Pocket Marshal — Code confidence in every inspector's pocket

The gap nobody budgets for

The code isn't the hard part. The conversation is.

New inspectors learn the code in a classroom. What they don't learn is how to tell a stressed owner their building has a life-safety problem — without the visit turning adversarial. That gap is where escalations, complaints and re-inspections come from.

A veteran's judgment walks out the door at retirementDecades of interpretation — which rule wins, when to escalate, how to phrase it — lives in a handful of heads and leaves with them.

A defensible finding still lands badlyA correct call delivered poorly becomes a complaint to the chief, a call to a commissioner, or an owner who digs in instead of fixing the problem.

"Get it fixed" leaves owners strandedWithout a clear path — the specific fix, who handles it, how it closes out — owners stall, miss deadlines, and come back frustrated.

Inspectors hesitate on the calls that matterWhen you're unsure which code governs, the safe move feels like saying nothing. That's a life-safety risk and a liability exposure.

How it works

Ask in plain language. Get a call you can stand behind.

An inspector standing in a building gets clear guidance, the section to verify it in, and the words for the conversation — in the time it takes to type the question.

Describe it or photograph it

"Rear exit is chained shut during business hours." Or snap a photo of the sprinkler head, the panel, the blocked corridor. Plain words are enough.

Marshal applies your code hierarchy

State code first, then your city and county amendments, then your own department guidance — and it tells the inspector which rule won and why.

You get a verdict and the words

A clear determination with citations, how to say it to the owner, and the owner's concrete path forward. Saved to the session for your records.

See it

One question. A complete, defensible answer.

This is the actual determination format your inspectors see in the field — the finding, guidance with the section reference to verify it in, the language to use, and the owner's next steps in one card.

A verdict, not a maybePASS, PASS WITH CONDITIONS, IMMEDIATE FAIL, or ESCALATE — never a hedge the inspector has to interpret.

Tells you where to look it upGuidance in plain language, plus the governing section reference in your jurisdiction's order of precedence — so an inspector can verify it in the adopted code and stand behind the finding on review.

The conversation, handledEvery finding comes with de-escalating language and a clear path — the two things that keep a visit from escalating.

Marshal gives guidance and the section reference to check it against — it isn't a replacement for your adopted code book, and inspectors are always pointed back to the adopted edition to confirm.

Immediate FailStrip mall taqueria · occupied & operating

Finding

The only rear exit is chained shut from the inside while the building is occupied. This is an immediate life-safety hazard — occupants cannot egress in a fire.

Where to verify it

NFPA 1-FL §14.5.1 — means of egress: maintenance and locking while occupied

How to say this to the owner

"I can see you're trying to protect your business from theft — that's a real problem and I get it."
"But this one has to change right now: if there's a fire, nobody in that dining room can get out the back."
"There's a way to solve both — let's get you a lock that stops dine-and-dash and still lets people out."

The owner's path forward

Remove the chain now — before service continues.
Install code-compliant panic hardware; a licensed contractor can pull any permit it needs through the City.
Resubmit to the City when the work's done; a re-inspection closes it out.

De-escalation & owner care

Built so nobody leaves feeling attacked — or stranded.

Every owner-facing suggestion Marshal writes has to do two things at once. Not one. Both. That's the rule the product is built on.

Keep it de-escalated

The owner feels respected, never cornered

Leads with what's going right before what's wrong
Names the problem, never blames the person
Acknowledges the real cost and stress honestly
Frames code as protecting their people and livelihood — not red tape
On pushback: validate first, then return to the path

Never leave them high and dry

The owner knows exactly what happens next

The specific fix — never a vague "get it fixed"
Who handles it, and that it'll be put in writing
A realistic timeframe or compliance date
How it closes out — permits and resubmittal through the City
Ends on the next step, never on the problem

Your code, your order of precedence

Marshal doesn't guess which rule wins. It knows yours.

Generic AI cites whatever it finds. Pocket Marshal is configured to your jurisdiction's hierarchy during onboarding — and says out loud which level governed the call.

State fire prevention codeThe statewide baseline — e.g. the Florida Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1-FL, current edition).

Your city & county ordinancesLocal amendments override the state baseline — Marshal knows which rule wins and says so.

Your department's own guidanceSOPs, interpretation memos, inspector handbooks — the institutional knowledge that usually lives in veterans' heads.

Marshal advises — the AHJ decides. Every determination is decision support for a certified inspector, never a substitute for their authority or judgment. Marshal explains what the code requires and points to the section it comes from; the adopted code book remains the authority.

Scope of the tool — please read

Pocket Marshal is a guide to the code. It is not the code.

We want every department to be clear on this before they buy, because it defines how the tool should be used in the field.

What Pocket Marshal does

Explains, in plain language, what a requirement is generally understood to mean
Points to the section reference where the requirement is found
Applies your jurisdiction's order of precedence so the inspector knows which level to look at
Suggests how to communicate a finding and what the owner's next steps are
Escalates instead of guessing when a situation is ambiguous

What Pocket Marshal does not do

It does not reproduce, republish, or substitute for the text of any code or standard
It is not a legal opinion, a code interpretation of record, or an official determination
It does not exercise the authority of the AHJ or make the call for the inspector
It is not a replacement for your adopted code books, your training, or your certification

The inspector remains responsible for reading and applying the code.

Pocket Marshal will tell an inspector where to look — it will not put the code's words in front of them, and it is not a source they may rely on in place of the adopted text. Before issuing any finding, the inspector must open the adopted edition, read the governing section verbatim, and apply their own professional judgment and their department's guidance. Every determination in the product is decision support for a certified inspector. The authority having jurisdiction decides.

Pricing

Priced to pay for itself.

One price covers your whole department — no monthly billing, no per-inspection fees, no surprise seat charges. A single annual line item that drops straight into your budget cycle.

1–5 inspectors

$6,400 /year

Most departments6–15 inspectors

$11,900 /year

16–30 inspectors

$18,900 /year

31+ inspectors

Custom — let's talk

Every license includes

Unlimited questions and photo checks
Configuration to your code hierarchy
Code updates as editions change
De-escalation & owner-communication coaching
Session history for your records
Onboarding and inspector training

What it's worth

One avoided problem covers the year.

The license is a fixed, known number. The things it prevents are the expensive ones — and departments absorb them quietly today.

Escalated complaint

A finding delivered badly becomes a call to the chief, a commissioner's inquiry, and hours of senior staff time — on a call that was correct to begin with.

2–3

Avoidable re-inspections

Owners who never got a clear path stall, miss the compliance date, and come back — each return trip is windshield time you don't get back.

18mo

To season a new inspector

The judgment part — which rule governs, how to say it — is the slow half. Marshal shortens the gap between certified and confident.

∞

Questions, no meter

Unlimited use across your whole department. Inspectors never hesitate to check because someone's counting.

Run the numbers against your own department: what does one escalated complaint actually cost you in senior staff hours, and how many re-inspections last year traced back to an owner who didn't know what to do next? For most departments the honest answer clears the license on its own.

Security & data handling

Built for a department that has to answer for its records.

Your data stays yours

Inspection content belongs to your department. It is never sold, and never used to train public AI models.

Records you can produce

Sessions are retained with their determinations and citations, so a finding can be reconstructed months later if it's challenged.

Public-records aware

We'll walk your department through what's retained and how it interacts with your state public-records obligations before you go live.

Individual inspector accounts

Each inspector logs in with their own credentials. Sessions are attributable — no shared department password floating around.

Questions from Fire Marshals

The things chiefs ask first.

Does this replace an inspector's judgment?

No — and it's built specifically not to. Marshal is decision support: it surfaces the governing code, a recommended determination, and language to use. The authority having jurisdiction makes the call. Every determination is framed that way in the product itself.

What if it's wrong about a code section?

Marshal always names the section its guidance comes from, so an inspector can confirm it in the adopted code right there rather than taking it on faith. It's configured to your hierarchy during onboarding, and genuinely ambiguous or unusual conditions route to ESCALATE instead of a confident wrong answer. The adopted code book stays the authority — Marshal's job is to get the inspector to the right place in it, fast.

Does it replace our code books?

No — and it is explicitly not built to. Marshal explains what a requirement is generally understood to mean and tells the inspector which section governs, so they know exactly where to look. It does not reproduce code text and must not be relied on in place of it. The inspector still opens the adopted edition, reads the governing section verbatim, and applies their own judgment before issuing a finding. The adopted code remains the authority for every determination.

How long does it take to get running?

Roughly six weeks from agreement to inspectors in the field. Most of that is configuration — loading your local amendments and department guidance so the answers reflect your jurisdiction, not a generic state baseline.

What if an inspector has no signal?

Marshal needs a connection to answer a question — it's doing real reasoning, not searching a downloaded file. In practice inspectors ask from the parking lot, the front of house, or outside the building, then work the finding inside. Sessions already saved stay readable on the device, so a determination an inspector pulled up earlier is still there when they walk into a basement or a steel building.

Do we need new hardware or an IT project?

No. It runs in the browser on the phone or tablet an inspector already carries. There's nothing to install, no server to stand up, and no integration required to get value on day one.

What happens when the code edition changes?

Code updates are included in the license. When a new edition or a local amendment lands, we update the configuration — you don't repurchase and you don't get a change order.

Is the price per inspector?

No. It's one flat annual license for the whole department, banded by headcount. No per-seat tracking and no mid-year amendments when staffing changes — if you hire a fourth inspector into a 1–5 band, nothing changes.

Who built this?

Pocket Marshal was built alongside working fire prevention inspectors, around the problems they actually hit in the field — the code questions with nobody to ask, and the owner conversations nobody trains you for. It's designed for how the job is really done, not how software vendors imagine it.

Every inspector, backed by the same judgment.