{
  "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register",
  "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/fire-inspectors-and-investigators/",
  "methodology": "https://cookedindex.com/methodology",
  "notice": "Verdicts are re-examined as evidence accumulates. Re-fetch before relying on this; the page above always carries the current score.",
  "scored_at": "2026-08-11",
  "model": "claude-opus-5",
  "occupation": {
    "title": "Fire Inspectors and Investigators",
    "soc_code": "33-2021",
    "category": "Protective Service",
    "us_employment": 13800,
    "median_annual_wage": 75920
  },
  "verdict": "SAFE",
  "risk_resistance": 68,
  "contested": false,
  "near_boundary": false,
  "dimensions": {
    "task_resistance": 14,
    "embodiment": 17,
    "liability_shield": 13,
    "trust_premium": 9,
    "judgment_accountability": 15
  },
  "reasoning": {
    "task_resistance": "Sifting a collapsed burn scene for V-patterns, pulling receptacles and appliance cords for lab submission, flow-testing hydrants and standpipes, and interviewing the first-arriving engine company are tasks with no digital substitute; the 14 rather than 18 reflects that the paperwork half — code citation lookup, permit plan review against IFC occupancy tables, report generation, and fire-loss statistics — is already software-assisted and shrinking.",
    "embodiment": "You work unshored fire-damaged structures with compromised floors in SCBA, on ladders and roofs, in crawlspaces and attics of occupied buildings, handling contaminated debris and accelerant-soaked samples — an uncontrolled environment by definition, held just under the ceiling only because a meaningful share of inspection work is scheduled walkthroughs of intact commercial buildings rather than active hazard.",
    "liability_shield": "NFPA 1033 job performance requirements, IAAI-CFI or ICC fire inspector certification, and in many jurisdictions sworn peace-officer or deputized fire marshal status mean your name goes on the violation notice, the order to correct, and the origin-and-cause report that an insurer denies a claim on or a prosecutor charges arson from — a 13 not an 18 because certification and statutory appointment vary widely by state and many inspectors operate under a fire marshal's delegated authority rather than an individual practice licence.",
    "trust_premium": "Repeat relationships with building owners, contractors, and school and hospital facility managers who want to know what you'll flag before the annual inspection matter, and defense attorneys and prosecutors retain investigators they've seen hold up on the stand — but the property owner cannot choose which inspector the AHJ sends, and most of your output is a code-based finding that carries the same weight regardless of who wrote it.",
    "judgment_accountability": "Calling an ignition source \"undetermined\" versus \"incendiary\" on ambiguous evidence sends a case to arson charges or closes it, and deciding whether a life-safety deficiency justifies ordering an occupancy vacated tonight or a 30-day correction notice is yours to defend; 15 rather than 19 because NFPA 921's scientific method, code tables, and the fire marshal's office review structure the call more than a physician's or judge's equivalent decision."
  },
  "rationale": "The core of this job is walking a building or a burn scene in person — testing sprinkler and alarm systems, checking egress and occupancy loads, sifting char patterns and electrical remains to determine origin and cause. AI can draft the inspection report, cross-reference IFC/NFPA code sections, and flag pattern anomalies in fire-loss data, but it cannot climb the roof, collect the debris sample, or stand up in court and defend a cause determination under cross-examination. Certification (ICC, IAAI-CFI, NFPA 1033) plus sworn or deputized authority means a named human signs the violation notice and the origin-and-cause finding.",
  "outlook": "Employment holds roughly flat as AI absorbs report writing and code lookup, while scene work, sign-off authority, and courtroom testimony keep the role firmly human.",
  "what_would_raise_it": {
    "levers": [
      {
        "dimension": "liability_shield",
        "change": "NFPA 1033 (Standard for Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator) revision or state fire marshal rule explicitly barring AI-generated origin-and-cause conclusions unless a certified investigator independently reproduces and signs the determination — plus a Daubert/Frye ruling excluding origin-and-cause testimony where the analysis was machine-generated and the witness cannot explain the method. Insurers' subrogation counsel already require IAAI-CFI-signed reports.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 4
      },
      {
        "dimension": "judgment_accountability",
        "change": "As routine code-compliance walkthroughs shift to drone/sensor capture and automated permit review, the retained caseload concentrates on contested fatality fires, arson-for-profit, and occupancy shutdown orders — decisions that close a business or precede a criminal charge. Expanded use of administrative shutdown authority (e.g. post-Surfside-style structural/fire escalations) deepens this.",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 3
      },
      {
        "dimension": "task_resistance",
        "change": "Two genuine tiers: routine annual occupancy inspections and plan review versus fire-scene origin-and-cause. If jurisdictions adopt self-inspection portals and third-party plan review (already in several large cities) for the routine tier, the remaining job is scene work and contested cases, which resists automation more.",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 2
      }
    ],
    "ceiling_note": "Headcount is the real exposure, not task substitution: automated plan review and sensor-based inspection can shrink the routine-inspection tier of a 13,800-person occupation even as the per-investigator score rises. Trust premium has no realistic route — the buyer is a municipality or an insurer, and neither pays extra for a human on principle."
  },
  "adjudication": null,
  "employment_history": {
    "points": [
      {
        "y": 2017,
        "emp": 11940,
        "wage": 59260
      },
      {
        "y": 2018,
        "emp": 12530,
        "wage": 62510
      },
      {
        "y": 2019,
        "emp": 13710,
        "wage": 61660
      },
      {
        "y": 2020,
        "emp": 14010,
        "wage": 64610
      },
      {
        "y": 2021,
        "emp": 14600,
        "wage": 64600
      },
      {
        "y": 2022,
        "emp": 14510,
        "wage": 69450
      },
      {
        "y": 2023,
        "emp": 14200,
        "wage": 74160
      },
      {
        "y": 2024,
        "emp": 14050,
        "wage": 78060
      },
      {
        "y": 2025,
        "emp": 13800,
        "wage": 75920
      }
    ],
    "from": 2017,
    "to": 2025,
    "change_pct": 15.6,
    "comparable_from": 2019,
    "spans_soc_revision": true
  },
  "pivots": [],
  "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms"
}