businesses throughout Oregon and Washington.
Committed to providing the best code compliance solutions in the industry, we have certified staff on-call 24/7 to resolve any fire or life safety emergency service call. For more information about our services, or to schedule a free life safety and code compliance analysis call PSI at 503.641.2222, or contact us online.