What is home hardening?
Home hardening describes steps that can be taken to make a home more resistant to damage from a wildfire, such as using materials for siding and/or roofing that resist ignition during a wildfire, installing fire resistant windows to protect openings, or using attic ventilation devices that help reduce ember intrusion.
Home hardening, along with creating defensible space, decreases the likelihood that a nearby fire will ignite your structure, and it reduces the potential for damage.
Fire hardening makes the community more resistant to the spread of wildfire. By slowing down a fire, it may create additional time and opportunity for emergency responders to protect life and property threatened by the fire.
What is required?
Where adopted by the local municipality's building department, the construction of new one- and two-family dwellings and certain new accessory structures within the locally designated wildfire hazard zones are required to comply with the Oregon Residential Specialty Code (ORSC) Section R327, Wildfire Hazard Mitigation standards.
Access a list of building departments municipalities that have adopted ORSC Section R327 locally.
Voluntary compliance
Home hardening measures intended to reduce potential damage from wildfires may be voluntarily followed for new construction, and when replacing exterior elements of existing construction. These provisions may be followed throughout Oregon; particularly where your existing home is located in an area subject to wildfires, or where you are looking to build in a wildfire-prone area where the R327 provisions have not been adopted locally.
Get more information
Contact the local building department to learn more about local requirements.
Search the Local Building Department Directory