Editorial Standards & Methodology

Our commitment in one sentence

We organize and explain publicly available defensible-space and home-hardening guidance accurately, cite the fire agency, standard, or statute behind each rule, and never invent a fee, a deadline, an ordinance, or a person.

Where our information comes from

Wildfire mitigation guidance comes from fire agencies, recognized safety standards, and state and local law, so those are our primary sources. When we describe a requirement, we work from the material that actually governs it:

• State and federal fire-agency guidance, such as CAL FIRE's Ready for Wildfire program and the National Fire Protection Association's Firewise USA framework, for the Zone 0/1/2 structure.
• State statutes and regulations that define defensible-space requirements, such as California Public Resources Code Section 4291 and the Assembly Bill 3074 Zone 0 rulemaking.
• Local fire authorities and fire districts, whose inspection and clearance rules can be stricter than the state baseline.
• State insurance departments and state FAIR Plan associations, for how insurer-of-last-resort coverage generally works in a given state.

Where a claim depends on an outside source, we link to a primary reference, favoring official .gov and fire-agency pages so you can read the rule at its source and confirm it yourself.

How we handle facts that vary by state

Defensible-space distances, agency names, statutes, and inspection rules differ from state to state and county to county, and they change. Rather than print a single requirement that would be wrong somewhere, we treat the Zone 0/1/2 framework as general, true-everywhere guidance and mark a state's specific statutory facts as verified only when we have read them directly from an official source. California is seeded with verified statutory specifics; for every other state, our guides and tools give you that general framework plus a guided fill-in and the exact questions to ask your local fire authority, instead of a guess dressed up as a fact.

Who writes and reviews our content

Our articles are researched, written, and edited by the DefensibleHome Editorial Team, a group of writers and researchers who focus on wildfire mitigation, home hardening, and home insurability. Every article carries this team byline and a published or updated date.

We are deliberate about what we are not. We are not fire inspectors, insurance agents, public adjusters, or attorneys, and we do not publish content under invented expert names or fabricated professional credentials. When a decision calls for a licensed professional, we say so and point you to one or to your local fire authority instead of pretending to be one.

How we keep content current

Each article shows when it was published and, when applicable, when it was last updated. We revisit content on a rolling basis and when we learn that a statute, agency program, or inspection process has changed. Wildfire rules and insurer practices still move faster than any publisher can track perfectly, so a date on this site tells you when we last reviewed a page, not that a rule has not changed since. Always confirm current requirements with your local fire authority before you act.

Corrections and feedback

If you spot something that looks out of date or wrong, tell us and we will check it against the source and fix it promptly. Accurate content is more valuable to us than being right the first time, and reader corrections make this resource better for the next homeowner.

Email corrections to team@defensiblehome.com with the page URL and what you believe should change.

Independence and how we pay for this

DefensibleHome is an independent information publisher. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any fire agency, insurer, or government body. Our free guides and tools are supported by our paid $99 Wildfire Insurance Survival Kit, which organizes the same publicly available guidance into one personalized, printable document. Buying the kit is never required to read our free content, and a purchase never changes what a fire authority requires or what an insurer decides.

Related

Read more about who we are on our About page, review our full disclaimer, or browse our 681 published guides.