Every result on this site traces back to an actual statute or the newly-adopted regulation, not a paraphrase of a news article. Here's exactly what feeds the free check and the paid report, and where that stops and a licensed inspection has to start.
Rule-based, not AI. Two inputs feed it: the property's CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) tier and SRA/LRA status, and answers to a fixed set of questions about the property itself - trees, deck material, vents, what's stored near the walls, and so on. Each risky answer maps to a specific item in the adopted rule, with its own citation; the combined result is what decides whether the page shows green (On track), yellow (Some action needed), or red (Major action needed).
Same address, same answers, same result, every time - nothing about the free check is generated or inferred.
A handful of cities and fire districts have adopted their own Zone 0 rule ahead of the state - San Diego and Berkeley are the two we've verified against a primary source so far. These attach to a specific city, or in Berkeley's case two specific hillside neighborhoods, never to a whole county - see the relevant county page for what's actually confirmed for your area.
How that affects your score depends on your situation. If the statewide rule already applies to your property, your tier (green/yellow/red) is based on that rule, but each problem found also gets checked against a matching local ordinance - if it applies, the citation and fix shown are updated to reference the local rule instead. If the statewide rule doesn't reach your property but you're in a jurisdiction we've built a dedicated local survey for (South Lake Tahoe, Berkeley, and Moraga-Orinda today), you get an entirely separate score based on just the local rule.
Builds on Free CHECK with photos of the specific areas the rule covers. An AI model trained on the actual rule text examines each photo closely (not a general fire-safety opinion), catching specific combustible materials and conditions a homeowner might not think to check for on a casual walk-through, then names every problem found and gives each one a specific, actionable fix - not just a citation.
Each fix is also tagged, where the adopted rule covers it, with which of §1298.04(c)'s three compliance-timeline tiers it falls under: due immediately once the rule takes effect, within three years, or within three to five years on a locally-set schedule. Since the rule itself isn't legally effective yet, these are described relative to that future effective date rather than a specific calendar date - see our status tracker for where that stands.
How does the free Zone 0 check work?
Two inputs feed it - the property's CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) tier and SRA/LRA status, and answers to a fixed set of questions about the property itself. Each risky answer maps to a specific item in the adopted rule, with its own citation.
Are local city or fire district ordinances included in my free check score?
It depends on your situation. If the statewide rule already applies to your property, your tier (green/yellow/red) is based on that rule, but each problem found also gets checked against a matching local ordinance - if it applies, the citation and fix shown are updated to reference the local rule instead. If the statewide rule doesn't reach your property but you're in a jurisdiction we've built a dedicated local survey for (South Lake Tahoe, Berkeley, and Moraga-Orinda today), you get an entirely separate score based on just the local rule.
What's different about Photo CHECK?
Photo CHECK builds on Free CHECK with photos of the specific areas the rule covers. An AI model trained on the actual rule text examines each photo closely, catching specific combustible materials and conditions a homeowner might not think to check for on a casual walk-through, then names every problem found and gives each one a specific, actionable fix - not just a citation.
What sources does Zone Zero Check use?
Every result traces back to an actual statute or the newly-adopted Board of Forestry regulation, not a paraphrase of a news article - see the full list of primary sources below.
Does the paid report tell me when I need to fix each problem, not just what to fix?
Yes, for the problems the adopted rule actually covers. §1298.04(c) phases existing homes in on three separate clocks - some items (roof and gutter debris, dead branches, chimney clearance) are due the moment the rule takes effect, most fall under a 3-year grace period, and a few (vegetation buffers, fences, outbuildings) get 3 to 5 years on a locally-set schedule. Every fix in the paid report is tagged with the right one of those tiers. A handful of items aren't §1298.04 requirements at all - an insurance-mitigation-credit item like vent screening, for instance - and those are labeled accordingly instead of getting a Zone 0 deadline that doesn't apply to them.
The core defensible space and ember-resistant zone statute. Subsections (g) and (h) are why the 5-foot zone isn't fully enforceable yet: the Board of Forestry approved final regulations on August 19, 2026, but they still need to clear a final state filing to legally take effect, and separately, the State Fire Marshal must certify appropriated funding before inspection practices actually change.
The regulatory language defining exactly what's required in that 5-foot zone - what the free check's questions and the paid report's fixes are built from. Approved by the Board of Forestry on August 19, 2026; pending final state filing. Every citation on this site traces back to this text.
The real estate disclosure requirement for a home sale. This is the official Defensible Space Inspection Zone Zero Check is explicitly not a substitute for - see fire.ca.gov/dspace for that documentation.
The insurance mitigation credit regulation - referenced where a specific fix also affects insurance mitigation eligibility, not just code compliance.
The City of San Diego's own ember-resistant zone requirement, adopted ahead of the statewide rule. Applies within city limits only, not San Diego County as a whole - see the San Diego county page for what this actually covers.
The City of Berkeley's local rule, in effect since January 2026 - covers only two named hillside areas (the Grizzly Peak and Panoramic mitigation areas), not the whole city. Stricter than the statewide rule in at least one respect: it sets a specific numeric clearance for trees in the zone (6 ft above the roof) tighter than the statewide rule's 5-foot figure.
