this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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I know there’s a National Fire Code in the US that serves as a minimum standard for every state, but an individual state can make stricter requirements if they want. I’m not sure if the base level is federally mandated or it’s just an agreement among the states to have a baseline that is easier to design to for companies working in multiple states.
I’m pretty sure the basic standard in the US is that most buildings (with few exceptions) should have at least one smoke detector, and usually more depending on the type of building. Normally in residences I think now there is supposed to be at least 1 per level in a single family home along with 1 per bedroom, but there could be fewer in older buildings built to an older standard that maybe weren’t required to upgrade (although highly recommended).
I guess one distinction we haven’t made is having an alarm vs. having a monitored alarm, something that will notify perhaps a private monitoring company, a watchman on site, or directly to an emergency dispatcher. Monitored alarms aren’t legally mandated in nearly as many buildings, but insurance companies may require them in more buildings than code requires. If a commercial building doesn’t have a monitored alarm their insurance rates might be much higher or they might be unable to get any insurance. The owner of a large apartment building might need a monitored system for insurance while someone who owns their own single family home normally doesn’t, but might get a discount on their insurance if they have a monitored alarm.
Does Germany at least require smoke detectors that will alert a building’s occupants, even if the alarm doesn’t send a signal elsewhere?
Does the 1.1 million firefighters number cover just your professionals or also include the trained volunteers/conscripts? Compulsory fire service is an interesting concept. Does that force employers to make concessions that might’ve prevented an individual from otherwise being able to volunteer?
For buildings that pose significant hazards in case of a fire (how that is defined depends on the exact state legislation) must have automatic fire alarm systems (similar to what you're calling "monitored alarms") that are standardised and hooked up directly to the emergency control centre. If one of those goes off, the relevant fire department will be alerted according to a predefined response plan. Fire insurance might also give clients a discount for installing an alarm system where it's not mandated by the authorities. Fire insurance for buildings is mandatory.
For buildings where people are present for a prolonged duration, typically, yes, at least for certain rooms. But the details are a little complicated, because public safety is a state matter. So every state has their own fire safety laws, they are similar, but distinctly different. But all states have made domestic smoke detectors mandatory so far, typically the minimum rooms that must have one being staircases, hallways and bedrooms.
It includes, the 35000 professional firefighters, and another 33000 corporate firefighters. (businesses that pose a significant hazard can be mandated to have a fire department of their own)
It's also very old, In many places, there were medieval fire safety laws that required every household to have a certain number of fire buckets and every able bodied resident to grab that bucket and to come to a prearranged place when the fire bell was being rung.
These days there are only very few compulsory fire departments at any time, as all fire safety laws explicitly state those are a temporary measure with the goal of (re-)establishing a volunteer fire department. In fact very few compulsory fire departments ever came into being due to a genuine lack of people willing to volunteer, most of the time, they have to be created after a dispute between the municipal administration and its volunteer firefighters, ending in the volunteers collectively walking out. In that case, the administration will typically simply conscript its former volunteers, but that doesn't mean all is good, because if you're conscripted for service, you have to be compensated for every minute of your time.
Basically, employers are already legally required to let volunteers go and continue paying their salary in case they are alerted. They can reclaim that paid salary from the municipal administration. Theoretically, employers can be fined for not letting their employees leave and technically, even the volunteers are legally required to show up to calls, (There is a saying that goes like "You volunteer to join, you volunteer to quit, everything in between is your duty") but in practise, quite a bit of slack is cut, in case you are a serial no-show, typically, at some point, your superiors will have a talk with you, and if you keep not showing up for no reason, at some point later, they'll revoke your active membership status.
If you're conscripted into a compulsory fire department, you will be fined for not showing up, unless you have a really good excuse. The fines, which are of a more theoretical possibility with volunteers, will be enforced in case an employer refuses to let a conscripted firefighter leave without a good reason.
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Wikipedia actually has an English article on the fire service in Germany, which is a good starting point to learn more. (but feel free to ask more questions anyway) Be aware that the total number of firefighters stated there, over 1.3 million, includes the 270000 members of the volunteer fire departments' youth groups, which are their main recruiting tool.