Fire Engineering In South Africa

Fire engineers spend years training, learning and getting qualifications. Most jobs in the fire safety industry require technical and/or scientific qualifications.
As Fire Engineering is not yet a recognised engineering discipline by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), fire engineers in South Africa would be those who have qualified in a generic engineering discipline (e.g. civil or mechanical) and have gone on to do post-grad studies in fire engineering, such as the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) international examinations Level 3 and Level 4 Diploma qualifications.

In order to submit rational designs to a fire department, the applicant needs to be registered as a Pr Tech Eng or Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of SA, and be able to provide evidence of competency in the fire field by way of recognised fire qualifications and professional membership. The IFE qualifications mentioned above are registered with Ofqual in the UK and are based on the UK NQF system.

It is thus recommended that rational fire protection designs be done only by professionals registered with ECSA or other international Engineering Councils (e.g. EC UK) at the level of professional or chartered engineer or professional technologist or incorporated engineer, plus these professionals must have relevant fire qualifications such as at the highest level of examinations provided by the IFE or equivalent knowledge and understanding by assessment, and relevant experience for the particular project under review.

ECSA Specified Categories

In terms of Section 18(1) of the Engineering Profession Act, 2000 (Act No. 46 of 2000), a person may not practice in any of the categories contemplated in subsection (1), unless they are registered in that category.

The Professional Category consists of Professional Engineers, Professional Engineering Technologists, Professional Certificated Engineers and Professional Engineering Technicians.

The Candidate Category only provides for the registration of persons who meet the academic requirements for registration in the Professional Categories referred to above and who are undergoing professional development (preferably) under a Commitment and Undertaking. It should be noted that all persons who are registered for example as “Engineers in Training” can automatically refer to themselves as “Candidate Engineers”.

The Specified Category provides for the registration of persons who cannot register in the professional category, but who perform critically important work of an engineering nature which has a direct impact on public safety and health e.g. “Lift Inspectors”.

In recent years, more fire-related ECSA Specified Category Practitioner registration options have become available:

Fire Protection Systems Practitioner: Fire Detection

Fire Protection Systems Practitioner: Fixed Gaseous Systems

Fire Protection Systems Practitioner: Water Based Systems

Fire Protection Systems Rational Design (Fire Specialist)