​Warren Olsen is well qualified to know whether or not a fire protection design is going to be approved – or more importantly, help to adequately protect lives and property. Olsen is vice president of Fire Safety Consultants, Inc. (FSCI), an Elgin, Illinois-based leader in fire and building code review and consulting. With 44 years of experience, he has reviewed hundreds of fire protection plans, conducted scores of training programs, and consulted with a multitude of building owners, architects, and builders on code compliance. He’s worked closely with fire marshals, city governments, and fire protection system designers. 

Based on his experience, Olsen understands that not everybody is as knowledgeable as they should be about NFPA and local building codes. “The simple fact of the matter is that 95 percent of people designing fire protection systems are not fire protection engineers,” noted Olsen. Without that background and training, errors are inevitable. Warren Olsen has some helpful advice for those system designers who want to make the process of designing and gaining approval of fire protection systems as smooth, stress free, swift, and profitable as possible.