ABOUT US:

Carson Associates, Inc. is an independent consulting engineering firm specializing in fire protection engineering, code consulting, and fire and life safety education.  We have been providing professional fire protection services since 1973 to a wide variety of private clients as well as federal, state, and local governments.

We provide plan review services for compliance with fire and building codes, building surveys, consulting on code issues, training on fire and safety codes, consulting services on special fire protection and code compliance issues, and expert witness support for fire litigation.  We also work with code officials to assist in the successful resolution of code issues that may evolve during construction and renovation projects.

We have experts on a variety of fire protection subjects to meet your fire safety needs.  Our staff and associates are active on national code development committees such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes and standards and the International Building Code (IBC).

Our clients include Fortune 500 companies such as ExxonMobil and Kodak, small private businesses, and governmental agencies such as the National Park System, the Michigan Department of Corrections, and county governments.

Carson Associates, Inc. has remained a small, focused consulting firm specializing in fire protection engineering and code consulting. Our choice to limit the size of our firm allows us the ability to provide personal service to each project and customer. We also have the advantage of collaboration with several associated firms that bring specialized engineering experience to larger projects.

All of the associates available to Carson Associates, Inc. are selected because of our long term professional association with them, and personal experience of their ability and standards of performance. This enables us the ability to provide our clients with the right personnel and expertise based upon the needs of each project. We can assure our clients an experienced team of professionals, each of whom are active in the fire protection community, serve on a variety of national code making committees, and are well know and respected in the industry.

Wayne "Chip" Carson, P.E. is president and lead engineer for Carson Associates, Inc.  Mr. Carson is a graduate of the Fire Protection Engineering program at the University of Maryland and is a registered professional engineer in several states.

He has served for over 30 years on several National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) code committees, including the Life Safety Code Technical Correlating Committee, chair of the Technical Committee on Health Care occupancies, chair of the Technical Committee on Residential Occupancies, and member of the technical committee on Detention and Correctional Occupancies.

In 1998 Mr. Carson was awarded the Committee Service Award by the NFPA for voluntary service as a technical committee member over a substantial period of time.  In 2003, the National Fire Protection Association awarded Mr. Carson the "Standards Medal," the highest award bestowed by the NFPA Standards Council for outstanding contributions to safety in the development of standards prepared by NFPA committees.