Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers
Occupation · SOC 17-2111.02
Research causes of fires, determine fire protection methods, and design or recommend materials or equipment such as structural components or fire-detection equipment to assist organizations in safeguarding life and property against fire, explosion, and related hazards.
Also called: Engineer · Fire Protection Consultant · Fire Protection Engineer (FPE) · Professional Fire Protection Engineer · Consulting Engineer · Forensic Fire Protection Engineer · Licensed Fire Protection Engineer · Fire Alarm Systems Technician (Fire Alarm Systems Tech) · Fire Prevention Research Engineer · Fire Protection Commissioning Engineer · Fire Protection Design Engineer · Fire Protection Designer
Job family: Architecture and Engineering Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-17-2111-02/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- About average employment outlook (+4.4% by 2034)
- 1,500 openings/yr
- High AI exposure
- Median pay $109,660/yr
- Can largely be done remotely (teleworkable)
- A reversal from 2013 — rated low automation risk then (17th), high AI task-overlap now (87th)
87th-percentile task overlap — yet about 1,500 openings a year (+4.4% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) High | 74th | 1.0 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) High | 95th | 1.0 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) High | 77th | 0.2 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.5), and including AI-powered software (γ 1.0). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
Most of this job's tasks can be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman), which tends to track with higher digital and AI exposure.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.0 · 17th percentile among occupations · Low
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Develop training materials and conduct training sessions on fire protection. | 0.2% |
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | About average · +4.4% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 1,500 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 23,800 → 24,900 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers sits at the 57th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure rose from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
30% mean task exposure (2025)
57th percentile of 427 placed occupations
+8 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering Professionals Not Elsewhere Classified · 2149 | 30% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 13 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Advise architects, builders, and other construction personnel on fire prevention equipment and techniques and on fire code and standard interpretation and compliance. Core · importance 4.5
- Design fire detection equipment, alarm systems, and fire extinguishing devices and systems. Core · importance 4.2
- Inspect buildings or building designs to determine fire protection system requirements and potential problems in areas such as water supplies, exit locations, and construction materials. Core · importance 4.2
- Prepare and write reports detailing specific fire prevention and protection issues, such as work performed, revised codes or standards, and proposed review schedules. Core · importance 4.2
- Consult with authorities to discuss safety regulations and to recommend changes as necessary. Core · importance 3.8
- Evaluate fire department performance and the laws and regulations affecting fire prevention or fire safety. Core · importance 3.7
- Direct the purchase, modification, installation, testing, maintenance, and operation of fire prevention and protection systems. Core · importance 3.6
- Attend workshops, seminars, or conferences to present or obtain information regarding fire prevention and protection. Core · importance 3.6
- Determine causes of fires and ways in which they could have been prevented. Core · importance 3.5
- Develop training materials and conduct training sessions on fire protection. Core · importance 3.5
- Study the relationships between ignition sources and materials to determine how fires start. Core · importance 3.4
- Develop plans for the prevention of destruction by fire, wind, and water. Core · importance 3.4
- Conduct research on fire retardants and the fire safety of materials and devices. Core · importance 3.1
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Develop or modify building codes and fire codes.
- Perform testing on fire protection equipment or building features, such as fire doors or smoke control systems.
- Review building plans to verify compliance with fire and building codes.
Work activities
- Prepare technical or operational reports.
- Coordinate safety or regulatory compliance activities.
- Direct installation activities.
- Direct equipment maintenance or repair activities.
- Evaluate construction projects to determine compliance with external standards or regulations.
- Examine documents to verify adherence to requirements.
- Review documents or materials for compliance with policies or regulations.
- Develop fire safety or prevention programs or plans.
- Inspect facilities or sites to determine if they meet specifications or standards.
- Advise others on health and safety issues.
- Determine causes of operational problems or failures.
- Prepare detailed work plans.
- Examine debris to obtain information about causes of fires.
- Research topics in area of expertise.
- Update technical knowledge.
- Teach safety standards or environmental compliance methods.
- Evaluate applicable laws and regulations to determine impact on organizational activities.
- Conduct research to inform art, designs, or other work.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| Engineering and Technology | 4.9 | |
| Building and Construction | 4.5 | |
| Design | 4.5 | |
| Mathematics | 4.2 | |
| Public Safety and Security | 4.2 | |
| English Language | 4.1 | |
| Physics | 3.9 | |
| Chemistry | 3.7 | |
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.7 | |
| Mechanical | 3.5 | |
| Law and Government | 3.4 | |
| Computers and Electronics | 3.4 |
Abilities
| Problem Sensitivity | 4.4 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 4.1 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 4.1 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Written Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 4.0 | |
| Written Expression | 4.0 | |
| Near Vision | 4.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.9 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.9 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.9 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.8 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.6 | |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.5 | |
| Far Vision | 3.5 |
Essential skills
| Critical Thinking | 4.3 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Speaking | 4.0 | |
| Active Listening | 3.9 | |
| Writing | 3.9 | |
| Active Learning | 3.9 | |
| Science | 3.6 |
Transferable skills
| Complex Problem Solving | 4.0 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 4.0 | |
| Systems Analysis | 3.9 | |
| Systems Evaluation | 3.9 | |
| Operations Analysis | 3.8 | |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.4 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Showing the top 40 of 41.
Tools & technology
Showing the top 40 of 47.
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
- Preparation level
- SVP (7.0 to < 8.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Engineering . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Bachelor's Degree | 84.6% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 3.9% | |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 3.9% | |
| Master's Degree | 3.9% | |
| Doctoral Degree | 3.9% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Work styles
| Dependability | 7.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 6.0 | |
| Integrity | 5.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 4.0 | |
| Intellectual Curiosity | 3.0 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 6.3 | |
| Investigative | 5.2 | |
| Conventional | 4.5 | |
| Social | 2.8 | |
| Enterprising | 2.8 |
Interest areas
| Engineering | 6.2 | |
| Physical Science | 4.1 | |
| Protective Service | 4.0 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 3.5 | |
| Public Speaking | 2.9 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 2.8 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $62,050 |
| 25th percentile | $85,400 |
| Median (50th) | $109,660 |
| 75th percentile | $136,150 |
| 90th percentile | $166,670 |
| People employed | 23,220 |
Wages and employment are reported by BLS for the broader occupation group this specialty belongs to (SOC 17-2111), not for the specialty alone.
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 5,630 | $109,740 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 5,470 | $109,030 |
| Construction · Sector | 2,220 | $99,440 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 1,760 | $108,920 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 970 | $124,970 |
| Information · Sector | 900 | $109,660 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 860 | $125,780 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 580 | $107,970 |
| Utilities · Sector | 570 | $121,940 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 530 | $125,260 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 520 | $103,310 |
| Testing Laboratories and Services · National industry | 310 | $107,630 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Electric Power Generation · National industry | 33.97× | 190 |
| Testing Laboratories and Services · National industry | 12.08× | 310 |
| Engineering Services · National industry | 10.11× | 1,760 |
| Utilities · Sector | 6.53× | 570 |
| Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction · Sector | 6.14× | 530 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 3.47× | 5,630 |
| Power and Communication Line and Related Structures Construction · National industry | 3.4× | 120 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 2.85× | 5,470 |
Related occupations
Part of the Management & Entrepreneurship career cluster.
- Fire Inspectors and Investigators · 33-2021.00 Compare →
- Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists · 33-2022.00 Compare →
- Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors · 17-2111.00 Compare →
- First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers · 33-1021.00 Compare →
- Firefighters · 33-2011.00 Compare →
- Construction and Building Inspectors · 47-4011.00 Compare →
- Environmental Engineers · 17-2081.00 Compare →
- Occupational Health and Safety Specialists · 19-5011.00 Compare →
- Nuclear Engineers · 17-2161.00 Compare →
- Security Management Specialists · 13-1199.07 Compare →
- Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers · 49-2098.00 Compare →
- Occupational Health and Safety Technicians · 19-5012.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Bachelor's degree · typical entry level
- Job zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Engineering · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 57th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers show 87th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,500 annual U.S. openings
- Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers rank in the 87th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 1,500 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be about average (+4.4%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $109,660, across about 23,220 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers show 87th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,500 annual U.S. openings • Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers rank in the 87th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 1,500 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be about average (+4.4%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $109,660, across about 23,220 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2111-02 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2111-02
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2111-02
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-17-2111-02,
title = {Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-17-2111-02}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.