NFPA 1033 is a voluntary consensus standard. Your state or local jurisdiction can adopt it or not, but your professional organization which certifies you as a fire investigator HAS adopted it. The IAAI bases all of its training on NFPA 921 and NFPA 1033. NAFI has adopted NFPA 921 as the standard of care since the first edition. If you have a CFI or a CFEI, you are implicitly stating that you meet NFPA 1033. The ProBoard specifically says an IAAI CFI is certified to NFPA 1033.

If you claim to be qualified, the burden of proof is on you to show the court that you are qualified. The way the court can judge your qualifications and your methodology is to compare your qualifications and your methodology to industry standards.

And if a fire investigator does not meet the minimum requirements of NFPA 1033, they should not be allowed to testify. I once watched a judge say to a supposed expert, "I'm sorry. If you don't know H2O, you will not be rendering opinion testimony in my courtroom."

John J. Lentini, CFI
Scientific Fire Analysis
Islamorada, FL
www.firescientist.com
scientific.fire@yahoo.com