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On this page
  1. Why it matters
  2. How Essential and Enhanced differ
  3. What people mix up
  4. How to check
  5. Limits

Standards / IBHS WFPH

IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home

guidance · Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety · Official source

Insurer-facing designation. Essential (ember) and Enhanced (flame and radiant). Not a building code. Discounts are not guaranteed.

Covers: Parcel-level mitigation checklist including Class A roof, vents or 1/8 inch mesh, and the 0–5 foot noncombustible zone.

Does not cover: A legal substitute for adopted code, or a promise of a premium reduction.

Wildfire Prepared Home is a designation, not a code. Levels are Essential (ember) and Enhanced (flame and radiant heat). You are usually looking at a carrier checklist or a photo-review packet, not a building permit.

This site does not reprint a state-count or certificate-term from a homepage. Open the current IBHS materials and ask the carrier which edition they are using.

Why it matters

A carrier can ask for IBHS on an Oregon lot that also has R327. Those are different documents. You can fail R327 and still photograph an IBHS packet, or the reverse. Do both if both apply. See IBHS does not replace adopted code.

How Essential and Enhanced differ

Essential targets ember ignition: a Class A roof covering path, vents or 1/8 inch mesh, a 0–5 foot noncombustible Zone 0, noncombustible gutters, and maintenance.

Enhanced adds flame and radiant-heat items such as enclosed eaves and noncombustible wall covering. Read the technical standard. Do not invent extras.

IBHS says discounts are not guaranteed. Some carriers still use the checklist as the field document. Some add extras, such as chimney spark arrestors. Treat extras as carrier practice unless the current IBHS standard lists them.

What people mix up

  • Treating Essential as Oregon adopted code.
  • Pasting California Safer from Wildfires percentages onto an IBHS packet.
  • Calling bark mulch fine in the five feet because a plant is on this site’s on-list. Bark mulch fails IBHS Zone 0.

How to check

Download the current technical standard from wildfireprepared.org. Name Essential or Enhanced. Walk the five feet, the vents, and the roof. If the carrier added a spark arrestor or a garage item, put that on the list as carrier practice.

Limits

This page does not quote a premium savings. It does not replace R327 or CWUIC. Garage-door weatherstrip is ember work, not an OSFM 8150 listing. See garage doors as an ember path.

Will I get a discount?

IBHS says discounts are not guaranteed and vary by insurer and state. Some carriers use the checklist as a field document and may add items such as spark arrestors. Ask the carrier.

Is IBHS the same as Oregon R327?

No. R327 is adopted residential construction code where a city or county opted in. IBHS is a designation a carrier may request. You can need both. You can need neither.

Is IBHS California Zone 0?

No. Essential requires a 0–5 foot noncombustible zone as part of the designation. California’s Zone 0 regulation is a separate defensible-space rule. As of 23 August 2026 that rule was voted and not yet in force.

Requirements on this site that cite this program

14 requirements
IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home. FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/standards/ibhs-wildfire-prepared/. Last verified 2026-08-23.