Fire service ranks in France

The rank designations of the French fire services are determined by national regulations. They are to be directly linked to functions as determined by a government decree.

Civil professional fire departments

Civil fire service officers belong to five career paths and four career groups, depending on their training and function.

Fire Fighters Careers (Category C)

Cadre d'emplois des sapeurs et caporaux de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels.

Official title	Office code title	function	German equivalent
Sapeur	Sapeur	Troop man	Fireman A 3
Caporal	Caporal	Squad leader	Chief Fireman A 4
Caporal chief	Caporal chief	Squad leader	Fire extinguisher A 5

Career of fire chiefs (career group C)

Cadre d'emplois des sous officiers de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels.

Official title	Office code title	function	German equivalent
Sergent	Sergent	Leader of an independent troop	Sub fire master A 6
	Sergent chief at the age of three		Fire chief A 7
Adjudant	Adjudant	Squadron Leader Guard Department Leader: (Less than ten firefighters)	Chief Fire Officer A 8
	At the age of three in the office of chief adjudicator		Main fire chief A 9

Career of fire inspectors (career group B)

Cadre d'emplois des Lieutenants de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels.

Official title	Office code title	function	German equivalent
Lieutenant de 2nd class	Lieutenant	Guard chief: (ten or more fire fighters) Platoon leader Deputy head of a fire and rescue station Head of a fire and rescue station: (fewer than nine professional firefighters)	Fire Chief Inspector A 10
Lieutenant de 1st class		Guard chief: (ten or more fire fighters) Platoon leader Deputy head of a fire and rescue station Head of a fire and rescue station: (nine or more professional firefighters)	Fire chief A 11
Lieutenant hors classe		Guard chief: (ten or more fire fighters) Platoon leader Deputy head of a fire and rescue station Head of a fire and rescue station: (twenty or more professional fire fighters ) Deputy district manager	Fire Department Council A 12

Career of the fire councils (career group A)

Cadre d'emplois des capitaines, commandants et lieutenants-colonels de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels.

Official title	Office code title	function	German equivalent
Capitaine	Capitaine	Guard chief on- call officer Deputy head of a fire and rescue station Head of a fire and rescue station: (Thirty or more professional firefighters) Deputy district manager District manager: (In fire departments with fewer than 400 firefighters)	Fire Council A13
Commandant	Commandant	On-call leader Department leader Deputy head of a fire and rescue station Head of a fire and rescue station: (Fifty or more professional firefighters) Deputy district manager District manager	Fire Chief A 14
Lieutenant-colonel	Lieutenant-colonel	Head of Department Fire and Rescue Station Head: (One hundred or more professional firefighters) District Head	Fire Director A15

Career for fire department heads (career group A +)

Cadre d'emplois de conception et de direction des sapeurs-pompiers professionnels.

Official title	Office code title	function	German equivalent
Colonel	Colonel	Head of Department District Head Deputy Head of the Head of a Fire Department Head of a Fire Department	Chief Fire Director A 16
Colonel hors classe			Chief Fire Director B 2
Contrôleur general	Contrôleur general		Director of the fire brigade B 6 / B 7
	Contrôleur general	Service functions with special responsibility: General Inspector of Civil Defense Chiefs of Staff of the Civil Protection Zones Senior civil defense and crisis management officials President of the Fire Brigade College

Administrative and Technical Officials

The non- uniform administrative and technical staff of the civil professional fire brigades PATS (personnels administratifs et techniques) belong to four different career groups.

Administrative officials	Technical officers	German equivalent
Career group C
Adjoint administratif	Adjoint technique	Full-time assistant A 3
Adjoint administratif principal de 2ème classe	Adjoint technique principal de 2ème classe	District Master A 4
Adjoint administratif principal de 1ère classe	Adjoint technique principal de 1ère classe	Headmaster A 5
Career group B
Redacteur	Technicien	Senior Government Inspector A 10
Redacteur principal de 2ème classe	Technicien principal de 2nd class	Government Official A 11
Rédacteur principal de 1ère classe	Technicien principal de 1ère classe	Government Councilor A 12
Career group A
Attache	Engineer	Government Council A 13
Attaché principal	Engineer principal	Senior Councilor A 14
Attaché hors classe	Engineer hors classe	Government Director A 15
Career group A +
Administrator	Engineer en chef	Senior Government Director A 16
Administrateur hors classe	Engineer hors classe	Director B 2
Administrator general	Engineer en chef général	Director B 6

Senior officials in the Ministry of the Interior

Official title	Official number	function	German equivalent
Directeur des sapeurs-pompiers		Head of the fire department in the Office for Civil Defense and Crisis Management	Ministerial Director B 9
Directeur général de la Sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises		President of the Office for Civil Defense and Crisis Management	Ministerial Director B 10

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Décret n ° 2017-164 du 9 février 2017 modifiant le décret n ° 2012-520 du 20 avril 2012 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois des sapeurs et caporaux de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels. 2017-09-10.
2. ^ ^{A b c d e} Conférence nationale des services d'incendie et de secours. Séance plénière du février 2017 , p. 34. (PDF) 2017-09-10.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Décret n ° 90-850 from September 25, 1990 portant dispositions communes à l'ensemble des sapeurs-pompiers professionnels. Modifié par Décret n ° 2017-164 from 9 février 2017 - art. 20. 2017-09-10.
4. ↑ Décret n ° 2017-165 du 9 février 2017 modifiant le décret n ° 2012-521 du 20 avril 2012 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois des sous-officiers de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels. 2017-09-10.
5. ↑ Décret n ° 2017-163 du 9 février 2017 modifiant le décret n ° 2012-522 du 20 avril 2012 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois des lieutenants de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels. 2017-09-10.
6. ↑ Décret n ° 2016-2008 du 30 December 2016 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois des capitaines, commandants et lieutenants-colonels de sapeurs-pompiers professionnels. 2017-09-10.
7. ↑ Décret n ° 2016-2002 du 30 December 2016 portant statut particulier du cadre d'emplois de conception et de direction des sapeurs-pompiers professionnels. 2017-09-10.
8. ^ "Les personnels administratifs et techniques". Service Départemental d'Incendie et de Secours (SDIS11) , accessed August 8, 2018
9. ↑ Arrêté du 3 November 2016 définissant la tenue d'uniforme attribuée au directeur général de la Sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises. (PDF) 2017-09-10.
10. ↑ Arrêté du 4 janvier 2017 définissant la tenue d'uniforme attribuée au directeur des sapeurs-pompiers. (PDF) 2017-09-10.
11. ↑ Organigrams de la Direction générale de la Sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises. (PDF) 2017-09-10.