NAICS code for fire protection: 922160 for fire departments, 238220 and 561621 for contractors

This page is for fire protection companies choosing a NAICS or SIC code for SAM.gov, an insurer, a bank or a tax return, and for sellers who need the right codes to build a list of sprinkler, alarm and extinguisher contractors.

The NAICS codes for fire protection

How to choose: install, service, inspect, monitor or sell

The Census Bureau classifies fire protection businesses by the work, and the index entries turn on a few words: "installation only," "without installation," "without sales, service, or installation."

1. Do you install water-based or waterless suppression systems or extinguishers? 238220, the plumbing and HVAC contractor code, where the index lists fire sprinkler, suppression and extinguisher installation.
2. Do you install alarm and detection wiring only? 238210.
3. Do you sell alarm systems with installation or service, or monitor alarms remotely? 561621. A company that both installs and monitors alarms usually lands here, since the index puts "sales combined with installation, repair, or monitoring" in 561621.
4. Do you only inspect and test? 541990. Add repair without installing anything and it becomes 811310.
5. Do you fight fires? 922160 for public and volunteer departments, 561990 for private firefighting companies, 115310 for wildland crews.

Other fire-related work has its own codes:

If you do several, the one with the most revenue sets the primary code: the IRS asks for "the principal source of your sales or receipts." Sprinkler inspection by a company that also installs and repairs systems is part of its contracting work, so it doesn't make the company a 541990 (our reading of the "without sales, service, or installation" wording).

SIC codes for fire protection

The SIC manual lists "fire alarm installation-contractors" under 1731 and "sprinkler system installation-contractors" under 1711, and sends monitoring with incidental installation to 7382. Codes such as 7389-49 or 5063-15 that some directories show are vendor extensions, not official four-digit SIC. To convert other codes, use the NAICS to SIC converter.

How many fire protection businesses there are

County Business Patterns (CBP) can't give a count of fire protection contractors. CBP publishes six-digit codes, and sprinkler installers are a small part of 238220's plumbing and HVAC contractors, while alarm installers sit inside 238210's electricians. Government fire departments (922160) aren't in CBP at all. What CBP 2023 does show, for establishments with paid employees:

Alarm and security services are the one fire-related code with a clean count: 48.4% of its 7,151 locations have fewer than five employees, and 206 have 100 or more. The top states are California (781), Texas (681), Florida (681), New York (531) and New Jersey (283). CBP 2023 uses NAICS 2017; none of these codes changed in 2022.

SBA size standards for fire protection codes

For federal contracts, the SBA compares your average annual receipts over your last five completed fiscal years, affiliates included, with the standard for the contract's code. From 13 CFR 121.201 on the eCFR (last amended March 17, 2023):

922160 has no size standard, since it's a government code. The small business size standards page explains how receipts and affiliates are counted.

Where the code is used and what a wrong one costs

• Federal contracts. An agency buying sprinkler inspection might code it 238220, 541990 or 811310, and the size standard differs for each. A company averaging $15 million is small under all three except 811310. An adversely affected party can appeal the code to the SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals within 10 calendar days of the solicitation.
• Tax returns. The IRS Schedule C list has 238220 and 238210 for contractors, 561600 for investigation and security services (which covers alarm monitoring), 541990 and 811310.
• Using 922160 by mistake. A private contractor that registers as 922160 is describing itself as a government fire department, which puts it in the wrong searches.

Finding fire protection companies

Few fire protection contractors are public. APi Group of New Brighton, Minnesota, files on EDGAR under SIC 7340, Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings, and its 10-K describes it as "a global, market-leading business services provider of fire and life safety, security, elevator and escalator" services; it reported $7.91 billion in 2025 revenue. Large electrical and mechanical contractors file under SIC 1731, where fire work, if any, sits inside wider businesses. For private contractors, check your state fire marshal's office, which in many states licenses sprinkler and alarm contractors. A Bebop search takes plain-language criteria (sprinkler or alarm, inspection or installation, crew size, state) and returns contractors and contacts with the reason each fits.

Worked example: coding a fire protection contractor

Illustrative example. The company and figures are invented.

Keystone Fire & Safety (keystonefire.example) in Pennsylvania installs and services sprinkler systems, installs alarms, monitors alarm systems for 900 customers and services extinguishers. Last year: sprinkler installation $5.2 million, sprinkler inspection and repair $2.1 million, alarm installation $1.4 million, monitoring $0.8 million, extinguisher service $0.5 million. Average annual receipts over five fiscal years: $8.7 million.

1. Primary code. Sprinkler work, installation plus the inspections and repairs on systems it installs and services, is 73% of revenue ($7.3 million of $10.0 million): 238220.
2. Extra codes. 238210 for alarm installation and 561621 for monitoring, listed in SAM.gov.
3. Size check. $8.7 million is under $19.0 million for 238220 and 238210 and under $25.0 million for 561621.
4. Other forms. SIC 1711 on a bank form; 238220 on a Schedule C.

Next step: sprinkler contractors share 238220 with plumbers and HVAC companies; the NAICS code for plumbing and NAICS code for HVAC pages explain the rest of that code.