Fire Code

2010 California Fire Code and 2006 Wildland Urban Interface Code

The Towns of Ross, San Anselmo, and Fairfax adopted the 2010 California Fire Code and the 2006 International Wildland Urban Interface Code with amendments.  Code amendments are based on local conditions and are specific to each Town.  Below are links to each adopted Fire Code.

Town of Ross 

• 14.04 Uniform Fire Code
• 14.08 Unlawful Fires
• 14.12 Open Outdoor Fires

Town of San Anselmo

• Fire Code Amendment
• WUI - Wildland Urban Interface Code

Town of Fairfax

• Fire Code - Section 8.04
• WUI – Section 8.06

Code Adoption Process

The adoption process is required by the Town Councils approximately every three years to stay current with the minimum requirements of the State of California building and fire standards, as determined by the California Building Standards Commission.

Every three years, the California Building Standards Commission publishes model codes such as the California Fire Code, Building Code, and Mechanical Code.  Once published, local agencies have 180 days to make additions or amendments based on local conditions.  If no changes are adopted during this 180-day window, the model code becomes effective.

For the last four code adoption cycles, the Marin County Fire Prevention Officers have met and cooperatively reviewed the model code.  The ordinances adopted by the Towns represent a cooperative effort to develop standard ordinance language.  While some minor changes occur between jurisdictions, the end result is a more consistent and cooperative approach to fire safety issues, making it easier for residents, contractors, and developers to work with each jurisdiction.

The work of the committee was especially challenging with the 2010 code adoption.  In 2007, the State of California chose to move away from codes published by the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) to codes published by the International Code Council (ICC).  Our local code work-group conducted an in-depth review of the new 2007 California Fire Code (based on the ICC).  This review was a page-by-page comparison with the 2001 California Fire Code (based on the ICBO) to ensure that local issues were not overlooked.  This process resulted in ordinances that blend the best and most relevant from the old ICBO code and the new ICC code.