Insurance
Rules that make insurers count mitigation, and the certification many of them recognize.
Insurance ruleIn effectReady to proceed
Safer from Wildfires
California. California Department of Insurance
Insurers that use wildfire risk models must give discounts for ten listed mitigation actions, in three layers: the house, the yard and first 5 ft, and the neighborhood.
The Department of Insurance says insurers must offer discounts from 4% to 40% for these actions, largest for the highest-risk homes (briefing, March 2026).
Ready to proceed. It applies to insurers in your state. Keep the record of the work.
- Work it may recognize
- Vents and the first 5 ft around the house
Details and how to use it
- Details
- House layer: Class A roof (not wood shake), ember- and fire-resistant vents with fine metal mesh, 6 in of noncombustible material at the base of exterior walls, enclosed eaves, upgraded windows (multi-pane or shutters). Yard layer: 5 ft ember-resistant zone including replacing wood fencing attached to the house with metal, cleared vegetation and debris under decks, combustible sheds and outbuildings moved at least 30 ft away, state and local defensible space met. Community layer: Firewise USA site or Fire Risk Reduction Community. Gutters and garage seals are not on the list.
- How
- Do the actions and keep dated photos and receipts. Send your insurer, or the FAIR Plan, the list with proof, and ask it to apply the Safer from Wildfires discounts and review your wildfire score. Ask what proof it accepts.
- We prepare
- Mitigation record and Request for a mitigation review
CertificationOpenReady to proceed
Wildfire Prepared Home
Nationwide. Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)
A certification from the insurance industry’s research institute that a house meets its wildfire standard. An evaluator visits and documents the work, and many insurers in the states where it’s offered recognize it.
Discounts vary by insurer and state and aren’t guaranteed. A designation lasts 3 years, with a yearly photo review to keep it active.
Ready to proceed. It applies to insurers in your state. Keep the record of the work.
- Work it may recognize
- Vents, gutters and gutter guards, and the first 5 ft around the house
- You’ll need
- A fee and a yearly review
Details and how to use it
- Details
- Essential, the ember level, also asks for a Class A roof and 6 in of noncombustible wall base. Enhanced adds gutter guards, enclosed eaves, tempered windows, and noncombustible siding and decks. Garage doors aren’t named.
- How
- Do the work with the How-To Prepare checklist, then apply online with photos of every side of the house and the 0 to 5 ft zone. An evaluator visits; if something falls short, you have 60 days to fix it and send photos.
- We prepare
- Certification checklist and Mitigation record
Grants, rebates, and tax breaks
Money back for work on your house. Read what each one needs before you buy.
GrantCheck statusApply before buying
California Wildfire Mitigation Program (CWMP) home retrofits
Pilot communities only: Kelseyville Riviera (Lake); Dulzura, Campo, Potrero (San Diego); Whitmore, Oak Run, Lakehead (Shasta); Mount Shasta (Siskiyou, defensible space); Weber Creek south of Placerville (El Dorado); Ponderosa and Mira Monte (Tuolumne); Riverside County in development. Cal OES and CAL FIRE (CWMP Authority), delivered by county partners
A state and FEMA funded pilot that assesses homes in selected high-risk, high-social-vulnerability communities and hires contractors to retrofit them and create defensible space. The goal is more than 2,000 homes by 2029; 161 sites were done as of June 2026.
Full cost covered for owners up to 120% of area median income; owners at 120% to 200% pay 10% (capped at $3,000); above 200% pay 25% (capped at $6,000). Average total cost per site was $50,414 (June 2026 status report).
Apply before buying. It wants an assessment before you buy parts or start work.
- Work it may recognize
- Vents and the first 5 ft around the house
- You’ll need
- A home inside the program’s boundary, an assessment before the work, and a home in a mapped hazard zone
Details and how to claim
- Details
- Cost categories: roofs, vents, doors, windows, exterior coverings, attachments, accessory buildings, miscellaneous structures, and defensible space; Siskiyou's work is mainly defensible space and Zone 0. Gutters are not a listed category. The homeowner does not choose the work; the assessment report sets required, recommended, and optional items.
- How
- Check whether your address is in a pilot community, then apply through the state portal at wildfiremitigation.caloes.ca.gov (San Diego County Fire can help). An assessor visits, and the program hires and pays contractors, so in most cases you do not pay up front.
- We prepare
- Grant or rebate packet and Mitigation record
GrantCheck statusConfirm your property’s eligibility
California Safe Homes grant program (AB 888)
California. California Department of Insurance
A new state grant law (effective Jan 1, 2026) to help low-income homeowners with roof replacement and a 5 ft noncombustible zone. Owners must be insured by an admitted insurer or the FAIR Plan. CDI is still setting up applications and amounts.
Amounts not yet set; the state budget gave $3 million to start the program (CalMatters, Jan 2026). Funds depend on appropriation.
Confirm your property’s eligibility. It needs a home in a mapped hazard zone and household income under its limit. Check your address on the official page.
- Work it may recognize
- The first 5 ft around the house
- You’ll need
- An income limit and a home in a mapped hazard zone
Details and how to claim
- Details
- Priority uses in the statute: (1) roof replacement to Safer from Wildfires standards, (2) a 5 ft noncombustible zone around the structure, (3) community projects. Some news reports say vents and gutter guards may be included; not confirmed in the statute text we read.
- How
- Watch the CDI site for the application portal (expected spring 2026, not confirmed open). Expect to show income at or below the county low-income limit, an admitted-insurer or FAIR Plan policy, and that your ZIP overlaps a high or very high fire hazard zone.
- We prepare
- Grant or rebate packet and Mitigation record
Rules for homeowners
What you may owe when you sell, rebuild, or keep up the ground around the house.
When you sellIn effect
Home hardening disclosure when you sell (Civil Code 1102.6f)
California. California Legislature (Civil Code); enforced through real estate transactions
Sellers of homes built before Jan 1, 2010 in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone must give buyers a notice listing vulnerable features. Since July 1, 2025 they must also give the state low-cost retrofit list and say which retrofits they completed while they owned the home.
- Asks about
- Vents, gutters and gutter guards, and the first 5 ft around the house
- You’ll need
- A home in a mapped hazard zone
Details and how to comply
- Details
- Features to disclose: eave, soffit, and roof vents with openings over 1/8 in or not flame and ember resistant; rain gutters without metal or noncombustible covers; combustible landscaping or materials within 5 ft of the home and under an attached deck. Also untreated wood shingle or shake roofs, single-pane or non-tempered windows, and loose or missing bird stopping or roof flashing. A seller with a final defensible space inspection report must give a copy or say where to get it.
- How
- Before listing, check whether the home is in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone and was built before 2010. Note which listed features exist and which low-cost retrofits you completed, with dates and receipts, and give the buyer the notice and retrofit list.
- We prepare
- Seller disclosure worksheet and Mitigation record
When you sellIn effect
Defensible space papers when you sell (AB 38)
California. California Legislature (Civil Code); local fire agencies and CAL FIRE do the inspections
Since July 1, 2021, sellers in high or very high fire hazard severity zones must give buyers documentation that the property meets defensible space rules (PRC 4291 or the local vegetation ordinance). If the seller has none, buyer and seller sign an agreement that the buyer will get it.
- You’ll need
- A home in a mapped hazard zone and an assessment before the work
Details and how to comply
- Details
- The statute names defensible space compliance, not specific projects. Defensible space under PRC 4291 includes the 5 ft ember-resistant zone once the Zone 0 regulations take effect.
- How
- Request a defensible space inspection from your local fire agency or CAL FIRE; where no local ordinance applies, the documentation must be from the 6 months before the sale. If you do not have it, sign a written agreement that the buyer will get it; where only a state or nonprofit inspection program applies, the buyer has 1 year after close of escrow.
- We prepare
- Mitigation record
Required clearanceNot in effect yet
Zone 0 ember-resistant zone rules (AB 3074)
California. California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, enforced by CAL FIRE and local fire agencies
New statewide rules for the first 5 ft around homes and attached decks: no bark mulch, wood chips, firewood, dead plants, or new combustible fences in the zone. The Board approved them Aug 19, 2026; they take effect after Office of Administrative Law review and filing.
- Asks about
- The first 5 ft around the house and gutters and gutter guards
- You’ll need
- A home in a mapped hazard zone
Details and how to comply
- Details
- Within 5 ft: no bark mulch, wood chips, firewood, fallen leaves, or dead or dying plants; roofs and gutters kept clear of debris; no vegetation within 1 ft of walls (or to the eave edge if farther); no plants within 2 ft of windows, doors, and vents; no plants within 5 ft of an attached deck; a 5 ft noncombustible fence section where a fence meets the house, and no new combustible fences or gates in the zone; sheds in the zone need noncombustible walls and roof. Some maintained plants and trees may stay.
- How
- New construction must meet the rules once they take effect. Existing homes: within 3 years clear mulch, firewood, debris, dead plants, and gutters; within 5 years handle fences, gates, sheds, and the larger items, on the schedule your local agency sets.
- We prepare
- Mitigation record
Required clearanceIn effect
100 ft defensible space law (PRC 4291 and Gov Code 51182)
California. CAL FIRE in State Responsibility Areas; local fire agencies in Local Responsibility Area very high zones
Owners of structures in State Responsibility Areas must keep 100 ft of defensible space (not past the property line), with more intensive fuel reduction from 5 to 30 ft, a roof clear of leaves and needles, and no tree limbs within 10 ft of a chimney. Gov Code 51182 sets a similar rule in local Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
- Asks about
- The first 5 ft around the house
- You’ll need
- A home in a mapped hazard zone
Details and how to comply
- Details
- The statute requires an ember-resistant zone within 5 ft of the structure (attached decks count as part of the structure), but that part applies only after the Board of Forestry regulations take effect for new structures, and 3 years later for existing ones. Also: roof kept clear of vegetative debris, dead wood removed from plants next to or over the house, limbs cut back 10 ft from chimneys.
- How
- Clear and space vegetation out to 100 ft and keep it maintained all year. CAL FIRE or your local fire agency inspects; uncorrected hazards can be cleared by the agency with the cost made a lien on the property.
- We prepare
- Mitigation record
Free help
Assessments and services you don’t pay for.
Neighborhood programOpen
Firewise USA
Nationwide. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
A neighborhood program. Residents form a small board, get a risk assessment, write an action plan, and log the work they do each year to stay recognized. Some state insurance rules and some insurers count a recognized neighborhood.
Details and how to use it
- Details
- Community work: clearing, chipping days, and education. Your own retrofit work counts toward the neighborhood’s yearly total.
- How
- Look up recognized sites near you, or start one with your neighbors through NFPA’s Firewise USA portal. Your state forestry agency usually helps with the assessment.
In progress in California
Zone 0 rules: the Board of Forestry adopted them on August 19, 2026 and sent them to the Office of Administrative Law on August 28. We found no approval as of November 3, 2026. Once in effect, existing homes get 3 years for mulch, firewood, debris, and dead plants, and 5 years for fences, gates, and sheds. The Safe Homes grant (AB 888) took effect January 1, 2026 with $3 million to start; we couldn’t confirm applications have opened.
General information, not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Rules and funding change, so open the official page before you apply or buy for a program.