Inspections
The North Carolina Fire Code requires that every public building is inspected by trained, certified personnel. The purpose of these inspections is to eliminate fire hazards, ensure that all fire equipment is properly maintained and to keep the building "fire safe" for all of it’s occupants. An inspection schedule written in the Code which requires:

• All public/private schools to be inspected 2 times per school year.
• All assemblies, hazardous, high rise, institutional and residential (except one and two family dwellings) occupancies to be inspected annually.
• All educational (except public schools) and factory/industrial occupancies to be inspected every 2 years.
• All business, churches, mercantiles, small assemblies (occupant load less than 100), storage and synagogues are to be inspected every 3 years.

Investigations
The Fire Marshals Office responds to suspicious fires as requested by local fire departments. FMO personnel rotate call and are available to respond 24 hours a day. It is our duty to determine facts surrounding the fire such as: the cause of the fire, where the fire started, possible witnesses or suspects, existence of evidence in arson cases, and other documentation. FMO personnel works closely with local law enforcement, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosions to determine the cause of and persons responsible for incendiary fires.

Plans Review
Fire structural plans reviews and approvals are conducted by Building Standards Plans reviewers; the Fire Marshal’s office is currently only reviewing fire suppression and detection systems plans, along with tank installation and removal plans and plans for temporary amusement structures.

All new construction of the above listed plans shall be approved by the FMO prior to construction permits being issued. All unfits of existing fire systems also require a plans review. The addition of five or less devices or any required maintenance replacements are not require to have a FMO plans review; but building standards may require permits to be issued on any installation.
General requirements for plans review include:

• Submittal of one complete set of plans with all required supporting information and data included
• Plans must have an engineering sealed or be drawn by a National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) certified technician
• A list of contact name and contact numbers are required when providing plans for review
• All FMO Plans Review Fees must be paid in advance and a receipt from Iredell County Central Permitting must be attached with any submitted plans to verify payment before plans are received.
• Construction permits will be mailed or faxed upon the successful review of the plans. If plan modifications are needed the contact will be notified as to the required changes. No additional plan review fees will be charged for required changes and their second submittal.
• FMO fees include all on site visits and required performance testing.
• Fire releases for Certified Occupancy Permits (CO) shall be conducted by the Building Standards Building Inspectors only, unless the CO is continuant upon the plans reviews listed above.