Quality control and maintenance

How to become a fire engineer

Official title: Fire engineer

Also called: Fire protection engineer, Fire risk assessor, Fire safety engineer, Senior fire engineer

Fire engineers study and design fire protection systems, materials and equipment to protect people and property against fire and related hazards.

Main tasks

Design fire prevention, detection and control systems
Inspect sites and facilities
Give health and safety recommendations
Ensure fire safety compliance
Maintain and repair equipment
Install fire response systems
Prepare technical reports
Find and fix operational problems

How to become one

You need more than one qualification and experience to become a fire engineer. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a bachelor's degree in structural engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering or similar area; a Master of Engineering in Fire Engineering; experience in similar work. Other requirements: to be a member of Engineering New Zealand; to be a member of the Institution of Fire Engineers New Zealand; to be a member of Society of Fire Protection Engineers New Zealand; to be registered as a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineering New Zealand; a driver licence.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Engineering degrees, Offered by 5 universities in New Zealand

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $85,000 to $152,000 a year (median $118,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $66,000 a year · Upper: $193,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Strong increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 370 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Other Engineering Professionals, 14% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Other Engineering Professionals work (2023 Census): Auckland 33.8%, Canterbury 14.8%, and Waikato 9.8%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a fire engineer?

How much does a fire engineer earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $118,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $85,000 to $152,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a fire engineer grown in New Zealand?

It has grown strongly: TEC records a strong increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a fire engineer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026