Los Angeles County, California
Class A and Chapter 7A Roofs in the Los Angeles Fire Zones
In a high or very high fire hazard severity zone the roof is rated as a whole assembly, deck and underlayment included. Here is what the code asks for in Los Angeles, and what changed on January 1, 2026.
Free, and there is no obligation to go ahead.
- Free roof inspection
Someone comes out, gets on the roof, and tells you what they find.
- The price in writing
A written quote before anyone starts, with nothing to sign on the day.
- Licensed roofers
The roofer who turns up holds a current California license.
- Across Los Angeles County
From the Valley and the foothills to the Westside and the South Bay.
In a high or very high fire hazard severity zone the roof has to be a Class A assembly, tested as a whole build-up. The rating belongs to the deck, the underlayment and the covering together, not to the shingle on its own, and the vents, gutters, valleys and eaves are separate items in the same chapter.
The rules moved on January 1, 2026. Chapter 7A came out of the California Building Code and into the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Title 24 Part 7. Everybody still calls it Chapter 7A. Your plans should say CWUIC.
There is no price band for a fire zone roof here, because the number lives in the assembly and not in the covering. What the code package adds on a rebuild is on the costs page.
- Where it appliesHigh and very high fire hazard severity zones, including the Palisades, Altadena, Malibu and the foothills
- What it is nowThe California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Title 24 Part 7, since January 1, 2026
- What it coversThe covering, the underlayment, vents, gutters, valleys and eaves
- Worth knowingA Class A shingle over the wrong underlayment is not a Class A assembly
What changed, and what didn't
Class A in the fire zones is not new. It was required before the January 2025 fires and it is required now.
The State Fire Marshal released updated local responsibility area maps in February and March 2025, after Executive Order N-18-25. The state's announcement put about 1.16 million new acres into High and about 247,000 into Very High. CWUIC 101.3.1 now reaches High zones in local responsibility areas, not only Very High. On state responsibility area land, where the state carries wildland fire protection, every zone is in scope, Moderate included.
Check the address first
The State Fire Marshal's zone viewer takes an address, and the Los Angeles Fire Department points at the same map. Houses that sat outside the zones before the 2025 maps are inside them now.
Re-roofing an existing house triggers it
CWUIC 507.1. Replace the roof covering, or 50 percent or more of it inside 12 months, and it has to meet what new construction meets. Anything laid during an addition, alteration or repair has to be at least Class A.
Ask for the assembly by name
A Class A assembly passes a series of exterior fire exposure tests, and the UL listing names the components it was tested with.
- The listing.Which tested Class A assembly the quote is built on, and the deck, underlayment and covering it names.
- The underlayment.A listed Class A underlayment under CWUIC 504.2.1.2, or the 72 lb ASTM D3909 cap sheet route under 504.2.1.1.
- The plans.Plan check reads the submitted set, not the quote. If the quote names one listed assembly and the plans name another, the correction comes back after the roof is on.
Tile and metal on a wood deck
CWUIC 504.2 exempts some coverings from testing. Clay and concrete tile, slate and metal count as Class A on non-combustible decks. Plenty of Los Angeles houses have a wood deck, and on wood the exemption does not carry.
Then 504.2.1 applies, because a tile profile leaves a void under it. Two ways through. A 72 lb cap sheet over the deck, with bird stops at the eaves and the hip and ridge caps mudded in. Or a listed Class A underlayment tested as part of the assembly, detailed the same way.
Bird stopping is easy to leave out, and the code does not treat it as optional. Fire Safe Marin describes gaps at the ridge and edge filling with nesting material, embers lighting it, and flame reaching the framing past a rated covering.
The rest of the roof is in the code too
- Gutters and downspouts.CWUIC 504.4. Non-combustible, with a means of keeping debris out.
- Valleys.CWUIC 504.2.2. Corrosion-resistant metal, minimum 0.019 inch, over a 36 inch wide 72 lb mineral-surfaced cap sheet, full length.
- Vents.CWUIC 504.10. Listed ember-resistant vents tested to ASTM E2886, or on sloped roofs non-combustible corrosion-resistant mesh between 1/16 and 1/8 inch. Gable and dormer vents sit 10 feet off the lot line.
- Eaves, soffits and fascia.CWUIC 504.3. Non-combustible or ignition-resistant material on the exposed underside, and a fascia is required.
- Wood shakes.LA County allows treated shakes listed by the State Fire Marshal. The City of LA amends that away, and its ordinance rules out wood shake and shingle. Check the section your department is working from.
- Paint.CWUIC 503.2.5 says coatings and stains are not an approved method of protection.
Common questions
I'm only doing an addition. Does this apply?
The state code has an exception for buildings built before July 1, 2008. Local agencies can amend that exception away, and in the City of LA and LA County additions and alterations are generally pulled in. Ask your building department which version applies.
Does hardening a roof do anything?
IBHS assessed more than 250 properties after the Palisades and Eaton fires. Houses with four hardening features had a 54 percent likelihood of avoiding damage, against 36 percent for houses with one. The four were a Class A roof, non-combustible siding, double-pane windows and enclosed eaves.
Will it help my insurance?
The Department of Insurance publishes a consumer alert saying the CAL FIRE hazard maps do not affect insurance rates or availability. What a carrier does with a hardened house is between you and your agent, and the assembly listing is the document they will ask for.
Send the address and what is on the roof now, and we will come look. Rebuild work in Altadena and Pacific Palisades has its own page, and roof replacement covers a straight re-roof.
The offer
$500 off a new roof, 10% off any repair
Start online and it is attached to your request, with nothing to remember.
- We get on the roof, and into the attic if that is where the answer is
- You get photographs of whatever we find
- The price in writing, with nothing to sign on the day
Where this comes up most
Where we work
Across Los Angeles County
Tell us what is going on
A description is enough to start. We will come out, look at the roof properly, and give you the price in writing.