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Building code upgrade coverage
Building code upgrade coverage, also called ordinance or law, pays the extra cost of meeting building ordinances and laws in force at rebuild. It is not like-kind replacement, and it is not extended replacement cost. California Insurance Code 10103 requires open replacement-cost residential policies to include at least 10 percent of dwelling limits as additional coverage that does not deplete Coverage A. Oregon DFR pages opened here do not publish that floor.
You are at plan review after a fire. The building official wants today’s CWUIC or R327 on the rebuild. The carrier paid to put back what burned. The gap between those two numbers is this coverage, if the form has it, up to its own limit.
This is an insurance satellite of /insurance/. It is not a second hub. No g3-passed exhibit matches this object. The scene is the permit counter and the declarations page. Do not use a house-level hub graphic as a policy form.
Why it matters
WUI rules moved. A 1990 house that burned is not rebuilt as a 1990 house. Class A as an assembly, ember-resistant vents, a six-inch wall base, and a five-foot hardscape band cost more than like-kind. If the policy only restores what was there, you fund the code delta. That delta is not a product listing. It is the adopted book the official stamps. See covering versus assembly and remodels when the answer is no.
How the documents split
| Object | What it pays | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Replacement cost | Rebuild like kind, subject to dwelling limits | Code upgrades |
| Building code upgrade / ordinance or law | Extra cost of ordinances and laws in effect at loss or rebuilding, up to that coverage’s limits | Extended replacement |
| California 10 percent floor | Additional coverage on open replacement-cost residential policies. Does not reduce dwelling limits. | A WUI cost estimate |
| Extended replacement cost | More dwelling limit. California requires a disclosure if the offer is under 50 percent above Coverage A. | Ordinance or law |
| Oregon SB 82 (as DFR summarizes) | At least 24 months to repair, rebuild, or replace after a fire in certain declared emergencies | A 10 percent upgrade floor |
This site does not quote a rebuild price.
The paths
1. Read the declarations. California replacement-cost policies must say they include building code upgrade coverage, in no less than 10-point type, and must state any limit. If the policy does not include it, 10103(e)(3) requires this sentence on the declarations page: THIS POLICY DOES NOT INCLUDE BUILDING CODE UPGRADE COVERAGE. Actual-cash-value policies can omit the coverage. Tenants and some condo and mobilehome forms that do not cover the structure are carved out.
2. Know the California floor. Open replacement-cost residential policies issued or renewed on or after 1 July 2021 must include at least 10 percent of dwelling limits as additional building code upgrade coverage. Using it does not eat Coverage A. The company may sell more than 10 percent. Ask. Do not treat 10 percent as enough for a mapped CWUIC rebuild.
3. Do not confuse extended replacement. 10103.2 is about dwelling limit headroom. If the offer is under 50 percent above Coverage A, the applicant must be told that richer extended-replacement policies may exist, and pointed at CDI’s comparison tool. That is not ordinance or law. This page does not define “guaranteed replacement” as a California statutory term.
4. Oregon. DFR’s wildfire page records a 24-month rebuild window after certain declared-emergency fires. It does not print a code-upgrade percent. Ask the carrier whether the form includes ordinance or law, under what name, and at what limit. Oregon FAIR Plan is last-resort coverage. Do not paste California’s 10 percent onto that association.
5. The official still stamps the job. Insurance money does not choose the code path. R327 versus CWUIC still decides the drawings. A credit worksheet is not a permit. See mitigation documentation.
What people mix up
- Treating replacement cost as a code-upgrade check.
- Treating the California 10 percent floor as a rebuild budget.
- Treating extended replacement as ordinance or law.
- Pasting 10103 onto an Oregon FAIR Plan policy.
- Assuming IBHS or Firewise pays the permit delta.
How to check
- Open the declarations page. Search for “building code upgrade,” “ordinance or law,” or the 10-point warning that the policy does not include it.
- Write down Coverage A and the upgrade limit. If the limit is a percent, multiply. That product is not the dwelling limit. See percentage deductibles for the same arithmetic on a different line.
- If the lot is California, confirm the policy is open replacement cost, not actual cash value.
- If the lot is Oregon, stop expecting 10103. Ask the carrier.
- Take the upgrade number to the architect with the adopted code, not the other way around.
Limits
This page does not sell a policy. It does not estimate a WUI rebuild. It does not decide whether a repair is a new dwelling under R327. FireApproved is not CDI, not DFR, and not the building official. Confirm the form and the stamp.
Related records
Questions
Does replacement cost pay to rebuild to today’s wildfire code?
Not by itself. California Insurance Code 10103 describes building code upgrade coverage as the increased costs of repairing or replacing damage because of building ordinances or laws regulating the repair or replacement. Replacement cost is a different line. Read both on the declarations page.
Is the California 10 percent enough?
It is a statutory floor on open replacement-cost residential policies, not a rebuild estimate. 10103(c) says the 10 percent is additional coverage and does not reduce dwelling limits. Insurers may offer more. This site does not price a WUI rebuild.
Is that the same as extended replacement cost?
No. California Insurance Code 10103.2 is a disclosure about policies that offer extended replacement cost of at least 50 percent above the dwelling limit. That is more dwelling limit. Building code upgrade is extra money for ordinances and laws. Do not treat the names as synonyms.
Does Oregon require the same 10 percent?
The Oregon DFR wildfire and homeowners-bill-of-rights pages opened for this article do not publish a building-code-upgrade floor. SB 82, as DFR summarizes it, gives at least 24 months to repair, rebuild, or replace after a fire during certain declared emergencies. That is time, not a code-upgrade limit. Ask the carrier what the form says.