• The applicant must be the owner of the 3-story or less, single-family home.  
• The home must be located in California. 
• A 5-foot noncombustible buffer must surround the home.

Note:  

• Designation certificate requirements are stringent. Tree requirements may disqualify some homes, and some homeowners may have to work with neighbor(s) to meet the requirements. 
• If your state isn’t participating at this time, you can still benefit from the actions required by this program. Please see our How-to Prepare My Home for Inspection Checklist to learn about scientifically proven ways to lower your wildfire risk.  

One of the most stringent required actions is creating a 5-foot noncombustible buffer around your home and decks. ALL vegetation, trees including overhanging branches, grass/turf, wood/rubber mulch, wood/vinyl fencing, and any stored items within 5 feet of your home must have been removed. Your home will not receive the designation certificate without meeting the requirements. 

Yes, we really mean ALL vegetation and trees must be removed within 5 feet of any exterior wall of your home and decks/covered porches.  

During a wildfire, embers travel miles ahead of a fire front and accumulate at the base of home’s exterior walls and out to 5 feet. Anything combustible such as vegetation, mulch, and fences in this critical zone will ignite, creating a pathway for flames spreading to your home. Trees or branches that overhang this 5-foot zone drop debris constantly, making maintenance almost impossible. Depending on the species of tree, when ignited they can also lead flames to the home if they are in this close proximity.  

This How-to Prepare My Home for Inspection Checklist will guide you through required actions to help protect your home and receive a designation certificate. 

We offer two solutions. To receive a designation certificate, your home must meet all requirements listed for the desired level.  

1. Wildfire Prepared Home Base — This group of required actions includes creating a 5-foot home buffer, preparing the home’s exterior, and maintaining the deck/covered porch and yard, typically achieved through retrofits to existing homes. 
2. Wildfire Prepared Home Plus — This group of required actions builds upon Wildfire Prepared Home Base to add an extra layer of home protection, commonly achieved with newer home construction or after exterior home renovations.

Visit the about page to learn more.  

1. With wildfires becoming more frequent and happening anywhere, this program’s goal is to help homeowners take preventative measures to protect their home against wildfires.  
2. A 2022 California Department of Insurance (CDI) regulation requires insurers to offer discounts for wildfire mitigation actions.  While many insurers in the state have filed new rating plans with CDI reflecting this requirement, these rating plans must be reviewed and approved by CDI before going into effect. This regulatory process is still underway. We anticipate that a Wildfire Prepared Home designation certificate may be used by some insurers to determine whether a homeowner has undertaken the wildfire mitigation actions associated with discounts.  
3. If you are trying to sell your home, this certificate may be a big selling point to a buyer who may be looking for home insurance before closing.  

The designation certificate is good for 3 years. Within that three-year period, there is a required annual landscape review because plants grow, and maintenance of the yard is imperative to reduce wildfire risk. After 3 years, a recertification with a full physical inspection is required.

Initial Application

• The initial application fee is $125, which includes a physical exterior home inspection with photo documentation and a quality review to ensure all actions have been taken.

Annual Review

• Once a designation certificate has been issued, an annual maintenance review is required. This ensures vegetation doesn’t creep into the 5-foot noncombustible buffer and crucial upkeep of vegetation is maintained within 5-30 feet.
  • We offer 2 solutions:
    • Self-inspection with photos provided by the homeowner is $25.
    • 3rd party exterior home inspection is $100.

3-Year Recertification 

• After 3 years, recertification is required to keep the designation certificate active. Homeowners can use their portal log in to apply for a new home inspection to verify program requirements have been maintained.

Step 1: Use the How-to Prepare My Home for Inspection Checklist to ensure you complete all required actions before you apply for an inspection; otherwise, you will not receive a designation certificate. 

Step 2: Optional: Take the free online quiz to ensure you haven’t missed any actions and to see if your home qualifies for inspection. 

Step 3: Apply and pay for an exterior home inspection once all required actions have been taken. 

Take the free online quiz before you pay for the inspection. This will help you review all the requirements and let you know if you are ready to apply at the end. You can take the quiz as many times as you’d like before applying. 

The timeline varies depending on several factors, location, how many are in the queue, how many inspectors are in a specific area, etc. Applications are sent to a 3rd party inspection company, and they try to complete them as quickly as possible. Typically, inspections occur within 30 days or within 4-6 weeks for more rural areas. We cannot provide a date the inspection will occur. 

• We do not have an expedited option. If your application is time-sensitive, the most important step you can take is completing the required work on your home and yard.  See the How-to Prepare My Home for Inspection Checklist.  
• Keep your insurance agent informed on your progress.  

Please be patient. All documents go through a thorough quality review process. We will email you with any revisions that may be needed or let you know that you’ve received a designation certificate.  

Once your home has been designated, you will receive an email with a link to download your certificate. You can always login to your account to download the certificate from there.