Deschutes County holds work session on optional wildfire building code; public hearing set
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Summary
County staff previewed a proposal to adopt Oregon’s R3-27 home-hardening building-code standards for new residential construction, estimated to raise construction costs modestly, and set a public hearing for Jan. 14 to decide whether to adopt the standards and where they would apply.
County planners on Wednesday gave commissioners a detailed briefing on a proposed local adoption of section R3-27 of the Oregon Residential Specialty Code, an optional set of “home‑hardening” building-code standards intended to reduce wildfire risk for new residential construction.
Kyle Collins, senior planner, said the code “only applies to new residential development and certain residential accessory structures,” and is not a retroactive regulation for existing homes except in narrow replacement circumstances. He told the board the county cannot pick and choose parts of R3-27: “This is basically an all or nothing.”
Collins traced the policy history to state legislation that removed local discretion (Senate Bill 762) and then restored limited local adoption options under Senate Bill 83. He said R3-27 covers roofing, exterior walls, glazing, ventilation, gutters and downspouts, and details such as soffits and eaves; defensible-space vegetation rules are not part of this building-code proposal and would be considered later.
On costs, Collins cited a range drawn from case studies and state materials and said the most conservative synthesis shows new-construction costs would likely increase “about 2 to 11%” under R3-27, but added that some materials and methods called for by the code (fiber cement siding, certain roofing types) are already common locally. He warned there is not a single figure that fits every project because costs depend on many variables.
Commissioners pressed staff on how broadly the county would apply the code if adopted. Collins said local governments may choose where the standards apply and that, as proposed, staff had drafted a countywide application but could present narrower mapping options. He said the City of Sisters has already adopted R3-27 and the county would administer the code there; other cities are weighing similar steps.
The board set a public hearing on the building-code amendments for its Jan. 14 meeting. Collins said staff will return with additional materials, including potential mapping options and further cost/valuation context requested by commissioners.