Safer from Wildfires is not Oregon law

Safer from Wildfires is a California Department of Insurance credit list, not Oregon law, not IBHS Wildfire Prepared, and not California construction code. California insurers that rate wildfire risk must credit named property and community measures. Oregon authority having jurisdiction staff apply ORSC R327 only where a local department adopted it. Do not paste California FAIR Plan percentages onto an Oregon job.

You are holding a California insurance-credit worksheet on an Oregon lot. That worksheet does not bind the Bend or Deschutes official.

See the Safer from Wildfires standard and the insurance measures map.

Why it matters

People mix a California credit, a 14-state IBHS designation, and construction code into one word, “insurance.” Those documents do not substitute for each other. If you spec the wrong list, you can fail the adopted code while chasing a credit that does not exist on that policy, or the reverse.

How it works

California Department of Insurance rule 10 CCR 2644.9 tells insurers that rate California wildfire risk to credit named property and community measures. CDI’s March 2025 brochure is the public 10-step map. A credit on a California policy is not a building permit. FAIR Plan stacking, when it exists, is a California residual-market fact on the wildfire portion of premium. It is not an Oregon discount schedule.

California construction in mapped WUI areas is a different document. The live book is CWUIC as of 1 January 2026. People still search Chapter 7A. Oregon construction, where a local department opted in, is R327. IBHS Wildfire Prepared is a private designation in 14 states, including Oregon and California. None of those four is a substitute for the others. See IBHS does not replace adopted code.

The four documents

Read Oregon R327 versus California CWUIC before you import California “Chapter 7A” language onto an Oregon drawing.

What the ten California steps actually are

CDI’s March 2025 brochure names ten property and community actions. They are credits, not a stamp from this site.

1. Class A roof covering. Wood shakes are the non-example. See roofing and Class A covering is not a bag.
2. Five-foot ember-resistant zone, including fences and gates that hit the wall. Stone or gravel, not wood chips. See Zone 0, zone bands, fence as a wick, and landscaping.
3. Ember- and fire-resistant vents. The brochure’s recipe is 1/16–1/8 inch noncombustible, corrosion-resistant metal mesh. That is a prescriptive path. It is not an ASTM E2886 listed vent by itself. The performance path is a listed assembly. See mesh versus listed.
4. Six vertical inches of noncombustible wall base above grade or a deck.
5. Enclosed eaves. Soffits so heat and embers are not trapped under the overhang. See eaves.
6. Multipane (dual-pane) windows, or shutters that work. Dual-pane is not the same as tempered. See windows and dual-pane versus tempered.
7. Clear vegetation and debris under decks. See Findings.
8. Combustible sheds and similar outbuildings at least 30 feet away, or as far as the insured controls.
9. Defensible space as state and local vegetation rules require.
10. Community designation. Firewise USA or a California Fire Risk Reduction Community.

CAL FIRE’s home-hardening page is the public-safety twin for several of those items. It is still not Oregon law.

What people mix up

• Treating Safer from Wildfires as Oregon adopted code.
• Treating Safer from Wildfires as CWUIC or Chapter 7A. Insurance credit is not a construction permit.
• Treating IBHS Essential as Safer from Wildfires. They overlap on vents, Class A, and the five-foot zone. They are not the same checklist. Enhanced is a further IBHS step. See ember versus flame versus radiant heat.
• Pasting California FAIR Plan percentage talk onto an Oregon quote. FAIR Plan stacking is a California residual-market fact. It is not an Oregon discount schedule.
• Calling a Firewise plaque a product listing or a permit.
• Telling an Oregon plans examiner that CDI “requires” OSFM listed vents. The CDI brochure’s vent line is mesh. Oregon R327, where adopted, is the vent rule the building official will stamp. Deschutes County may accept OSFM handbook products when they are shown on the drawings. That is local practice, not Safer from Wildfires. See listed is voluntary and show the product on the drawings.
• Using R327’s Class B roof floor as proof that Class A is unnecessary for an IBHS score, or the reverse.

How to check

1. Name the state of the lot. If it is not California, Safer from Wildfires does not apply.
2. Name the document the carrier put in writing. IBHS, a company field sheet, or “none.”
3. Name the adopted code. If R327 is in force, spec R327. If the lot is in a mapped California fire hazard area, spec CWUIC. Add IBHS or an HOA item only when that document is also in play.
4. For California jobs, walk the ten measures against the house. Mesh size, five-foot band, enclosed eaves, and Class A are the usual gaps.
5. Do not use this site as the credit. Confirm with the carrier. Confirm the permit with the building official.

Limits

This page does not sell insurance. It does not quote a discount. It does not decide what an Oregon or California building official will stamp. It does not make the house fireproof. Community designations do not replace work on the structure. FireApproved is not CDI, not IBHS, and not the building official.

Related records

• Safer from Wildfires
• IBHS Wildfire Prepared
• CWUIC
• Insurance measures
• Vents, roofing, landscaping, eaves, windows
• How to read a listing
• IBHS does not replace adopted code
• Oregon R327 versus California CWUIC