The Safer Buildings Coalition (SBC), the only trade association purpose-built to lead national policy and education for in-building wireless services, and the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET), a personnel certification authority for various technical fields, have announced their collaboration in developing an In-Building Public Safety Communications (IB-PSC) certification program.

From its inception in 2012, SBC has been at the forefront of advancing ideas, codes, and standards to make buildings safer for safety personnel and the public. NICET serves as a respected personnel certification authority in many technical fields; and has certified more than 155,000 technicians and technologists. This partnership between NICET and SBC is expected to reinforce the importance of proper training and certification with the goal of raising the standard across the industry.

When their partnership was announced, Chief Alan Perdue, Safer Buildings Coalition’s Executive Director explained the objective. “With this joint NICET-Safer Buildings Coalition program, we aim to bring that same level of quality, professionalism and consistency to the design of emergency responder communications enhancement systems (ERCES), installation and inspections to ensure these systems are safe, effective, and compliant to fire code and FCC regulations.”

 

This certification program is designed for engineering technicians engaged in the detailing and layout, installation, and maintenance, and designing of in-building public safety communication systems. It covers an extensive realm of technical areas from radio frequency theory to equipment mounting requirements, and much more. While NICET developed the certification program, SBC, in parallel but independently, is creating an IB-PSC handbook and study guide. IB-PSC Technician Level I is the first of the three progressive technician levels, with Levels II and III, and a single level Design track coming later in 2021. The handbook itself will also be available for purchase later in 2021.

To learn more about SBC: The Safer Buildings Coalition, please visit https://www.saferbuildings.org/.

To learn more about NICET: The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies, please visit www.nicet.org

To read the full press release, click here.