FDNY Certificate of Fitness · Code S-12/S-15
S-12/S-15 Citywide Sprinkler Systems, and Foam Water Sprinkler Systems
The card the Fire Code requires of the person who personally supervises the inspection, testing and maintenance of a building’s sprinkler system. Superintendents and building engineers in sprinklered buildings hold it, and it pairs with the S-13 for the standpipe.
Course price
$750
3 months access
Studied in the Tauris Training app.
Who needs it
Who holds the S-12/S-15
Superintendents, resident managers, building engineers and the staff of sprinkler contractors. The Fire Code requires that inspection, testing, servicing and other maintenance of a sprinkler system be personally supervised by a Certificate of Fitness holder, performed in accordance with NFPA 25. The S-12 covers sprinkler systems citywide. The S-15 covers foam water sprinkler systems, found where flammable liquids are stored or handled.
The FDNY study material covers the building owner’s responsibilities, out-of-service procedures and impairments, record keeping, the individuals the Fire Code authorizes to perform each task, and the system types themselves: wet, dry, pre-action, deluge and foam water sprinkler systems and their components, tests and inspections.
What the FDNY asks
To apply
You are at least 18
With a reasonable understanding of English.
Government-issued photo ID
Presented when you apply and when you take the exam.
A $25 FDNY application fee
Paid to the FDNY, on top of the course price.
Exam day
75 questions at FDNY Headquarters
- Format
- 75 multiple-choice questions on a touch-screen computer, with 135 minutes to complete it. The S-15 is a separate 100-question test with about 175 minutes.
- Pass mark
- 70%
- Where
- FDNY Headquarters, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn
- FDNY application fee
- $25 per attempt, paid to the FDNY
- Valid for
- Three years, then $15 to renew
The T-15, for the foam water system technician, requires a valid S-12 first.
Questions people actually ask
About the S-12/S-15
Who needs an S-12 Certificate of Fitness in NYC?
The person who personally supervises the inspection, testing, servicing and maintenance of a sprinkler system in a New York City building. The Fire Code requires that supervision to be by a Certificate of Fitness holder, so it is held by superintendents, resident managers, building engineers, and the staff of sprinkler contractors. Most residential and commercial buildings of any size in the city are sprinklered.
What is the difference between the S-12 and the S-15?
The S-12 covers sprinkler systems citywide. The S-15 covers foam water sprinkler systems, which are installed where flammable liquids are stored or handled. The FDNY tests them separately: the S-12 is 75 questions with about 135 minutes, and the S-15 is 100 questions with about 175 minutes. The same study material prepares for both.
What is the S-12 exam like?
Seventy-five multiple-choice questions on a touch-screen computer at FDNY Headquarters, 9 MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, with about 135 minutes to complete it. The pass mark is 70%. The $25 FDNY application fee is paid before you sit.
Do I need the S-13 standpipe certificate as well?
If your building has a standpipe system, yes: the S-13 is a separate certificate for supervising standpipe systems and a building with both systems needs a holder of each. Many buildings have a combined sprinkler and standpipe system, and superintendents in those buildings usually hold both the S-12 and the S-13.
Your building has more than one system
The FDNY issues a Certificate of Fitness per system or hazard. All 36 courses, or group enrollment for a whole crew.