California Fire & Wildland-Urban Interface Code Introduction ofOrdinancesCalifornia Code of Regulations Title 24 (Part 9) 2025 California Fire Code(Part 7) 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code City Council Meeting November 18, 2025 Mike JohnsonAssistant Fire Marshal1
•California’s building standards are published in their entirety every three (3) years. The California FireCode and new California Wildland-Urban Interface Code are included in this series of standards.•Effective date of the 2025 Code will be January 1, 2026upon successful adoption.2
California Code of Regulations, Title 24 Parts 7 & 9•Includes Building, Fire, Vegetation Management and otherstandards.•Updated and adopted every three years for statewide application by the California Building Standards Commission, with mandatory enforcement by all jurisdictions throughout the state.•Local jurisdictions may adopt additional amendments based upon local or regional topographical, climatic, or geologic conditions germane to each local entity.•AB 130 creates a 6-year moratorium on local amendments to building codes that apply to residential units.3 4 •Amendments to the 2025 California Fire & Wildland–Urban Interface Codes were developed at biweekly Sonoma County Fire Marshal meetings.•Workgroups focused on consistency to develop common amendments proposed for adoption and alignment with model codes in many of these jurisdictions.•The final document was peer reviewed by all fireagencies listed as well as other industry professionals and private industry representatives. •On October 21, 2025, California Fire & Wildland–Urban Interface Codes and local ordinances were introduced.•After introduction, staff identified and made a few, non-substantive edits to one of the ordinances, including the reordering of the recitals section, deletion of one unnecessary sentence, and deletion of one redundant paragraph. These edits are identified in redline for review, and do not impact on the Council’s ability to adopt the ordinance at the November 18, 2025, meeting. •November 18, 2025 - Public Hearing for Council adoption of the Ordinances, effective January 1, 2026.5 The Fire Department recommends that the Council:1) adopt an ordinance by reference the 2025 edition of the California Fire Code as adopted and amended by the State of California, and further amended based on local condition, repeal existing sections not applicable to new codes and modify Chapter 18-44 of the Santa Rosa City Code to reflect the new model code; 2) adopt an ordinance by reference the 2025 California Wildland Urban Interface code, as adopted and amended by the State of California, and further amended based on local condition, added as Chapter 18-46 to the Santa Rosa City Code to reflect the new model code.6 Mike JohnsonAssistant Fire Marshal7