The fire safety engineer understands and applies fire safety engineering (FSE). According to ISO TR 13387-1, fire safety engineering is the application of engineering principles, rules and expert judgement based on a scientific appreciation of the fire phenomena, of the effects of fire and of the reaction and behaviour of people, in order to:

• save life, protect property and preserve the environment and heritage;
• quantify the hazards and risk of fire and its effects;
• evaluate analytically the optimum protective and preventative measures necessary to limit, within prescribed levels, the consequences of fire.

These objectives will be achieved by a variety of means including activities such as: 

• the assessment of the hazards and risks of fire and its effects;
• the mitigation of potential fire damage by proper design, construction, arrangement, and use of buildings, materials, structures, industrial processes, transportation systems and similar;
• determining the appropriate level of evaluation for the optimum preventive and protective measures necessary to limit the consequences of fire;
• the design, installation, maintenance and/or development of fire detection, fire suppression, fire control and fire related communication systems and equipment;
• the direction and control of appropriate equipment and manpower in the strategy and function of firefighting and rescue operations;
• post-fire investigation and analysis, evaluation and feedback.

A fire engineer, by education, training and experience:

• understands the nature and characteristics of fire and the mechanisms of fire spread and the control of fire and the associated products of combustion;
• understands how fires originate, spread within and outside buildings/structures, and can be detected, controlled, and/or extinguished;
• is able to anticipate the behaviour of materials, structures, machines, apparatus, and processes as related to the protection of life, property and the environment from fire;
• has an understanding of the interactions and integration of fire safety systems and all other systems in buildings, industrial structures and similar facilities;
• is able to make use of all of the above and any other required knowledge to undertake the practice of fire engineering.

This programme can be completed as a two-year part-time programme, with 30 credits per year (in total four times twelve weeks). However, participants can decide to spread the completion of the programme over more than 2 years as well. The mandatory courses mainly take place in the afternoon and on Fridays. This allows professionals to participate. The programme consists of 11 general courses, an elective course and a dissertation.

Fire safety consultants, fire prevention officers, fire brigade officers, building designers, building services engineers, architectural practitioners.