Fire Inspectors and Investigators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 38% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 55% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 45% of the time, stays with people.
Inspect buildings to detect fire hazards and enforce local ordinances and state laws, or investigate and gather facts to determine cause of fires and explosions.
13,800 people do this job in the US. $75,920 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on15 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet7 h
- Stays with people18 h
Fire Inspectors and Investigators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 15 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 7 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 18 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Write detailed reports of fire inspections performed, fire code violations observed, and corrective recommendations offered (about 6 h); Analyze evidence and other information to determine probable cause of fire or explosion (about 3 h); Identify corrective actions necessary to bring properties into compliance with applicable fire codes, laws, regulations, and standards, and explain these measures to property owners or their representatives (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 55%
- 5%
- 40%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 38%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 30 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 46% of this job's working time as physical work. For 1% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 1% in a purpose-built cell. 0.01 of 3, the 649th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 54%
- No robot shown 45%
- In a purpose-built cell 1%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write detailed reports of fire inspections performed, fire code violations observed, and corrective recommendations offered.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | 91%Half by now | |
| Analyze evidence and other information to determine probable cause of fire or explosion.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 13% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now | |
| Develop and coordinate fire prevention programs, such as false alarm billing, fire inspection reporting, and hazardous materials management.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 12% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.4 work weeks | 26%Half by Apr 2027 | |
| Inspect buildings to locate hazardous conditions and fire code violations, such as accumulations of combustible material, electrical wiring problems, and inadequate or non-functional fire exits.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 2.1 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct inspections and acceptance testing of newly installed fire protection systems.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Inspect and test fire protection or fire detection systems to verify that such systems are installed in accordance with appropriate laws, codes, ordinances, regulations, and standards.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Supervise staff, training them, planning their work, and evaluating their performance.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Identify corrective actions necessary to bring properties into compliance with applicable fire codes, laws, regulations, and standards, and explain these measures to property owners or their representatives.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Inspect properties that store, handle, and use hazardous materials to ensure compliance with laws, codes, and regulations, and issue hazardous materials permits to facilities found in compliance.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 2.8 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct fire code compliance follow-ups to ensure that corrective actions have been taken in cases where violations were found.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Review blueprints and plans for new or remodeled buildings to ensure the structures meet fire safety codes.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | 92%Half by now | |
| Develop or review fire exit plans.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Fire-Prevention and Protection Engineers24% now, 69% by 2028
- Firefighters3% now, 3% by 2028
- Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists16% now, 16% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers31% now, 32% by 2028
- Construction and Building Inspectors49% now, 51% by 2028
- Occupational Health and Safety Specialists40% now, 54% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Fire Inspectors and Investigators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 38% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 55% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (53% to 55% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Fire Inspectors and Investigators come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Write detailed reports of fire inspections performed, fire code violations observed, and corrective recommendations offered (91% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Analyze evidence and other information to determine probable cause of fire or explosion (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Identify corrective actions necessary to bring properties into compliance with applicable fire codes, laws, regulations, and standards, and explain these measures to property owners or their representatives (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Fire Inspectors and Investigators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Inspect buildings to locate hazardous conditions and fire code violations, such as accumulations of combustible material, electrical wiring problems, and inadequate or non-functional fire exits; Conduct inspections and acceptance testing of newly installed fire protection systems; and Inspect and test fire protection or fire detection systems to verify that such systems are installed in accordance with appropriate laws, codes, ordinances, regulations, and standards. Together such tasks are about 45% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Fire Inspectors and Investigators?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Fire Inspectors and Investigators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 46% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 1% of the working time. Its index is 0.01 of 3. One example: OSARO Robotic Bagging System (with Pregis automated bagger) for "package collected pieces of evidence in securely closed containers, such as bags, crates, or boxes, to protect them". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 30 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
This job in your state or metro area
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