Builders encouraged to adopt new wildfire-preparedness standard for Calif. rebuilds

The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) is encouraging builders in areas impacted by southern California wildfires and other vulnerable areas to construct new homes using a new wildfire standard.

IBHS introduced the Wildfire Prepared Home standard in 2022. Since the standard’s launch, more than 7,200 applications have been submitted and over 1,200 homes have received the designation. A Wildfire Prepared Home is hardened against the elements and sited to create room from wildfire fuel sources.

The standard’s baseline version includes a five-foot noncombustible buffer around the home (known as Zone 0); a Class-A fire-rated roof; at least 6 inches of vertical noncombustible material at the base of exterior walls and decks; ember-resistant vents (or 1/8-inch metal mesh vent covers); a 30-foot defensible perimeter (aka Zone 1) to prevent ember ignition; and have gutters, decks, and other areas cleared of natural debris. IBHS performs a quality assurance review and orders a third-party evaluation.

The Plus version requires several home upgrades: dual-pane tempered windows; noncombustible exterior siding, doors, and shutters; enclosing the underside of eaves with noncombustible material; covering gutters; removing all back-to-back fencing within 30 feet of the home, and other measures.

Late last year, KB Home broke ground on a subdevelopment called Dixon Trail, a 64-home community in Escondido, a suburb of San Diego, that will be the first designated Wildfire Prepared Home Neighborhood. As part of applying for that designation, professionals analyze scenarios involving direct flame contact between adjacent structures, traveling embers, and radiant heat. All 64 homes in Dixon Trail development will be built to the Plus standard.