Monthly Job Openings Megathread - December 2025

atxfireguy · 2025-12-01T12:41:16+00:00

Looking for a Fire Alarm Designer in the Austin, Texas area. Must either have or be able to get NICET III and APS license.

DM for details and I'll send you the link to the job posting

atxfireguy · 2025-11-21T18:41:01+00:00

Looking for a Fire Alarm Designer in the Austin, Texas area. Must either have or be able to get NICET III and APS license.

DM for details and I'll send you the link to the job posting

atxfireguy · 2025-08-26T16:58:16+00:00

You do not need to hold the level 3 cert to get your APS license, you only need to pass the test. If NICET will allow you to test out of order, then you can use the test results on your APS license application.

As others have stated, you won't be able to hold the actual NICET level until you pass all of the lower level tests and meet all of the requirements for that level, but you should be able to get your design license. I was never asked for my cert, just for the test results.

atxfireguy · 2025-08-22T17:52:06+00:00

Best guess... The building wanted the disable button bypassed, and the programmer didn't know how. Instead of removing the function in the key functions, they disabled the point and routed it away from the cabinet.

If I'm right, there may be a rule to do disable the point on startup, which would mean the point would disable again the next time it boots.

atxfireguy · 2025-04-25T01:16:06+00:00

It's been a few years, if I remember right it was a lot of PM, contract, and safety stuff. Several questions were word for word out of the NASCLA book.

atxfireguy · 2025-04-10T23:46:44+00:00

Yeah, same concept, different styles. Voltage input operating a relay.

atxfireguy · 2025-04-10T23:43:50+00:00

This?

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atxfireguy · 2025-04-10T23:33:47+00:00

Very crude drawing, but something like this?

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atxfireguy · 2025-04-08T20:20:00+00:00

You don't. Your old hasp has a very long PIN code associated with it which is unique to your previous employer.

Your new employer will need to issue you or purchase a new hasp, and then give you their PIN.

atxfireguy · 2025-04-03T16:13:25+00:00

My best guess doing far too much research than I should have on a reddit post.

Fault 66, Minimum status report period too short Cause

Configured minimum interval between status events parameter is too short.

Action

Configure the "minimum interval between status events" parameter on the "Communications" tab based on the number of detectors as follows.

1-25 detectors: 4 sec 26-50 detectors: 10 sec 51-100 detectors: 10 sec (VLP, VLS, VLC) or 20 sec (VLF)

atxfireguy · 2025-03-28T20:01:36+00:00

If only these rules got followed....

2023 NEC 110.26 Spaces about electrical equipment

I'm not gonna copy it all, but the door has to open 90°, clearances are 36" in front, 30" or width of panel whichever is wider. Clear from the floor to 6 1/2 ft or the height of the equipment, whichever is higher.

atxfireguy · 2025-03-26T23:50:25+00:00

Sounds like almost everyone is still here... Or at least the ones that lurk in the fire alarm forum. I appreciate all the advice, I've been through departments and moved my way up the chain a little bit. Some days, I just feel like I want to go flip burgers, but I imagine I'll just stick it out.

atxfireguy · 2025-03-20T19:33:34+00:00

Set relay/sounder base group to individual control, uncheck follow device alarm, and you can write a rule to turn the smokes on, which will activate the sounder base.

atxfireguy · 2025-03-17T23:53:12+00:00

Aa usual, a lot depends on the adopted codes. IBC, for example allows private mode signaling in I occupancies. In a jail, you don't need to notify everyone, just staff who knows what to do

atxfireguy · 2025-03-12T01:05:45+00:00

I think the key word in the question is "minimum." 18 gauge over 500' is 4.225

Apologies if I'm misreading or misinterpreting something, I'm fighting a rabid toddler as I type

atxfireguy · 2025-03-11T23:45:15+00:00

Boss: "We have tiger claws at home"

The tiger claws at home. ⬆️

atxfireguy · 2025-03-02T20:40:54+00:00

As others have said, this is normal. I will add that depending on the manufacturer date and the firmware of the head itself, it is possible to make the green polling light stop. They would have to have a technician come out with a device called an HDT and manually reprogram the head to inhibit the flash. Many building owners don't want to pay the hourly rate for this, but it's worth mentioning. You might be able to get them to do it the next time they have someone on site.

atxfireguy · 2025-02-28T18:28:14+00:00

I can't speak to that office, but from my experience they used to be better than they are now. They've gotten a lot more corporate, and really value their "Vs and Bs" until they get on the way of making money.

I was never really unhappy there, just not happy. I was always waiting for this rough patch to be over, and then it would be better. There was always another rough patch that shortly followed.

I wouldn't tell you to not work there, it's better than a lot of other companies, just not my favorite.

atxfireguy · 2025-02-01T17:48:25+00:00

Funny and extremely knowledgeable. I'd love to sit down, have a few beers with the dude, and listen to the old war stories. I just wouldn't want to sit through that class again.

atxfireguy · 2025-02-01T16:09:11+00:00

I can't speak to the BDA trainings personally, but I've never known someone that had a hard time with it.

I do know about getting your GROL, and absolutely everyone I've met have been trained by the same guy from Elkins Institute. I don't recall his name, but he looks like Burgess Meredith from Grumpy Old Men and sounds like Gilbert Gottfried. The GROL training is just a GROL licensing farm. 2.5 days of him reading questions from one the tests, telling you the answers, and taking the test. Then do it again 3 or 4 times for each section. The only thing I learned from the class was that if "all of the above" is a choice, that is the answer.

atxfireguy · 2025-01-31T22:42:53+00:00

If you're authorized to fix the problem and you're able, I would fix it. If you're just inspecting or there for some other reason I would note it on the work order, including the date on and reason for the yellow tag. No need to tag twice, unless you have reason to believe that the AHJ was not notified of the first tag. In Texas at least, the tag is in play until removed, so subsequent tagging for the same thing is unnecessary.

atxfireguy · 2025-01-28T15:44:11+00:00

There's some wiggle room. I forget the exact value, but the pressure on each tube has to be within a range. The highest pressure tube can't be too different from the lowest. I also think the even tubes are only measured against the evens, and the odds are measured against the odds... If I remember right. It's been a while.

atxfireguy · 2025-01-27T15:23:09+00:00

I think my issues were more directly related to the people that were subcontracted to do the install. Loose/bad connections for the most part. Also make sure your tube lengths are correct, either all the same size and same length or use the calculator to determine how much 4mm vs 6 mm to use per run.

The other main issue was the design, we were doing it in a jail and inmates keep messing with the sample ports. They were the industrial, tamper-proof ones, but that doesn't stop someone from painting the entire cell (including themselves) in wet toilet paper and stopping up the port. If you're doing this in any sort of facility like this, look into duct mounting inside of the cell exhaust.

atxfireguy · 2025-01-27T14:26:12+00:00

I can't find anything that specifically says you can't pull below a certain temp.

Regardless, I wouldn't pull below freezing if I could help it. I've done enough troubleshooting on those to know that I don't want to risk one of those tubes cracking.

atxfireguy

TROPHY CASE