The Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS) certification, a prestigious credential within the fire safety industry, has already updated to use the 21st edition of the Fire Protection Handbook since June 19, 2024, candidates face new challenges and opportunities. This blog post explores the implications of these updates on the CFPS exam blueprint and offers guidance to navigate this transition effectively.
What's CFPS?
The Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS®) is a world-renowned program from NFPA® that recognizes individuals who demonstrate wide-ranging skills and knowledge of fire protection.
We have recorded a detailed session about this certification, watch it now!
Overview on changes
Accompanying the handbook update, the CFPS exam blueprint has undergone revisions to better reflect current industry standards and practices.
The first thing you will notice that the new blueprint now is mentioning only 8 domains instead of 12 domains in the current one. That means there’re some domains have been consolidated in one or more other domains, and also the weight percentage for each one is changed.
For example, the below 6 domains are no longer available as a dedicated domains, and these are the status of them:
| Domain in the Old Blueprint | Status in the New Blueprint |
|---|---|
| Basics of Fire and Fire Science | Merged in one domain: Information and Analysis for Fire Protection and Fire Science |
| Information and Analysis for Fire Protection | Information and Analysis for Fire Protection and Fire Science |
| Human Behavior in Fire Emergencies |
Incorporated with the below domains:
|
| System Approaches to Property Classes |
Incorporated with the below domain:
|
| Water-Based Fire Suppression | Merged in one domain: Fire Suppression |
| Fire Suppression without Water | Fire Suppression |
Summary table for the changes
| Domain | Old Version Summary | % | New Version Summary | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety in the Built Environment | Understanding challenges to safety, application of fire protection features, familiarity with codes and standards. | 10% | Evaluating and documenting fire protection systems, interpreting and applying fire protection and life safety best practices, developing and recommending codes and standards, integrating fire protection and life safety systems, evaluating system performance. | 16% |
| Information and Analysis for Fire Protection and Fire Science | Combination of understanding the chemistry and physics of fire, fire growth dynamics, fire loss investigation process, use of fire incident data and statistics, and fire analysis. | 20% | Performing fire loss investigations, fire analysis for design and occupants' safety, fire protection calculations, estimating pre-flashover conditions, conducting job safety analyses. | 9% |
| Fire Prevention: Programs Materials Processes and Environments | Understanding fire hazards and prevention, hazards to life safety, components and fire protection practices of various systems, fire hazards and mitigation principles, material storage handling and housekeeping. | 15% | Identifying community fire hazards, organizational training on fire hazards, resolving design problems, performing fire protection and life safety program audits, informing management on fire safety performance, testing new tools and equipment, identifying fire hazards and mitigation principles, best practices for material storage. | 12% |
| Facility Fire Hazard Management | Focusing on knowledge of fire response tactics, the impact of building construction on fire risks, environmental hazards, and the need for rigorous risk assessments and property inspections. It also emphasizes the importance of managing building systems, establishing comprehensive emergency plans, understanding water supply intricacies, and ensuring fire department accessibility to enhance overall facility safety. | 10% | Processes of building systems, managing mitigation programs, executing fire protection management systems, overseeing operations, maintenance, testing, surveillance, directing fire management programs, maintaining reports. | 9% |
| Organizing for Fire and Rescue Services | highlights essential aspects of emergency preparedness, including pre-incident planning, fire loss prevention, emergency services understanding, and the importance of fire prevention and training. It also covers the operational aspects of fire departments, communication, equipment, and resource management for effective emergency response. | 5% | Pre-incident planning, developing and operating ICS, enforcing fire prevention operations, implementing fire and emergency service training, ensuring agencies meet codes and standards, demonstrating PPE use and function, evaluating fire department resources. | 9% |
| Detection and Alarm | Understanding fundamentals and operational characteristics of fire alarm and detection systems, inspection, testing, maintenance, surveillance, fire guard services, plans review, two-way radio communication enhancement systems, smoke alarms application in dwellings. | 10% | Applying knowledge of fire alarm systems, life safety loss prevention, performing inspections and testing on fire alarm systems. | 14% |
| Fire Suppression | Combination of understanding water-based and non-water-based fire suppression systems, including design, installation, operation, and maintenance. | 25% | Routine inspections of fire suppression systems, determining water supply capacity, ensuring design considerations for water-based and non-water-based systems, making recommendations on fire sprinkler systems, identifying special hazard characteristics, coordinating fire extinguisher inspections. | 22% |
| Confining Fires | Understanding building construction elements for fire protection, confinement elements in buildings, structural damage evaluation post-fire, fire hazards in construction, alteration, and demolition. | 5% | Providing technical assistance on fire-resistance-rated construction, recommending approaches to limit smoke hazards, preparing and maintaining wildfire activity data. | 9% |
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Conclusion
The updates to the CFPS exam blueprint represent a significant shift towards a more integrated and practical approach to fire protection. By understanding these changes and adjusting your preparation strategies accordingly, you can position yourself for success in achieving CFPS certification.
Download the upcoming CFPS exam blueprint that correlates with the new exam.
