Cross-Discipline Approach Leads To WUI Success In California
Jackson Morrill
President & CEO of the American Wood Council
Following last year’s catastrophic fires, California has become the epicenter of debate over how communities build (and rebuild) in populated wildfire prone areas, referred to as the wildland urban interface (WUI). Over the last year, AWC has taken a coordinated, cross-discipline approach to ensure that wildfire-related codes and legislation remain grounded in technical performance and continue to support market access for wood.
After the fires, AWC’s initial response focused on gathering information, understanding the concerns of communities, and sharing intelligence on sentiment and potential industry effects. Our codes and standards, government affairs, fire service engagement, and communications teams worked together to synthesize media reports, technical analysis and potential legislative and code proposals, allowing us to clearly identify threats and opportunities to support performance-based WUI code provisions in California and oppose reactionary legislation that could set technically unjustified precedents.
Even before last year’s wildfires, AWC’s codes and standards team had been strategically engaged in the California Building Code Chapter 7A, the state’s WUI code, for multiple years. The team’s longstanding relationships in the California code development process situated AWC staff as authoritative experts and allowed us to successfully promote performance-based code enforcement.
The development of Chapter 7A, which is now a standalone WUI code referred to as California’s Wildland Urban Interface Code (CWUIC), was a multi-year process that included extensive meetings and public comment periods. Throughout its development, AWC staff served as chairs and members on multiple workgroups, promoting the demonstrated performance and resilience of wood products and helping protect material choice in the code. The team leaned on recent fire test results that demonstrated the fire resistance of wood construction, letting the data show the safety and code compliance of wood products.
AWC’s code expertise and involvement in the development of the CWUIC set the foundation for the government affairs team’s engagement with the legislature and other officials. In meeting with policymakers, the team highlighted the robustness of the WUI code as an existing, performance-driven framework for WUI safety. AWC’s early information gathering meant that the team was able to point to how the CWUIC already included key provisions that communities and legislators were concerned with, including ember spread and defensible space in locations where direct flame impingement is possible. The team encouraged policymakers to prioritize implementation of the already existing code instead of attempting to enact new legislation that could have contradicted code provisions. The knowledge of growing sentiment allowed the team to strategically use the technical foundation provided by the codes team to help prevent reactive legislation and material restrictions, ultimately keeping the WUI conversation firmly in the codes space, not in the legislature.
AWC’s work in California will remain critical in 2026, as state code officials have already begun the process to reconsider parts of its WUI code and are holding hearings related to potential amendments. So far, these suggested proposals align with the same issues AWC identified in the early post-fire information gathering, including criteria for roofing, vents and windows. Even as proposals to prohibit combustible materials on the exterior surface of buildings return, AWC is poised to continue to point to the efficacy of the current WUI code, the proven fire resilience of wood products, and the importance of proper code implementation. Our codes and standards and government affairs teams will continue to work hand in hand to support fair, performance-based codes and fight against unfounded material restrictions.
