Office of Research Services

Serving the NIH Community

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Fire Hydrant Testing

DFM Fire Protection Engineers Zenia Velazquez, P.E., Ike Yoo, P.E., Calvin Kane, P.E., and Jon Fan testing fire hydrant flows and pressures to analyze the Bethesda campus fire protection water supply.

Construction Inspection

DFM Fire Protection Engineers Zenia Velazquez, P.E. and Ike Yoo, P.E. inspecting renovation work and fire protection system installation at the Fort Detrick campus.

Food Truck Inspection

Assistant Fire Marshals Michael Garner, CFPI-III, CFEI, and Darrel Jackson, CFPI-III, CFEI inspecting the appliances, propane gas, and fire suppression systems in a food truck prior to being allowed on the Bethesda campus to serve food. Also pictured is a DOHS food safety inspector.

Fire Investigation

Assistant Fire Marshals Michael Garner, CFPI-III, CFEI and Steve Davis, CFPI-III, CFEI, CVFI investigating the cause of a fire in a lab. Also pictured are DFRS firefighters.

Our Mission

The DFM has a dual mission:

To ensure the life safety of NIH staff, patients, and visitors | To protect research efforts in support of the NIH mission

Our Services

DFM’s mission is accomplished by the proactive delivery of consistent, timely, collaborative, and professional services for NIH-owned* facilities:

Engineering

Construction and renovation plan review
Construction inspections (progress, close-in, and final)
Fire protection system shop drawing review
Fire protection systems acceptance testing
Fire hydrant testing and water supply analysis
Review of requests for site selection, road closures, temporary tents, and fire protection systems outages
Interim Life Safety Measure (ILSM) assessments
Evaluation of equivalencies and variances

Enforcement

Existing building periodic inspections
Investigating fire hazard complaints in existing buildings
Permits for hot work and temporary cooking
Advance and event inspection of food trucks
Crowd control monitoring
Tent Inspections
ILSM Inspections

Education

Staff training
Public education displays
Articles and public service announcements
Consultation on fire and life safety matters
Policy development
Investigation of fire and explosion incidents

*Note for leased facilities: These are not under DFM’S authority. DFM plays a consultative role only in leased facilities. Please contact the following fire code authorities with any code enforcement concerns in jurisdictions with leased facilities:

Organization

Engineering Team

This team primarily handles fire and life safety aspects of construction and renovation of NIH-owned facilities. This team can be reached on the “Fire Marshal” global email address in the NIH internal outlook system. The Deputy Fire Marshal supervises this team.

Inspection Team

This team primarily handles fire and life safety aspects of NIH-owned existing structures and their operation. This team can be reached on the “Fire Prevention” global email address in the NIH internal outlook system. The Fire Marshal supervises this team.

Both teams are supported by an Administrative Assistant, who will likely be your initial contact when calling the general office number.