What's on the ICC Fire Inspector II Exam? All 4 Domains

The format

Ten fewer questions than Fire Inspector I in the same two-hour window gives you slightly more time per question — a small margin, not a different exam-taking strategy. Come in knowing roughly where each answer lives in the code, the same discipline the first exam required.

The four domains, by weight

ICC publishes the domain weighting for Fire Inspector II directly, and it sums to exactly 100%:

The weighting shift from Fire Inspector I, and why it matters

If you've already passed Fire Inspector I, don't assume the same study allocation carries over — it doesn't. Here's the same four domains, side by side:

General Provisions for Fire Safety is still the largest domain on Fire Inspector II, but it drops from carrying nearly half the exam to a little over a third. Occupancies and Regulated Materials and Processes each pick up five points, converging with Administration into a much flatter four-way split than the first exam's lopsided distribution. A candidate who calibrated hard to Fire Inspector I's weighting — front-loading means of egress, construction type, and system readiness — is now underprepared in two domains unless they deliberately recalibrate.

Occupancies (22%) is occupancy classification and occupant load, out of the IBC — the same subject matter as Fire Inspector I, tested more heavily here.

Regulated Materials and Processes (22%) is hazardous materials and interior finishes, out of the IFC — also carried over from Fire Inspector I, also tested more heavily.

General Inspection Administration (20%) is the procedural and legal side of the job — permits, recordkeeping, and appeals, mapped to IFC Chapter 1. ICC's published outline lists scheduling as its own task within this domain on Fire Inspector II, which it doesn't call out separately on Fire Inspector I — a small addition, but worth knowing rather than assuming the domain is identical in scope. As with Fire Inspector I, this is also the domain where the reference picture is least settled: the content draws on the IFSTA manual as well as the code text, and we haven't been able to confirm whether IFSTA itself is an approved in-room reference for this exam. See the requirements article and confirm directly with ICC before you plan your references around it.

General Provisions for Fire Safety (36%) covers the same core inspection content as Fire Inspector I — means of egress, construction type, fire-protection system readiness, and emergency access and planning — still the single heaviest domain, just no longer close to half the paper.

The references

The same three references as Fire Inspector I, all at the 2021 cycle:

• 2021 International Building Code
• 2021 International Fire Code
• Fire Inspection and Code Enforcement, IFSTA, 9th Edition

If your Fire Inspector I tabs are still in your books, most of the structural work is done — the shift here is in how you weight what you study, not which references you need.

Where to start

If you're coming in fresh off Fire Inspector I, spend your first study pass specifically on the two domains that grew — Occupancies and Regulated Materials and Processes — rather than re-running your old General Provisions review. The published percentages are the closest thing to an answer key you get before exam day, and this time they're telling you something different than they did last time. ICC does not publish a pass rate for this exam, so there's no benchmark to compare yourself against beyond the scope of the material itself.

Our free 10-question practice test draws from the same weighted pool, so the mix you see is the mix the exam uses.