Research
Defensible space: the landscaping rules fire codes impose
Plant, mulch, fence and clearance rules in 11 fire-country states and 6 local codes, with the legal status of each 5-foot zone.
Written by HyreYard Research Desk Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking
The finding
California is the only state in this table that puts a defensible-space duty on existing homes: 100 feet, or to the property line, under PRC § 4291 and Gov. Code § 51182.
Its 5-foot ember-resistant “Zone 0” is in statute but not yet in the regulations as of September 5, 2026. Colorado, Oregon and Utah work through construction or model codes. For Washington and six other states we found no statewide yard rule. Austin, Boulder and Truckee already enforce a 5-foot zone.
Read these limits first
Not legal advice. Defensible-space duties sit at four levels: state statute, state administrative code, municipal fire code and insurance guideline, and the stricter one can govern. A row is what we read on the retrieval date. Confirm the parcel with the local fire authority.
Stay away from power lines. Never trim or clear vegetation near a line yourself: call the utility, which is responsible for line clearance (see Los Angeles County Fire Code § 325.1.1). This page does not tell anyone to fell or climb a tree, run a chainsaw, or clear brush on a red-flag day.
HyreYard does not landscape, inspect yards or pull permits. Our company files cover seven states and are not an inspection log. Roofs and insured losses belong to our sister sites; this page covers the landscaping clearance rule.
WUI is not coverage. 44,100,000 houses sat in the conterminous-US wildland-urban interface in 2020: 32% of US housing on 9.4% of the land (Radeloff et al., Science 2023). That is a geographic fact, not the number of households under a defensible-space rule.
When we checked, and what can change
Published September 5, 2026. Last verified September 5, 2026. Next review December 5, 2026, or sooner if OAL publishes the Zone 0 package, CAL FIRE changes its inspection forms, Utah’s 2024 IWUIC takes effect, or Washington finalizes its DNR hazard maps.
Primary sources: Pub. Resources Code § 4291; Gov. Code § 51182; 14 CCR § 1299.03; Board of Forestry emergency package 2026-0828-03E; 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code; OAR 837-040-0030; RCW 19.27.560.
Update trigger: an OAL decision on file 2026-0828-03E; Secretary of State filing; a State Fire Marshal appropriation finding under PRC § 4291(h); local CWRC compliance reports; a new IWUIC edition adopted by a state in this table.
A date on this page is a retrieval date, not a claim that the rule is stable. California has been writing its Zone 0 rule since AB 3074 in 2020. Read the status column before acting on a row.
What is a defensible space zone?
“Defensible space” is the buffer a fire code requires between a building and the plants, mulch, fences and stored fuel that could carry fire to it.
The familiar diagram (Zone 0 at 0–5 feet, Zone 1 at 5–30, Zone 2 at 30–100) is a teaching template, not a statute.
California’s administrative code still uses two zones: Zone 1 from the structure to 30 feet and Zone 2 from 30 to 100, both capped at the property line (14 CCR § 1299.03). The 5-foot ember-resistant band is a third zone the Legislature added in 2020 (AB 3074) and has not yet specified in regulation.
The International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, which Utah, Nevada’s fire marshal, Oregon’s model code, Austin and Boulder draw from, does not use “Zone 0.” IWUIC Table 603.2 sets one fuel-modification distance by hazard class (Moderate 30 ft; High 50 ft; Extreme 100 ft) and regulates trees, groundcover, firewood and LP-gas inside it.
HyreYard analysis. One 0 / 5 / 30 / 100 diagram hides three questions a homeowner can act on: which rule applies to the parcel, whether it covers existing yards or only new permits, and what it says about the first five feet, where embers land.
Is California’s Zone 0 rule in force?
Zone 0, also called the ember-resistant or immediate ignition zone, is the band against the structure. Ember research, including IBHS’s, points to the first five feet as where embers collect against siding, under decks and at a fence base. That is a research point, not an ordinance.
California statute. Public Resources Code § 4291(a)(1)(A), as amended by AB 1455 (effective October 13, 2025), requires 100 feet of defensible space in the State Responsibility Area.
The section continues: “with more intense fuel reductions being utilized between 5 and 30 feet around the structure, and an ember-resistant zone being required within 5 feet of the structure, based on regulations promulgated by the board.”
Government Code § 51182 says the same for occupied dwellings in locally designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. For Zone 0, a structure includes an attached deck (PRC § 4291(i); Gov. Code § 51182(e)).
California regulation, September 5, 2026. The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection voted on August 19, 2026 to adopt emergency regulations adding 14 CCR §§ 1298.01–1298.04 (Local Responsibility Area VHFHSZ) and amending §§ 1299.01–1299.03 (State Responsibility Area).
The package went to the Office of Administrative Law on August 28, 2026 as file 2026-0828-03E, “Zone 0 Defensible Space.” Comments closed September 2, 2026. As of September 5, 2026 we found no OAL approval and no Secretary of State filing. 14 CCR § 1299.03, the rule CAL FIRE inspects against, still defines two zones.
The statute adds its own delays. PRC § 4291(g)(1) says the ember-resistant-zone requirement “shall not take effect for new structures until the board updates the regulations… and the guidance document.” Subsection (g)(2) adds three years for existing structures.
Subsection (h) bars CAL FIRE from changing inspection practices or forms until the State Fire Marshal finds the Legislature has funded it. A Board vote does not end that chain.
HyreYard analysis. Selling “California Zone 0 compliance” as a current statewide duty gets ahead of the regulations. Calling Zone 0 imaginary ignores a statute that has required it since 2020, the Board’s August 2026 vote and local ordinances already in force.
The accurate version: the duty is in statute pending regulation; the regulation is with OAL; the rule inspectors use today is still Zone 1 and Zone 2.
11 fire-country states, read at the statute
| Jurisdiction | Statewide status | Zone 0 / 0–5 ft | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| California (statewide) · source | In force | Statute yes; CCR no | PRC § 4291; Gov. Code § 51182; 14 CCR § 1299.03 |
| Oregon (statewide) · source | Model, local opt-in | In the model code | ORS 476.392 as amended by SB 83 (2025); OAR 837-040-0030 (OSFM 2-2026, effective Apr. 29, 2026) |
| Washington (statewide) · source | No statewide statute found | None found | RCW 19.27.560 (ESB 6120, 2024); chapter 51-55 WAC (sections reserved) |
| Colorado (statewide) · source | New construction | New work only | SB 23-166; C.R.S. §§ 24-33.5-1236 to 1237; 8 CCR 1507-39; 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (effective July 1, 2025) |
| Utah (statewide) · source | In force | Local only | Utah Code § 15A-2-103; 2006 Utah Wildland Urban Interface Code (in force until Jan. 1, 2027); H.B. 41 (2026) adopts the 2024 IWUIC effective Jan. 1, 2027; H.B. 215 (2026) landscaping preemption in designated WUI |
| Nevada (statewide) · source | No statewide statute found | Guidance only | Nevada SFM Wildland-Urban Interface Code 2018 (IWUIC 2018 as published by the State Fire Marshal); no statewide homeowner landscaping-clearance statute found as of Sep. 5, 2026 |
| Arizona (statewide) · source | No statewide statute found | Guidance only | No statewide defensible-space statute found as of Sep. 5, 2026. UA Cooperative Extension (az1290, az1416, Firewise Landscapes) and Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management publish guidance. Cities, counties and fire districts adopt IWUIC or local "survivable space" ordinances (e.g. Pinetop-Lakeside Town Code § 17.96.070). |
| New Mexico (statewide) · source | No statewide statute found | Guidance only | No statewide defensible-space statute found as of Sep. 5, 2026. 2025 SB 33 directed a task force to develop standards for building codes and defensible space, including a noncombustible five-foot zone; that is a study mandate, not an enforceable clearance rule. EMNRD Forestry Division and NMSU Extension publish Firewise guidance. Some counties (e.g. Bernalillo) have adopted a local WUIC. |
| Texas (statewide) · source | No statewide statute found | Guidance only | No statewide defensible-space statute found as of Sep. 5, 2026. Texas A&M Forest Service and the State Office of Risk Management publish 0–5 / 5–30 / 30–100 guidance. Municipal WUI codes (Austin) are the enforceable layer. |
| Idaho (statewide) · source | No statewide statute found | Guidance only | No statewide defensible-space statute found as of Sep. 5, 2026. Idaho Department of Lands Fire Management Handbook Policy 821, Attachment 2 (revised Jan 2026) is an evaluation form, not an ordinance. Cities (e.g. Boise WUI-O) and counties adopt local overlays. |
| Montana (statewide) · source | No statewide statute found | Guidance only | No statewide defensible-space statute found as of Sep. 5, 2026. MCA § 33-24-101 lets insurers discount policies for a 5-ft nonflammable border and for IWUIC compliance; that is an insurance statute, not a clearance duty. DNRC Living With Fire / Home Ignition Zone guides are recommendations. Some counties (e.g. Anaconda-Deer Lodge) write defensible space into zoning and subdivision regulations. |
Statewide defensible-space instruments in eleven fire-country states, retrieved September 5, 2026. “No statewide statute found” means we looked and did not find a PRC-4291-style duty on existing homeowners. It is not a finding that the state has no wildfire problem, and it is not a finding that cities in that state have no ordinance.
Oregon’s ORS 476.392 is still on the books in a form that talks about a statewide wildfire hazard map.
Senate Bill 83 (signed July 24, 2025) repealed the map mandate and converted the Fire Marshal’s job to publishing a model code. OAR 837-040-0030, filed April 29, 2026, is the current implementing rule.
We score Oregon as model / local opt-in, not as a statewide existing-home duty.
Six regimes, not one 100-foot rule
HyreYard grouped the eleven states by the legal instrument, not by climate. The groupings are ours. The citations are the states’.
A. Statewide existing-home clearance statute
California. A named duty on the person who owns, leases, controls, operates or maintains the structure. 100 ft, two (soon three) zones, inspections, liens. Zone 0 is in the statute and not yet in the CCR.
B. Statewide new-construction WUI code, including 0–5 ft
Colorado. A minimum code for new buildings and significant additions in the mapped WUI. Existing yards are not retrofitted by the CWRC itself. Locals may go further.
C. Statewide WUI construction code, locally enforced
Utah. The state adopts an IWUIC edition; cities and counties must adopt and enforce it or risk wildfire-suppression cost-share. 2006 code until Jan. 1, 2027, then 2024 IWUIC. Zone 0 is a local add-on today.
D. State model code, local opt-in
Oregon. The 2021 statewide mandate was repealed in 2025. OSFM publishes a 2026 model with a 5-ft noncombustible band. Nothing happens on a given street until the city or county adopts it.
E. Statewide structure hardening; vegetation reserved
Washington. RCW 19.27.560 is a roof-and-wall code triggered by maps that were not final as of the retrieval date. Chapter 6 defensible space is not in the statewide adoption. Locals may add it.
F. No statewide defensible-space statute found
Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Idaho, Montana. Extension programs and fire-marshal publications describe 0–5 / 5–30 / 30–100 zones. The enforceable rule, if any, is a city, county or fire-district ordinance. Several of those ordinances are stricter than anything the state has written.
What may be planted, mulched or fenced against the structure
In the first five feet, the rule changes from thinning brush to changing materials. Where a Zone 0 or Ember Ignition Zone is in force, the pattern holds across section numbers: hardscape or bare mineral soil, no wood mulch, no firewood, no juniper against the siding, and noncombustible fence where the code covers it.
City of Boulder, Colorado: in force on new work. Boulder Revised Code chapter 10-8.5, § 603.2.4, requires a five-foot noncombustible zone around new buildings, decks and additions. Section 603.2.6 bans planting any Juniperus species citywide from August 1, 2025, and requires juniper removal on new-development permits.
Boulder’s Landscape Manual allows squeegee gravel in the noncombustible zone, not aged arbor-chip mulch, and prohibits cedar bark and “gorilla hair” mulch in all WUI ignition-risk areas. New fences and walls within 8 feet must be noncombustible.
City of Austin, Texas: in force on WUI parcels. Austin’s 2024 IWUIC § 603.2.1 applies to applications from July 10, 2025. Within five feet of the roof overhang: gravel or pavers, no plants, no combustible furniture, no artificial turf. Protected and Heritage trees on existing buildings are excepted.
Proximity Zone C may use green, closely mowed lawn instead of hardscape. Ignition-resistant fence is required within 10 feet in Zones A and B and within 5 feet in Zone C.
Town of Truckee / Truckee Fire Protection District, California: in force as an inspection criterion. Truckee Fire defines Zone 0 as 5 feet horizontally and vertically from any structure, with no combustible bark or mulch, and inspects for real-estate transfers, short-term rentals and building-permit finals.
The Town Development Code already bars landscaping, including combustible mulch, within five feet of any building. The district ordinance on its website is still 02-2012, so ask the District which text governs an inspection.
Colorado (statewide): in force on new construction. The 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (8 CCR 1507-39), Structure Ignition Zone 1: noncombustible hard surface, tree crowns at least 10 feet from the structure, ignition-resistant plants only, and noncombustible or ignition-resistant fencing within 8 feet.
The Colorado code does not retrofit existing yards; locals such as Boulder County (IRC § R390.4.12.1) apply a 0–5 foot rule at permit.
Oregon (statewide): in the model code, not in force until a local government adopts it. The 2026 Oregon Defensible Space Model Code § 301.2 is a five-foot noncombustible band that names bark mulch as a prohibited fuel. OAR 837-040-0030 lets a local government adopt it. Until then, OSFM’s homeowner guidance is education.
California (statewide): in the statute, not yet in the CCR. Until OAL publishes the Board package and the PRC § 4291(g) guidance gate is met, the inspectable rules are Zone 1 and Zone 2 in 14 CCR § 1299.03.
Those rules are: dead fuel out of the first 30 feet, firewood covered or moved, 4-inch grass and 3-inch litter in Zone 2.
Local rules are already stricter: Los Angeles County’s named flammable ornamentals, the City of Los Angeles’s 200-foot brush standard and Truckee’s 5-foot mulch ban.
Zone 0 plant, mulch and fence rules, where we could cite them
| Jurisdiction | Plants against the structure | Mulch | Fence |
|---|---|---|---|
| California (statewide) | Single well-pruned specimens that do not transmit fire are exempt from the 100-ft fuel-modification duty. | Not specified as a statewide ban in the current CCR. | Not specified as a statewide ban in the current CCR. |
| Oregon (statewide) | OSFM homeowner guidance (not the model code itself): no junipers in the 0–5 ft band; space crowns 10 ft; prune 6 ft from the ground. | Model code § 301. | OSFM guidance recommends metal gates for fence sections within 5 ft of the house. |
| Colorado (statewide) | Zone 1: ignition-resistant plants only, from the CSFS/CSU list. | Zone 1: noncombustible hard surface (rock, gravel, sand, concrete, bare earth, stone/concrete pavers). | Class 1 and 2: noncombustible or ignition-resistant material within 8 ft of the structure. |
| City of Boulder, Colorado | No species of Juniperus may be planted on or after Aug. | Landscape Manual Table 2-1 (WUI): in the noncombustible zone and defensible space, squeegee (≤ ½ in gravel, no fines) is allowed; aged arbor-chip mulch is prohibited in the noncombustible zone; cedar bark / "gorilla hair" organic mulches are prohibited in all WUI areas; living short native grasses are prohibited in the noncombustible zone. | New fences and walls within 8 ft of any building or structure: noncombustible materials (§ 503. |
| Town of Truckee / Truckee Fire Protection District, California | Fire-resistant landscaping may remain in Zone 0 only if maintained so it is not likely to be ignited by embers and spread fire to the structure (draft 2025 ordinance language the District has been using in inspections). | No combustible bark or mulch around the structure. | District education materials treat the first 5 ft of combustible fence/gate as a home-to-home ignition pathway and a rebate-eligible upgrade. |
| City of Austin, Texas | New trees should be sited so the mature canopy is outside the EIZ. | Combustible mulch is not an EIZ surface. | Ignition-resistant fences required within 10 ft of structures in Zones A and B and within 5 ft in Zone C. |
| City of Los Angeles | Does not apply to healthy fruit trees, privacy hedges or ornamental shrubbery that is free of dead and dry material. | Chipped material depth caps as above. | 10 ft of clearance from combustible fence or roadway used for vehicular travel. |
The first five feet, in the jurisdictions that have written a plant, mulch or fence rule we could cite. Rows are excerpts; the full text is in the sources, all retrieved September 5, 2026. California’s statewide row describes the current CCR, not the Board package sitting with OAL.
6 municipal overlays that change the advice
| Jurisdiction | Zone 0 / 0–5 ft | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County (unincorporated) · source | Statute yes; CCR no | Los Angeles County Fire Code (Title 32) § 325.2.1; § 4907 |
| City of Los Angeles · source | Local only | LAMC § 57.4906.5.2 (Los Angeles Fire Code) |
| City of Boulder, Colorado · source | In force (0–5 ft) | Boulder Revised Code ch. 10-8.5 (Wildland Code), adopting the 2024 IWUIC with local amendments including §§ 603.2.4–603.2.6; Landscape Manual Table A-1 and Table 2-1 |
| Boulder County (unincorporated) · source | In force (0–5 ft) | Boulder County Building Code Amendments, IRC § R390 (effective July 1, 2026); Building Publication B-37 |
| Town of Truckee / Truckee Fire Protection District, California · source | In force (0–5 ft) | Truckee Fire Protection District Defensible Space Ordinance 02-2012; Town of Truckee Development Code § 18.40 (landscape standards, as amended); TFPD Zone 0 inspection criteria as published 2026 |
| City of Austin, Texas · source | In force (0–5 ft) | Austin City Code ch. 25-12 art. 8, 2024 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code with local amendments; § 603.2.1 Ember Ignition Zone. Council adopted Apr. 10, 2025 (ord. 20240410-041); applications on or after July 10, 2025. |
Municipal and fire-district instruments retrieved September 5, 2026. Not a sample of American cities: these are the overlays we could cite by section, each stricter than or shaped differently from its state row.
City of Los Angeles inspects 200 feet of brush clearance in the VHFHSZ, including onto neighboring lots. Los Angeles County (unincorporated) can push extra-hazard parcels to 200 feet but defaults to 100. That difference inside one metro is why a state row is not enough.
44,100,000 WUI houses is not 44,100,000 covered households
We planned to join the rules table to the SILVIS Lab wildland-urban interface dataset to count covered households. We retrieved the housing numbers, but they measure something else, so we publish them as context only.
Radeloff, Mockrin, Helmers and colleagues mapped the conterminous-US WUI from Census housing and National Land Cover Data for 1990–2020, using the Federal Register definition (66 Fed. Reg. 751). In 2020, 9.4% of CONUS land was WUI, holding more than 44,100,000 homes, 32% of US housing.
WUI housing grew 46% from 1990 to 2020 and WUI area 31%. The 2010s added 2,600,000 WUI houses. California held 5,100,000 in 2020 (244,000 added in the 2010s); Texas held 3,200,000 (534,000 added). Source: Science 382:702–707, 2023; USFS RDS-2015-0012-4.
Why we do not join them. WUI is a geographic class: houses where development meets wildland vegetation. PRC 4291 is a legal class: buildings in the State Responsibility Area.
Gov. Code 51182 is another: occupied dwellings in a locally designated VHFHSZ. Oregon has no statewide map, Washington’s were not final, and Colorado’s code covers new construction.
Texas’s 3,200,000 WUI houses are not houses under a clearance ordinance, because Texas has no statewide one. The accurate sentence: tens of millions of American houses sit where vegetation meets development, and in this table only California puts a statewide landscaping duty on existing homes.
WUI housing, 2020 vintage
These figures describe where houses sit, not which fire code applies. Retrieved September 5, 2026 from https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/67041.
What a homeowner can actually do with this table
Ask the local fire authority which text applies to the parcel: PRC 4291, a municipal fire code, a WUI overlay, an HOA rule, an insurer’s guideline, or none of them. The 0–5–30–100 diagram is a teaching aid. It is not a citation.
Where Zone 0 is in force (Austin, Boulder new work, Truckee inspections, Colorado new construction), wood mulch, firewood and an attached wood fence are what the code targets. Swapping bark for gravel is landscaping work, and in those places it is also code work.
Zone 1 and Zone 2 in 14 CCR § 1299.03 are in force today in the SRA: dead fuel out of the first 30 feet, 4-inch grass and 3-inch litter to 100 feet, 10 feet from the chimney, firewood covered or moved. Zone 0 is the delayed piece, not the whole statute.
Utah H.B. 215 (2026) stops a municipality from prohibiting vegetation removal required for IWUIC defensible space. In California, Gov. Code § 51182(f) lets a local agency adopt alternative practices or go stricter. An HOA rule requiring a juniper hedge against the siding would conflict with several codes here. Related: HOA landscaping preemption.
A watered lawn in the 5–30 foot band can be a Zone 1 approach. It is not a Zone 0 compliance path in Austin Zones A and B, Boulder’s noncombustible zone or the CWRC. Drought-killed plants are fuel. Watering rules are a separate legal object: see the watering restrictions tracker.
Stay away from power lines and call the utility about vegetation near them. Los Angeles County Fire Code § 325.1.1 puts utility-pole clearance on the line owner, not the homeowner. Never climb, fell or cut a tree that could touch a line. Related: tree removal permit rules.
Defensible-space work is specified and inspected by the fire authority. A contractor’s license says who may do the work, not whether the work is required. Related: landscaping licensing by state.
Method and limitations
Primary instruments only: state statutes, administrative codes, enrolled bills, municipal fire and building codes, and the agency page that publishes the current inspection criteria. Extension publications are cited as guidance and labelled as such. Retrieval date on every row: September 5, 2026.
Eleven fire-country states (CA, OR, WA, CO, UT, NV, AZ, NM, TX, ID, MT) plus six municipal overlays we could cite by section. Florida and North Carolina, in HyreYard’s company files, were not part of this pass.
It means we did not find a PRC-4291-style duty on existing private yards in that state’s code on the retrieval date. It does not mean no bill was ever introduced, or that no city in the state has an ordinance; the municipal table shows the second can be true.
In force, adopted but not effective, model opt-in, new construction, guidance, none found. A guidance row is not a rule in force; California’s Zone 0 is the test of that.
We retrieved Radeloff et al. 2023 and the USFS Research Data Archive WUI product. We assigned no covered-household count to any row, because WUI geography and fire-code geography are different layers.
We describe the Board vote, the OAL file number and the statutory delay gates from instruments we retrieved. We do not reproduce the August 2026 draft as if it were 14 CCR. When OAL publishes, this page should be updated in place.
A fire code retrieved on a date was current on that date. California Zone 0, Colorado local CWRC adoptions, Utah’s January 1, 2027 IWUIC switch and Washington’s DNR maps are all in motion. Re-read the instrument before relying on a row for a permit or inspection.
Questions
What are defensible space requirements?
Is California Zone 0 in effect?
What is Zone 0 landscaping?
Can I use bark mulch next to the house?
Do fire codes restrict wood fences?
Does living in the WUI mean I have to clear 100 feet?
Is this legal advice?
Written and audited by
HyreYard Research Desk
Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking
We are a research desk, not a landscaping company. We read the statute, the municipal code, the water-district rule or the federal soil file ourselves, and we publish the figure with the document it came from and the date we retrieved it.
Where a number cannot be traced to a primary source, we publish the shorter page and say what we could not verify. This desk is new.
The counts below are what we can already stand behind, and every one of them is counted from the studies on this site.
- 255
- source documents cited, each linked
- 112
- government (.gov) domains among them
- 258
- citations carrying a retrieval date
- 10
- research studies published
How this desk works
- Primary sources only. A rule comes from the statute, ordinance, board or agency that issued it, cited by section, with the URL and the retrieval date. We do not cite a blog that cites a code.
- Coverage is a number. A table titled to fifty states has fifty sourced rows. A table of cities is titled to the cities we actually read. Gaps are published as gaps.
- Company counts stay inside seven states. Texas, Arizona, Washington, California, Oregon, Florida and North Carolina. Texas is the largest roster on the weakest evidence, a self-reported NAICS sales-tax permit, because Texas licenses no landscaper. National claims rest on federal or state agency data, never on our counts.
- Fact, calculation, analysis and recommendation stay labeled. "According to…" is a source. "HyreYard analyzed… and calculated…" is ours. "This suggests…" is interpretation. We do not present our reading as something the source stated.
- We do not landscape, irrigate, plant, cut trees or pull permits, and we take no payment for placement, ranking or a favorable mention. Nobody buys a position on this site.
Data as of Statutes and ordinances retrieved September 5, 2026. Authorship on this site is organizational: the analysis belongs to the desk rather than to a named individual, and we do not publish credentials we do not hold. Our editorial policy sets out how we source, date and correct what we publish.
The data behind this page
Every figure on this page is computed from one file, and that file is published here so the analysis can be checked, disagreed with, or reused.
Sources & retrieval dates
Put the clearance rule in the written scope
A 5-foot hardscape band, a 30-foot prune and a 100-foot thin are a scope. If you hire for that work, compare companies on the same written specification. HyreYard does not landscape or inspect yards.
HyreYard does not perform landscaping, defensible-space inspections or wildfire-mitigation contracting, and has no commercial relationship with any fire authority, board or insurer named on this page.
This page is general information about publicly available codes, not legal, insurance or professional advice.
If a row is wrong or a regulation has moved, tell us and we will correct it in place with a dated note.