AB-38 Explained: Selling a Home in a California Fire Hazard Zone (2026)
Updated: 2026-07-05
AB-38 requires anyone selling a home in a California High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone to give the buyer documentation that the property meets defensible space rules, plus (for homes built before 2010) a disclosure of fire-hardening features and known wildfire-vulnerable materials. It's a paperwork and inspection requirement, not a new construction code.
Who AB-38 applies to
AB-38 (2019) added two sections to the Civil Code that apply specifically to homes in a state-mapped High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ):
- Defensible space compliance documentation ( Civil Code §1102.19, effective July 1, 2021) applies to any residential sale in a High or Very High FHSZ, regardless of the home's age.
- Wildfire vulnerability / home hardening disclosure ( Civil Code §1102.6f, effective January 1, 2021) applies only to homes built before January 1, 2010 in one of those zones — the cutoff is meant to catch homes built before California's Wildland-Urban Interface building code took effect.
Both run through the standard California real estate transfer disclosure process, so they land on the seller's desk (or the listing agent's) at the same time as the rest of the Natural Hazard Disclosure statement.
The two disclosures, in plain terms
1. Home hardening / vulnerability disclosure
For pre-2010 homes, the seller must tell the buyer the property predates wildfire-urban-interface construction standards and point them to readyforwildfire.org for hardening information. If the seller is aware of any of the following vulnerable features, they must disclose them:
- Roof or soffit vents with openings larger than 1/8 inch
- Untreated wood shingle or shake roofing
- Combustible landscaping or vegetation within 5 feet of the home
- Single-pane windows
- Deteriorated roof flashing or bird-stopping
- Unenclosed eaves or unprotected rain gutters
Since July 1, 2025, the same disclosure must also include the State Fire Marshal's list of low-cost retrofits (developed under Government Code §51189) and state which of those retrofits, if any, the seller has already completed. This is the piece that turns a compliance checkbox into a marketing asset: a seller who's already vented under eaves or swapped in ember-resistant materials gets to say so, in writing, to every buyer.
2. Defensible space compliance documentation
Separately, under Civil Code §1102.19, the seller must give the buyer documentation that the property complies with defensible space law — either the local vegetation management ordinance where one exists, or the state standard under Government Code §51182 / Public Resources Code §4291 (the 100-foot defensible space law; a separate ember-resistant “Zone 0” standard for the first 5 feet is still in state rulemaking).
How compliance documentation actually works
In practice this comes down to getting a defensible space inspection from whichever local agency handles it — a city or county fire department, a fire protection district, or CAL FIRE where the property sits in a State Responsibility Area. The inspector checks the property against the applicable defensible space standard and issues documentation (often called a Notice of Defensible Space Inspection, form LE-100A) showing pass, fail, or corrections needed.
Statute requires that documentation be current — obtained within roughly the six months preceding the sale, when it isn't tied to an existing local ordinance cycle. If the seller doesn't have current documentation and closing is approaching, the law provides a fallback: buyer and seller sign a written agreement transferring the obligation to the buyer, who then has up to one year after close of escrow to obtain compliance documentation.
Nothing in AB-38 changes the underlying legal duty to maintain defensible space itself — that duty exists independent of any sale under PRC 4291 and Gov. Code 51182, and local agencies keep full authority to enforce it.
How to get inspected
There's no single statewide AB-38 inspection office. Start with:
- Your local fire department or fire protection district's prevention/vegetation management division — most FHSZ jurisdictions run a real estate defensible space inspection program specifically for escrow.
- CAL FIRE's Defensible Space program for State Responsibility Area properties without a local program.
- The Ready for Wildfire defensible space self-assessment to see where a property likely stands before scheduling a formal inspection.
Doing the self-assessment first saves a failed-inspection round trip: it flags the same zone-by-zone issues (dead vegetation touching the structure, fuel ladders from ground to canopy, wood piles or debris within 5 feet) that a real inspector checks.
What typically fails inspection, and where contractors fit in
The most common fail points are within the closest zones: vegetation or combustible mulch touching the house or attached structures, tree limbs overhanging the roof or within 10 feet of the chimney, dead or dying plants anywhere in the 0–30 ft zones, and dense unbroken brush or "fuel ladders" continuing into the 30–100 ft zone. Roofing, venting and window issues flagged in the hardening disclosure are separate from the defensible space inspection but often get raised in the same escrow conversation.
This is standard defensible space clearing and home hardening retrofit work — vegetation removal and spacing, vent screening, gutter and eave cleanup — the kind the contractors in this directory do routinely for pre-sale compliance, not a specialized trade of its own.
What happens if a seller skips it
AB-38's documentation and disclosure duties sit inside the same Civil Code framework as other real estate transfer disclosures, so incomplete or inaccurate disclosure exposes a seller to the same kind of post-sale liability as any other undisclosed material defect — separate from, and in addition to, the underlying legal duty to maintain defensible space, which local agencies enforce on their own timeline regardless of whether a sale is happening.
FAQ
Does AB-38 apply to every home sale in California?
No. It applies to residential property sales where the home is located in a state-mapped High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The wildfire-vulnerability disclosure (Civil Code 1102.6f) only applies to homes built before January 1, 2010; the defensible space compliance documentation (Civil Code 1102.19) applies regardless of the home's age.
What happens if I can’t get an inspection before closing?
The seller and buyer can sign a written agreement under which the buyer takes on the obligation to obtain compliance documentation — following the local ordinance if one exists, or within one year of close of escrow if compliance depends on state or local agency inspection availability.
Who inspects for AB-38 compliance?
Whichever local agency has adopted a defensible space or vegetation management ordinance for your area — usually a city or county fire department, a fire protection district, or CAL FIRE in State Responsibility Areas. There is no single statewide AB-38 inspector; you contact your local fire agency’s prevention division.
Do I have to disclose a wood shingle roof or single-pane windows?
Yes, if the home was built before 2010 and is in a High or Very High FHSZ. Civil Code 1102.6f lists specific vulnerable features — including untreated wood shingle/shake roofing, inadequate roof and soffit vents, single-pane windows, unenclosed eaves, and combustible landscaping within 5 feet — that sellers must disclose if present and known.
Does fixing these issues before listing help beyond avoiding disclosure?
Yes. Since July 1, 2025, the disclosure must also state which items on the State Fire Marshal’s low-cost retrofit list the seller has already completed. Buyers, agents and insurers increasingly read that list as a proxy for how well-prepared and well-maintained the home is.
Need clearance work done before a sale? Find contractors in your county: