Professional Experience
Bob has more than 45 years of professional fire code experience. Bob started his fire service career with the Minnesota State Fire Marshal Division as a Health Care Inspector where he focused on enforcement of state and federal fire and life safety regulations in healthcare facilities. As he progressed through the ranks, Bob held positions that focused on inspections of new and existing hotels, motels, home daycares, and daycare facilities and served as an advisor to code officials, architects, engineers, and the public on state fire code. In his final position as the Division’s Lead Code Specialist, Bob developed a new program for licensing sprinkler contractors, journeymen, and apprentices.
Most recently, Bob served as the Global Inspection Director for Underwriters Laboratory’s (UL) Building, Fire, Life Safety, and Security Industries. In this role, Bob oversaw the global building and security inspection program, led educational seminars, developed internet-based training programs, collaborated with model fire code committees, and served as a liaison between the UL fire service research staff and the regulatory community.
Previously, Bob served as the Fire Marshal for the City of Bloomington, Minnesota. In this capacity, Bob oversaw fire investigation, enforcement, and education for industrial, residential, and commercial facilities, including the Mall of America which is the nation’s largest retail facility. He chaired the Bloomington Development Review Committee and was responsible for facilitating meetings between new construction project design teams and all city departments.
Bob has also served as Vice President of a fire protection engineering firm where he was responsible for supervising technical services, including project management, research, and site observations. His worked focused on developing and adopting model fire and building codes at the state and national levels. Bob’s responsibilities included conducting training and coordinating continued education for technical staff on fire code requirements, developing specifications for emergency evacuation plans, egress studies, suppression and detection system, hazardous materials use and storage, flammable and combustible liquids, aerosols, and high piled storage.
Education and Training
Bob is an NFPA Certified Fire Protection Specialist. He was also certified as a Uniform Fire Code Inspector and State of Minnesota Fire Instructor Levels II and III.
Bob has completed numerous industry-specific training courses inclusive of Fire Marshals Association of America Advanced Fire Protection Institute, Oklahoma State University’s Sprinkler Plan Review Course, and NFPA’s Life Safety Code 101, Certified Fire Protection Specialist Primer, and Smoke Control courses.
Committees and Professional Organizations
Bob has worked closely with the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute. He currently chairs two NFPA document committees: the 1082/2800 Building Fire and Life Safety Directors and the 400 Hazardous Materials Code. Bob was asked to author and edit the Hazardous Material Handbook and assist in the development of a new training course. He was an alternate member on NFPA 101 Life Safety Code Technical Correlation Committee, NFPA 915 Standard for Remote Inspections, and NFPA 3-4 Commissioning and Integrated Systems Technical Committee. Bob is an active member of the International Association of Arson Investigators.
Awards and Accomplishments
Bob received the NFPA’s Committee Service Award and Special Achievement Award in recognition of his distinguished service in the development of NFPA codes and standards.
Bob co-developed a series of in-depth news programs on fire prevention which was reproduced by the NFPA and had segments internationally distributed as part of its focus on education and prevention.
Bob was selected for participation in the competitive UL Global Leadership Program, a year-long training program focused on transforming business while maintaining robust performance and efficient operations. He also recently completed the Lean Six Sigma UL Yellow Belt program.