Practical planning tools for municipal teams

Plan a fire or police station with a clearer picture of its space needs.

Whether you are an architect, city or town manager, city engineer, police chief, or fire chief, these guidebooks can help you identify the rooms and support spaces your facility may need. Use the worksheets for an internal assessment before a professional study. If a professional team is already involved, use them to keep project information organized.

Explore the two toolkits View page previews

For municipal officials, architects, engineers, and police and fire leaders.

Fire station

Police station

Separate guides for Fire and Police facilitiesEach package includes a PDF guidebook and Excel worksheetsUse them to record your questions, assumptions, and decisions

Choose your facility

Choose the guide that fits your project.

Each package pairs a PDF guidebook with a companion Excel workbook. The guidebook walks through the programming process and raises the questions your team should consider. The workbook helps you record your own room list, area assumptions, counts, notes, and decisions.

Fire station toolkit

Fire Station Programming Guidebook

Guidebook + companion programming worksheets

How to organize the programming process, run workshops, and record project decisions
Fire station room-area examples, apparatus information, and notes on applying the figures
An Excel workbook to record room functions, area assumptions, room counts, calculated totals, notes, sources, and study findings
Prompts for station operations, site needs, apparatus bays, turnout gear, decontamination, equipment, furnishings, and support spaces

See the Fire toolkit

Police station toolkit

Police Station Programming Guidebook

Guidebook + companion programming worksheets

How to organize the programming process, run workshops, and record project decisions
Police station room-area examples from public municipal studies, with notes on what each figure represents
An Excel workbook to record room functions, area assumptions, room counts, calculated totals, notes, sources, and study findings
Prompts for public service, secure areas, evidence and property, custody, dispatch, staff spaces, fleet, and site needs

See the Police toolkit

Look inside

A look at the actual guidebook pages and worksheets.

The previews show how the material is organized. The filled worksheet entries are examples to demonstrate the workbook; they are not recommended values for your project.

Fire | typical room-area examplesGuidebook page

Fire guidebook page comparing typical room-area examples and describing how to use them

Area examples distinguish single-room figures from combined or total areas and explain how to apply them.

Police | typical room-area examplesGuidebook page

Police guidebook typical station room-area examples page

Public municipal examples are presented as ranges or reported values, with context for local review.

Fire | programming worksheetIllustrative entries

Fire station programming worksheet sample showing room rows, example values, and calculated square footage

Editable inputs and calculated areas are shown with example values for demonstration.

Police | programming worksheetIllustrative entries

Police station programming worksheet sample showing program rows and example room-area values

A companion workbook organizes functions, rooms, scope, counts, area, notes, and source information.

How the toolkit fits the work

Use the guides to organize your planning.

Start with the questions your team needs to answer. Record the rooms, people, equipment, site needs, and decisions that will shape the project.

01 / FRAME

Agree on the study

Decide what the project needs to resolve, who should take part, and what information the team needs to gather.

02 / RECORD

Describe the work

Use the guidebook’s prompts and room examples to discuss services, staffing, room needs, adjacencies, site conditions, equipment, and open questions.

03 / REVIEW

Carry decisions forward

Enter your project information in the Excel workbook. The worksheets help track room counts, areas, sources, assumptions, and findings so your team can review them and share them with the architect and other professionals.

Made for municipal teams

A practical starting point. Your project sets the final requirements.

Use the guidebook and workbook for an internal assessment before a professional study, or to organize and check information during one. They help you prepare questions and keep a record of decisions. They do not replace review by a licensed architect or other project-specific professional services.

Municipal facility planning workbook

Search demand varies by phrase. These guides focus on the more specific fire station programming and police facility planning needs, while supporting broader facilities planning work.

Guidebook and Excel workbook in each package

Room-area examples with notes about context and limits

Project findings, assumptions, and decisions in one workbook

Prompts for site, equipment, furniture, and security needs

Separate fire and police content

Planning support to use with your design professionals

Before you choose

Questions municipal buyers ask.

What comes with a toolkit?

Each product is a guidebook PDF paired with an Excel programming workbook. The samples above are previews of the kind of material included.

Are the room areas fixed requirements?

No. The guidebooks describe planning examples and context. Confirm room sizes, occupancy, code requirements, site conditions, and design decisions with the project’s licensed professionals and responsible authorities.

Can one package be used for both fire and police projects?

The products are separate because station operations and room needs differ. Choose the Fire toolkit for fire-station programming or the Police toolkit for police-station programming.

Who may use the files?

The guidebook and worksheets are licensed to the initial buyer under the stated license terms. Review the license before purchase.

How do I purchase?

Product selection, pricing, and checkout details will appear here when the storefront is connected.

Planning a fire or police station? Start here.

Choose the guidebook and worksheets that match your project. Use them to organize your questions and space needs before design begins.

Compare the two toolkits