Fire protection for schools that never stop being schools.
Condition assessments, bond-program renovation support, and code compliance for districts where the campuses stay occupied, the calendar doesn't move, and every dollar answers to a board and the taxpayers behind it.
We plan around your district, not the other way around.
School stays in session
Fire alarm and sprinkler work gets phased around the school calendar, testing windows, and life-safety continuity, not the contractor's preference.
Three AHJs, one district
Large Texas districts span county fire marshal territory, city limits, and emergency services districts. Which code, which reviewer, and which permit differ campus by campus.
Obligations most districts learn mid-project
Where no state or local authority enforces a required construction code, TEA rules obligate the district to contract a third-party code compliance officer. We fill that named role.
Every dollar is public
Deficiency matrices, defensible scopes, and documentation a facilities director can put in front of a board without flinching.
Assessment, code consulting, and compliance support: the parts of fire protection that come before construction.
Fire and life-safety condition assessments
Campus-by-campus field surveys of sprinkler, fire alarm, fire pump, and egress systems, delivered as a prioritized deficiency matrix your capital plan can be built on.
DISTRICT-WIDE OR SINGLE CAMPUSRenovation and bond program support
Fire protection design criteria, code analysis, and coordination review at 30/60/90/final for architects and MEP teams delivering school renovations and additions.
SUBCONSULTANT-READY | SEE THE NINE-STEP SCOPEThird-party code compliance officer
The named role Texas school facility rules require when no AHJ enforces an applicable code provision: plan review and inspection with the duties and powers of a building official.
19 TAC §61.1040AHJ jurisdiction and code-adoption mapping
A per-campus determination of who holds fire code authority and which code edition applies, built on a research platform already covering 35 Texas jurisdictions.
MULTI-CAMPUS | COUNTY / CITY / ESDSprinkler and fire alarm design criteria
Water supply and hydraulic evaluation, fire pump lifecycle analysis, and renovation design criteria. Where a sealed engineering document is required, the work is subcontracted to a Texas-licensed fire protection engineer.
SEALED WORK BY SUBCONTRACTED TEXAS FPEVentilation and smoke-control interface
Coordination where fire protection meets HVAC: smoke control interface, ventilation and airborne-risk review, and indoor air quality considerations for occupied campuses, with a Texas-licensed mechanical PE on the team.
MECHANICAL COORDINATION | SMOKE CONTROL INTERFACEA drop-in scope your architect can hand us on day one.
Nine steps, in the order a renovation actually happens. Primes name the subconsultant who removes work from their plate. This is that scope, editable to fit the project.
- Existing-document reviewDrawings, prior permits, ITM records, and open violations.
- Campus field surveyExisting fire protection systems and conditions, documented.
- Fire-protection deficiency matrixFindings ranked by life-safety impact and cost exposure.
- Applicable-code and AHJ analysisWhich code, which edition, which authority, settled in writing.
- Sprinkler and fire alarm renovation criteriaDesign criteria, sealed by a subcontracted Texas-licensed FPE where required.
- Coordination review at 30/60/90/finalFP review of the design team's documents at each milestone.
- Construction-phase impairment reviewKeeping protection in service while campuses stay occupied.
- Field observation and acceptance testing supportWitnessing the tests that close out the systems.
- Record-drawing closeout reviewWhat was built, documented for the next twenty years.
// ISSUED BY IGNITIONTECH FIRE CONSULTING LLC | ANY FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERING IS SUBCONTRACTED TO QUALIFIED, TEXAS-LICENSED FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERS
The compliance role most districts don't know they're required to fill.
Texas school facilities standards require districts to build to adopted construction codes even where no state or local authority enforces them. When a design professional identifies a code requirement with no enforcing AHJ, the district must contract a third-party code compliance officer, an independent reviewer vested with the duties and powers of a building official for that project.
For districts spanning county, city, and ESD territory, whether that trigger applies changes campus by campus. We determine where it applies, and we serve in the role.
Request the white paperConsulting you can contract directly. Engineering through a licensed partner.
Engineering services in Texas are procured by qualifications-based selection under Tex. Gov't Code Ch. 2254, ranked on demonstrated competence first, with fee negotiated after selection. They cannot be bought through a purchasing cooperative.
Assessments, code analysis, AHJ mapping, and compliance officer services are consulting services a district or its architect can contract directly. Where a scope requires sealed engineering, it runs through a subcontracted Texas-licensed fire protection engineer and that firm holds responsible charge. Qualification packages are ready for your next RFQ or your prime's teaming roster.
A team that stays inside what it is licensed to do.
Texas rules require every engineer to practice only in their area of competence (22 TAC §137.59) and reserve engineering for registered firms. IgnitionTech provides consulting; fire protection engineering is subcontracted to qualified, Texas-licensed fire protection engineers.
David Kalinec, M.ID, M.FPE
SINCE 2009 | FIRE CODE AND LIFE SAFETY CONSULTINGField surveys, code analysis, AHJ research, and client coordination across hundreds of Texas fire protection projects, including school and hospital work alongside licensed fire protection engineers.
Chris Kalinec, PE
TEXAS PE #123656 | MECHANICALMechanical engineer with a practice spanning ventilation and airborne-risk analysis, thermal analysis, and energy-sector systems: the HVAC side of life safety in occupied buildings. Coordinates the mechanical interface on school projects.
Texas-licensed FPEs, under subcontract
SEALED FP ENGINEERING WHEN A PROJECT REQUIRES ITSprinkler and fire alarm design criteria, hydraulic analyses, and performance-based analyses that require an engineer's seal are subcontracted to qualified, Texas-licensed fire protection engineers who hold responsible charge for that work.
Tell us about your campuses. We'll tell you what we'd look at first.
Whether you're a facilities director sizing up a bond program or an architect building a pursuit team, the first conversation costs nothing and usually saves a plan-review cycle.