National Fire Protection Association

National Fire Protection Association
Abbreviation	NFPA
Formation	1896
Headquarters	Quincy, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°13′49″N 71°01′33″W / 42.230178°N 71.025925°W / 42.230178; -71.025925
Volunteers	6000+
Website	www.nfpa.org

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a United States trade association (albeit with some international members) that creates and maintains private, copywrited, standards and codes for usage and adoption by local governments. This includes publications from one model building code to the many on equipment utilized by firefighters while engaging in hazmat response, rescue response, and some firefighting.^{[citation needed]}

History

The NFPA was formed in 1896 by a group of insurance firms with the stated purpose of standardizing the new and burgeoning market of fire sprinkler systems. The scope of the NFPA's influence grew from sprinklers and fire extinguishers to include building electrical systems (another new technology), and then into almost all aspects of building design and construction.

Its original membership was limited to, insurance underwriting firms. There was no representation from the industries the NFPA sought to control. This changed in 1904 to allow other industries and individuals to participate in the development of the standards to be promulgated by the NFPA. The first fire department to be represented in the NFPA was the New York City Fire Department in 1905, though their participation has declined steadily since then. Today, the NFPA includes representatives from some fire departments, many fire insurance companies, many manufacturing associations, some trade unions, many trade associations, engineering assocaitions,and a few self-proclaimed "experts."^{[citation needed]}

The NFPA today

Headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts, the NFPA administers the development and periodic revising of over 300 codes and standards, all created and written by the members of NFPA who volunteer their services at the expense of their sponsors. A cadre of over 6000 volunteers representing the fire service, fire insurance, fire equipment business, fire equipment industry, and a very few consumers, develop these documents which are then copyrighted by NFPA. Many governmental units incorporate the standards and codes into their own law either verbatim, or with minor to extensive modifications.^{[citation needed]} Even when not adopted into law, the standards are typically accepted as 'state-of-the-art' documents.

There is a growing controversy regarding the presence of manufacturers on NFPA's committees since they approach their standards writing efforts from an overriding profit motive. Their participation and volunteering is paid for by their sponsoring manufacturer through their trade association. Some participating fire fighters and fire protection engineers see the profit motivation of corporate employees as a huge conflict of interest in the 'objective' influencing of the documents NFPA produces.^{[citation needed]}

Sparky the Fire Dog

Sparky the Fire Dog

NFPA's official mascot since 1951, Sparky hosts his own website^[1] to provide materials for others (mostly the fire service) to teach children about fire safety. Sparky has been featured in his own series of television public service announcements.

Access to NFPA codes and standards

The complete text of all NFPA standards documents are available (with restriction) for viewing, but not printing, by concerned citizens, intersted manufacturers and others with computer access. The documents are sold by NFPA at an inflated price... expecially those that have been adopted by governmental agencies. The codes/standard are created by volunteers and copyrighted by NFPA...and they guard their copyright with intense effort. However, it is questionable whether the copyrights are legally enforcable... since NFPA didn't actually write the documents... they just published them.

The NFPA provides 'free' but restricted access to view its documents on the NFPA website. nfpa.org</ref> Document access requires the reader to first register and identify themselves to the NFPA, and requires the acceptance of a license agreement that states, in part:

GRANT OF LICENSE. NFPA grants you, the NFPA visitor, a nonexclusive and nontransferable license to view online the content of the Online Document. The Online Document is designed to be viewed online only;— there are no "print," "save," or "cut and paste" options — and the license granted to you by this agreement does not include the right to download, reproduce, store in a retrieval system, modify, make available on a network, use to create derivative works, or transmit the content of the Online Document in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise. Obviously NFPA is a public service organization.

See also

• NFPA Standards (partial list):
  • NFPA 70 — National Electrical Code (NEC)
  • NFPA 72 — National Fire Alarm Code
  • NFPA 704 — Standard System for the Identification of the Hazards of Materials for Emergency Response
  • NFPA 921 — Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations
  • NFPA 101 — Life Safety Code
  • NFPA 1001 — Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications
  • NFPA 1901 — Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus

References

1. ^ sparky.org

(Retrieved 23 June 2006, from NFPA website.)

• NFPA Web Site.
• Grant, Casey Cavanaugh, P.E. (1996). The Birth of NFPA.
• How the Code Process Works.
• An Overview of NFPA.

External links

• Official website
• SCBA Manufacture Listing of NFPA Approved SCBA Protection for Fire Fighters
• Fire Equipment Manufacturers' Association Web site
• NFPA code list at Piping-Designer.com
• Instrumented mannikin work wear burn test video on Youtube.com