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Roofing Guide · San Rafael, CARoughly 1,800 San Rafael parcels are mapped High Fire Hazard Severity and about 4,100 more Moderate. In those zones, the roof is a regulated fire defense. Here is what that means in practice.
San Rafael’s hills are beautiful and, on the state’s fire maps, consequential: roughly 1,800 parcels fall in High Fire Hazard Severity Zones and about 4,100 in Moderate zones. California’s Wildland-Urban Interface code (Building Code Chapter 7A, and CRC Section R902 for residences) turns those map colors into roof requirements. If your home is in a mapped zone — and many owners have never checked — your next roof is not just a purchase. It is a compliance project with a fire rationale.
Class A is the highest fire rating for a roof assembly — the whole system tested together: covering, underlayment, and deck. It is not a shingle label you can buy piecemeal. A Class A assembly resists severe fire exposure, including the ember showers that start most WUI home losses. Concrete and clay tile, metal, and Class A-rated architectural shingle systems are the common residential routes; some low-slope foam systems also carry Class A ratings as complete assemblies. The point to hold onto: the rating belongs to the stack, so substitutions mid-project can void it.
The state’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps are public, and your roofer should check your parcel before materials are discussed — we do it as part of every free inspection in the hill neighborhoods. The map, not the vibe of the street, is the authority: two houses on the same road can sit on different sides of a zone line.
If your mapped-zone roof is due, our replacement process specs the full compliant assembly — covering, underlayment, vents, and edge details — as one written line, because that is what the rating requires.
Zones, assemblies, vents, and how to check your parcel.
Call (628) 202-3250 →About 1,800 parcels are mapped High Fire Hazard Severity and roughly 4,100 more Moderate — a large share of the city’s hillside neighborhoods, including edges of Terra Linda, Peacock Gap, and the streets climbing from downtown and Dominican.
No — it is a rating of the whole assembly: covering, underlayment, and deck tested together. Tile, metal, Class A shingle systems, and some foam systems can all achieve it. Swapping one component for a non-listed substitute can void the assembly’s rating, which is why we spec it as one written line.
In mapped zones under Chapter 7A, yes — vents must be listed ember-resistant designs or protected with fine corrosion-resistant mesh. Embers entering attic vents are a leading cause of WUI home loss, which is why the rule exists and why we treat vents as part of the roof project, not an accessory.
Two cheap things: verify your parcel’s zone (we will do it free), and keep valleys and gutters debris-free — in fire country, roof debris is stored fuel. The assembly upgrade itself happens at replacement time.
Foam roofs do not wear out all at once — their coating does. When a recoat saves the roof, and the signs it is too late.
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Roofing GuideZone check, assembly spec, and ember-resistant venting in the written quote — no guessing about which rules apply to your street.
Call (628) 202-3250 →Tell us your neighborhood — Terra Linda’s edges, Peacock Gap, the hill streets — and we will check the map for your parcel.