Common Questions

Certification means an accredited certification body has checked a candidate’s knowledge, skills, and abilities against an agreed-upon industry standard—and confirmed they meet it.

Individual Fire Fighters get certified. It’s how qualified people prove they’re ready to do the job.

Accreditation is the outside sign-off on a certification program. An independent organization—IFSAC or Pro Board—reviews an agency’s certification system to confirm it meets national standards.

That review looks closely at the entire testing process: whether it’s complete, fair, secure, and valid, and whether the exam content lines up with the standard it claims to measure.

A wide range of groups can be accredited, including state/provincial certification agencies, educational institutions, government entities, and national organizations.

Certification is about the individual. It confirms a candidate has been evaluated on their knowledge, skills, and abilities against the national standard. If you pass the certification exam, you’re certified.

When that certification comes from an accredited agency, you get something extra: confidence that the exam was built and checked to accurately measure you against the standard—not just to test you, but to test you the right way.

Accredited organizations like the NSFSPQB must be able to evaluate the full NFPA Professional Qualification Standard for each subject area they certify.

For both the written exam and hands-on skills, the Academy uses the same test components for IFSAC and Pro Board. In other words, you don’t have to take two different tests—one set of testing covers both.