Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code
On June 1, 2025, in response to the growing intensity and frequency of wildfires and requirements of SB 23-166, Colorado adopted their Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC), which set minimum standards for structural hardening and fire hazard risk reduction for new buildings located in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Established by the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board (WRCB), the purpose of the CWRC is to protect life and property from “wildland fire exposures and fire exposures from adjacent structures and to mitigate structure fires from spreading to wildland fuels.” To accomplish this, jurisdictions located in the WUI, defined by the WRCB as "that geographical area where structures and other human development meets or intermingles with wildland or vegetative fuels,” must adopt the CWRC by April 1, 2026 and be in compliance by July 1, 2026. The provisions will supplement a jurisdiction’s building and fire codes to better prepare at-risk areas for “fire- and life-safety hazards.”
To ensure implementation and enforcement of CWRC provisions, the code requires each applicable jurisdiction to appoint a “code official” with the authority to determine compliance, render interpretations of provisions, and adopt clarifying policies for a smoother application of provisions. These code officials have the authority to: request alternative materials for deliberations; grant modifications for individual situations; grant permits and issue stop work orders; and make rules on how to determine a WUI and fire intensity classifications.
Code officials are required to reject any permits that do not comply with the code, as construction and renovation projects within the WUI may not proceed before “a separate permit for each building or structure has first been obtained from the code official.”
The CWRC’s standards differ based on the extent of wildfire risk. An area’s fire intensity classification can be low, moderate, or high, depending on its “expected wildfire behavior, including flame length and suppression difficulty,” which depends on the density of potential wildfire fuels and ability to use traditional fire suppression techniques in the area.
- Low Intensity: light to medium surface fuels, flame length below 2 feet, low spread rate, and easily suppressed by trained firefighters.
- Moderate Intensity: moderate to heavy fuels, flame lengths up to 8 feet, moderate to high spread rate, and challenging suppression for firefighting ground crews without support from “engines, dozers, or aircrafts.”
- High Intensity: heavy fuels with dense forests, flame lengths exceeding 30 feet, rapid spread rate, and usual suppression techniques are ineffective. High intensity “fires present significant danger to life, property, and responder safety.”
Areas classified as having low fire intensity must comply with Class 1 regulations; moderate and high fire intensity areas must comply with Class 2 regulations. Class 2 regulations are more stringent and comprehensive, in line with the severity of the classifications. Regulations cover structural hardening measures, such as exterior design and construction, structure ignition zone management (e.g., required use of nonflammable materials and restrictions or limitations on plantings and trees within certain distances of structures), retaining walls, and fencing.
To assist in the implementation of the CWRC, Headwaters Economics’ Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program is offering free technical assistance to municipal governments that are working to comply with CWRC’s adoption requirements. The program provides guidance on adoption, enforcement, and drafting with the goal of managing and reducing wildfire risk in threatened communities.
Publication Date: June 1, 2025
Related Organizations:
- Colorado Department of Public Safety
Related Resources:
Sectors:
Resource Category:
Resource Types:
- Laws
- Regulation
States Affected:
Impacts:
- Wildfires
