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Oregon BCD, State Fire Marshal, and ODF
Oregon splits wildfire work across three agencies. Building Codes Division adopts construction, including ORSC R327 where a local department opts in. The Oregon State Fire Marshal owns the Oregon Fire Code, a model defensible-space code, and grants. The Department of Forestry protects 16 million acres of forest and declares fire season. The 2025 legislature repealed the statewide hazard map as a regulatory overlay. None of those jobs is the other.
Grants Pass illustrates the handoff. BCD’s current adopter list names the city; Municipal Code Title 9 supplies the local R327 adoption and new-construction language. The state list is not a parcel map, and the retrieved city text does not decide the local hazard-zone trigger.
You are on a lot with a new-house permit, a yard full of bitterbrush, and a wooded slope behind the fence. The permit is BCD’s book through the local building official. The yard is the fire marshal’s defensible-space guidance unless the city adopted a local code. The slope, if it is ODF-protected forest, is fire season and public-use restrictions. Three phone numbers. Three documents.
This page is the Oregon agency split. R327 versus CWUIC is the Oregon/California construction comparison. Do not put a house section on an org chart.
Do not confuse Oregon’s State Fire Marshal with California’s OSFM listing program.
Why it matters
Drawings land on the wrong desk. A Firewise committee treats ODF’s map as R327. A contractor treats OSFM’s five-foot guidance as a building inspection. A homeowner treats the repealed state hazard map as a permit hold. SB 83 took the statewide map out of regulation. It did not delete the three agencies.
How it works
| Agency | Owns | Does not own |
|---|---|---|
| Building Codes Division | ORSC, including R327 available for local adoption. New construction of new dwellings and some accessory structures where adopted. | The Oregon Fire Code. Forest fire season. A listing program. |
| Oregon State Fire Marshal | Oregon Fire Code. Model defensible-space code. Assessments and wildfire grants. Fire-service coordination. | R327 as a construction section. ODF’s 16 million acres. |
| Oregon Department of Forestry | Forest protection on 16 million acres. Fire season. Public and industrial restrictions. Forest Practices. | The building permit. The fire code for the house. |
BCD is inside the Department of Consumer and Business Services. OSFM is the fire-service agency. ODF is the forestry agency. Collaboration on a CWPP does not merge their statutes.
The paths (what this means for the lot)
1. The house. If you are building a new one- or two-family dwelling, ask the local building department whether it has adopted R327 and where the section applies. BCD says only a municipality that operates a building department may adopt it, by ordinance. BCD’s public list on 27 August 2026 names Ashland, Deschutes County, Grants Pass, and Sisters. It does not name Medford. That list can lag, which is why Bend is separately sourced to its city ordinance. Confirm with the department that will stamp the permit. See R327 versus CWUIC and the adoption dataset. BCD’s wildfire page scopes R327 to new dwellings and certain new accessory structures where adopted. Typical additions on older houses: see remodels when the answer is no.
2. The yard. OSFM’s defensible-space program is education, a free assessment, and a model code local governments may adopt. Local governments that pursue adoption notify OSFM. Until a city or county adopts that model, the checklist is guidance. It is not R327. See the Oregon defensible-space checklist and who can do a defensible-space assessment. Where that model meets a local tree-preservation chapter, see defensible space vs tree preservation.
3. The trees and the road in fire season. ODF protects 16 million acres. When the State Forester declares fire season, debris burning, campfires, chainsaws, and mowing dry grass can be restricted or prohibited. That is not a plans-examiner comment. Call the local ODF district or check ODF’s restriction map.
4. The fire apparatus. Driveway width, water supply, and gates are usually the Oregon Fire Code and the local fire official, not R327 covering. See fire-apparatus access and rural water.
5. The repealed map. BCD’s 5 August 2025 filing says the 2025 legislature repealed the statewide wildfire hazard map and the regulatory requirements that were to attach to it. Do not treat an old SB 762 map printout as the reason your permit is denied. Do not treat the repeal as a reason to skip locally adopted R327.
6. Money. Home-hardening grants run through OSFM, ODF, and OEM. They are not a BCD listing.
What people mix up
- Treating Oregon’s State Fire Marshal as California’s OSFM Building Materials Listing program.
- Treating ODF fire season as R327.
- Treating OSFM’s five-foot guidance as a building inspection.
- Treating BCD’s four-name adopter list as complete.
- Treating the repealed statewide map as a current overlay.
- Treating a CWPP signature block as a building code.
How to check
- Building permit: local building department directory on BCD’s site. Ask whether R327 is adopted and for which geography.
- Fire code and yard: OSFM Oregon Fire Code and defensible space. Ask the fire official whether the model code is adopted locally.
- Forest and fire season: ODF Fire and the local ODF district.
- If someone hands you a statewide hazard-map screenshot as a construction rule, open BCD’s 5 August 2025 R327 notice.
Limits
This page is not a directory of every ordinance. It does not reprint R327. It does not enroll you in a grant. FireApproved is not BCD, OSFM, or ODF. California CWUIC is a different book. IBHS is a designation, not an Oregon agency.
Related records
Questions
Who adopts R327?
Oregon Building Codes Division publishes Section R327 of the Oregon Residential Specialty Code and makes it available for local adoption. A municipality that runs a building department must adopt it by ordinance. BCD is not the fire marshal and is not ODF.
Is Grants Pass only on a state list?
No. Oregon BCD's current list names Grants Pass, and Grants Pass Municipal Code 9.04.010 independently adopts the ORSC and Section R327 into the City Building Code. Section 9.04.200 requires new construction to conform. The ordinance index dates Ordinance 21-5805 to 2 June 2021; the retrieved sources do not establish an effective date or parcel trigger.
Does the Oregon Fire Code replace R327?
No. OSFM publishes the Oregon Fire Code for fire prevention and protection in buildings and sites. The 2025 Oregon Fire Code took effect 1 October 2025. R327 is a residential construction section. Ask the building official about R327 and the fire official about the fire code.
Did SB 83 end wildfire construction rules?
No. BCD’s 5 August 2025 temporary-rule notice says the 2025 legislature repealed the statewide wildfire hazard map and the regulatory requirements attached to it, and directed BCD to make R327 available for local adoption on new construction of new buildings. Local R327, where adopted, still applies to that new house.
Who do I call about fire season on my wooded lot?
Oregon Department of Forestry’s Fire Protection Program protects 16 million acres of forest. Fire season, public-use restrictions, and industrial fire rules are ODF’s book. That is not a building permit.