The Compliance Bill · Property Hazard Exposure

The rule is set.
What will it cost you?

California has adopted a new wildfire rule that reaches roughly 1.75 million buildings. The state did not say what it costs to comply. This app estimates that cost from public data, and shows what owners actually paid for a similar retrofit rule.

Working example: California Built only on public data

The decision this helps with

Which building do you retrofit this year, and which one do you sell?

A retrofit duty is a legal requirement to upgrade a building by a set date. The owner cannot opt out. What the owner can decide is the order, the timing, and whether to keep the building at all.

That makes it a budget question. Which buildings go into next year's capital plan? And where is the cost of complying so high that selling makes more sense?

For: owners and asset managers Also useful to: investors and lenders

Nonethe official cost estimate for California's new Zone 0 wildfire rule

Zone 0 is the first five feet around a building, which must be kept free of things that catch fire from embers. The Board of Forestry's summary of the rule gives no building count and no cost. The only figures around are anecdotes: one councilmember quoted about $13,000 per property, and fencing contractors quote $5,000 to $15,000.

An owner of several buildings has nothing to budget against. Some insurers now offer 10 to 15% off premiums for documented compliance, so the cost also affects returns.

What existing tools tell you

Risk scores are easy to buy. Compliance costs are not.

Product	What it gives you	Sold to	Shows the cost to comply?
Verisk FireLine	a 0–30 wildfire risk score	insurers	No
ZestyAI Z-FIRE	a property risk score from aerial imagery	insurers	No
Cotality US Wildfire Model	a property risk score used in insurance pricing	insurers	No
Munich Re Location Risk Intelligence	expected losses, plus some retrofit suggestions	owners	No, the closest alternative
MSCI physical risk · First Street	loss estimates across many hazards	investors	No
The Compliance Bill	a cost range for each legal duty, plus what owners actually paid	owners	Yes, from public data

These products tell you how exposed a building is. They do not tell you what a specific required upgrade will cost. Their models are also closed, so you cannot check the workings.

Products reviewed on 2026-09-07.

How the app looks

A map, with the bill along the bottom.

The Compliance Bill over Los Angeles: the fire hazard zone legend top left, the list of priced upgrades on the right, and the bill along the bottom showing the rules that apply, buildings in view, the estimated cost range, what owners actually paid and the compliance rate.

A real screenshot of the app over Los Angeles, taken 2026-09-07.

The rules that apply. One row per legal duty, with its deadline and what counts as compliance.
Buildings in view. 5,394 in this view. The count updates as you move the map.
Estimated cost. $15.7M to $41.0M, most likely $34.2M, for the 684 buildings inside the Zone 0 area here.
What owners actually paid. The median (middle) cost was $45,000 per building for the earlier seismic retrofit rule.
A standing notice. The wildfire rule is not yet in force, and the cost data dates from 2023.

Move the map, the rules change

Location decides which rules apply.

The same app over the Sierra near Truckee: the Zone 0 wildfire duties still apply, the Los Angeles and San Francisco retrofit duties are greyed out as not applying here, and no actual-cost figure is shown because none is published for this area.

The same app, 400 km north near Truckee. Pan or zoom and the whole bill updates: the rules, the counts, the costs and the data notes.

You do not pick your obligations. Where the building stands decides them. So you simply move the map to your buildings.

Rules in this areanear Truckee

Zone 0 · immediateapplies wildfire ember-resistant zone · awaiting final state approval

Zone 0 · Phase 1applies within 3 years of the rule taking effect

LA soft-storydoes not apply this area is outside Los Angeles

SF soft-storydoes not apply this area is outside San Francisco

A soft-story building has a weak ground floor, such as open parking under apartments. When a rule does not apply, the app says why. It never shows it as $0.

How to read the bill

The app tells you how solid each number is.

The rule applies here

Filled dot and a building count. The count uses the official zone boundaries at full detail.

The rule does not apply here

Grey hollow dot, with the reason in words. That is a fact about the location, not missing data.

No local cost records

Marked NOT COVERED. Of 483 California cities, 309 have the Zone 0 duty. Only two publish what compliance cost. Elsewhere you get the estimate only.

rule appliesa legal duty with a deadline

donecity records show the work was completed

estimate onlypriced, but no record of actual costs

not coveredno city records for this area

Each state also has a label or symbol, so colour is never the only signal. Where a permit lists no real cost, the app shows not stated, not $0. That is true of 2,773 of the 13,277 Los Angeles permits (20.9%).

A worked example

What owners actually paid.

1 · Estimated cost of the new wildfire rule.
the state's list of required measures × a published cost per measure
× the buildings inside the state's fire zones
= a cost range, with the source shown for each part

2 · Median cost of an LA seismic retrofit, by building height.
two storeys $48,824 · 6,468 buildings
three storeys $65,211 · 2,833 buildings
four storeys $85,717 · 99 buildings
five storeys: too few to report (4 buildings)

3 · How many owners complied.
Of 4,945 San Francisco buildings ordered to retrofit, 94.6% finished and 5.3% did not.

Buildings facing a second rulechecked 2026-09-07

Already seismically retrofitted, now in a Zone 0 area710 Los Angeles buildings that have done one required retrofit and now face the wildfire rule too.

What they spent on the first retrofit$38.87M 686 of the 710 list a usable cost.

Median, inside the fire zone$45,000

Median, outside it$45,000 The same. Being in a fire zone did not change what a seismic retrofit cost.

Costs are 2023 figures with no inflation adjustment. Most of these are apartment buildings.

Where the data comes from

Three public sources, all free to check.

What it cost

13,277 Los Angeles soft-story retrofit permits, each with the declared construction value. 10,504 list a usable figure. The average is $53,338.

Who had to do it

San Francisco's list of 4,945 buildings ordered to retrofit, with each one's status. LA shows who did the work. SF shows everyone who had to.

What the next rule costs

53 priced upgrade measures from a cost study by Headwaters Economics, funded by CAL FIRE and based on the California Building Code wildfire chapter.

The rule and the cost study match up

Zone 0 Phase 1 requires flammable mulch to be removed from the first five feet. The study prices the replacement at $463.62 per cubic yard. Phase 2 requires a non-combustible fence section where a fence meets the building. The study prices that at $60.44 per square foot.

Limits to keep in mind

The cost study is based on a two-storey house. The LA permits are almost all apartment buildings (98.7%). The app shows the two side by side and never adds them together.

Why you can trust the numbers

Real records, with the source shown.

Actual costs come from city permit records, not from a model or a survey.
Each number shows its source and date, so you or your valuer can check it.
Missing data is shown as missing. A blank cost is labelled not stated, never counted as zero.
A sample portfolio is available for demos. It is clearly labelled and never included in any cost figure.
The app was tested on the real data before release, and errors found during testing were fixed. One early version counted far too many buildings inside the fire zones. That was corrected to the true figure of 710.

What this app does not do

The limits, stated plainly.

It does not quote a single building. That needs details like roof and vent types, which are not public in California.
It is not a lender's seismic loss estimate, an insurance decision, a risk score or a hazard disclosure statement.
It does not decide whether a building complies. Local fire agencies can approve alternatives.

Actual costs exist for two cities only. The wildfire rule is statewide, so most areas show the estimate only.
Actual costs are from 2023 and are not adjusted for inflation. They are a guide, not a current quote.
It covers cost only. Whether to retrofit or sell also needs a valuation, which your valuer provides.

Use it on your buildings

Your buildings.
Your compliance bill.

Upload your building list as a spreadsheet (CSV) or map file (GeoJSON). The file stays on your computer. The app then shows which rules apply to your buildings and what they are likely to cost.

The fire zones, the list of rules and the cost table are separate settings. That means the app can be set up for another city or country without rebuilding it.

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The rule is set.What will it cost you?