Free tools
Quick reference tools for the field and the office, free to use, no account required. Same rule as the Learning Center: original tools, code sections cited so you can go confirm the real thing yourself.
Every calculator and the code reference on your phone, on site, where you actually need them. Free, no account needed.
The requirements you actually run into, in plain English.
Search and filter by topic or trade, and flag down the ones that get written up most often. Every entry points at the chapter it comes from so you can go read it yourself, which is the skill worth having. Not a calculator, a lookup.
What actually gets written up, sorted by category.
Browse the findings by the categories you walk a building in: fundamentals and power, initiating, notification, ITM, egress, extinguishers, fire doors, sprinkler, kitchen suppression, site access. Each one carries report language neutral enough to hand an owner, the chapter behind it, and whether it is a violation at all or only a recommendation. Or describe what you found in your own words and it will find it.
Estimate occupant load from a space's function and area.
Pick the function of the space, enter its area, and get an estimated occupant load using the standard square-foot-per-person factors. Covers the 2015 through 2024 IBC/IFC editions.
Find the smallest conduit size for a fire alarm run.
Add every jacketed FA cable or individual THHN conductor going into the run, pick a conduit type, and see the smallest trade size that passes the NEC fill rule. Multiconductor cable counts as a single conductor at its overall diameter, per Chapter 9 Note 9.
Check end-of-line voltage on a notification circuit.
Enter wire gauge, run distance, and connected current to check the notification circuit's end-of-line voltage against a device's minimum operating voltage.
Whether the conductors, devices, and grounds actually fit the box.
Counts everything that consumes volume, not just the conductors: device yokes at two allowances each, internal clamps, support fittings, and the grounding conductors under the rule your adopted edition uses.
Size the secondary battery from standby and alarm current draw.
Enter the system's standby and alarm current draw and required operating time to get the required battery capacity, with the edition-correct aging safety factor applied.
Minimum candela for wall, ceiling, sleeping room, and corridor.
Enter room size (and ceiling height, for ceiling mount) to get the minimum required candela. Covers wall mount, ceiling mount, sleeping rooms, and corridors.
Detector count with high-ceiling and beam/joist reductions.
Enter room size and listed spacing to get the detector grid count. Heat detector mode applies the ceiling-height derating table and beam/joist spacing reductions.
Current draw, voltage drop, and dB loss for a speaker circuit.
Enter the total tapped wattage, wire gauge, and run distance on a 25V, 70V, or 100V speaker circuit to get current draw, voltage drop, and dB line loss.
Find out whether a building needs a fire alarm system, by occupancy.
Pick NFPA 101 or IBC, then the occupancy type, to see whether a fire alarm system is required and why, with the exact code section cited.
Offset, saddle, 90° stub, and back-to-back bends, with a diagram for each.
Enter your offset depth or obstruction height and bend angle to get the mark-to-mark distance and shrink, a stub height to get the deduct mark, or a back-to-back distance to get both marks. Every mode also shows where the bender goes: which of the three symbols on the casting — arrow, teardrop, or star — lines up with the mark you just made.
