The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) has issued the following “CBC Ch7A” Compliance Policies to address aspects of the code that are not clearly addressed by existing regulations (e.g. California Building Code (CBC) Ch7A “Materials and Construction Methods for Exterior Wildfire Exposure” and related portions of the code including California Residential Code Section 327). “CBC Ch7A” Compliance Policies typically indicate acceptable methods of achieving compliance with the state minimum requirements of the code and are intended for use by OSFM staff (on projects within the jurisdiction of OSFM) and as a resource for design professionals to promote a more uniform implementation of the code statewide.

Code enforcement agencies do not normally “approve,” “list,” or “endorse” specific products that may comply with the code. Project specific construction plans typically identify products that comply with the code, for a particular building, under specific project conditions. The project specific construction plans are then approved by the code enforcement agency issuing the building permit or approving that particular construction project. Where the wildfire protection building construction requirements of the code restrict the use of products and make code compliance challenging, OSFM may issue limited “CBC Ch7A” Compliance Policies to “accept” products that have been shown to comply with the code. When used for product acceptance, these policies are intended as a temporary method to assist the user with code compliance. These “products accepted for use” policies will be issued for limited period of time, until a nationally recognized test standard is developed, or the code requirements are revised.