IBHS Program
Get your home Wildfire Prepared — the right way.
IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home is a real, evaluated designation for wildfire-hardened homes. PRQ is your pre-designation coach: we scope the work and get you ready. IBHS issues the designation.
What is Wildfire Prepared Home?
It’s a designation from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) for homes hardened against wildfire — the embers and flame contact that ignite most homes in a wildfire. It’s owner-driven: you choose to pursue it, the work gets done, and a third-party evaluator documents that your home meets the standard.
Our role is clear and worth stating plainly: IBHS issues the designation — we don’t. PRQ is your pre-designation coach. We walk your home against the checklist, tell you exactly where you stand, scope the work to close the gaps, and get you ready for the evaluation. We never grade our own work.
Base and Plus
The core ember-resistance standard — roof, gutters, vents, and the five-foot noncombustible zone right around the home, where most ignitions start.
Base plus a broader defensible-space and materials standard for homes in higher-exposure settings — the more comprehensive level.
Which level fits depends on your home and its surroundings — the assessment recommends the right target.
Wildfire Prepared Home vs. FORTIFIED
Both are IBHS programs — for different hazards. Don’t confuse them, and don’t assume one covers the other.
Hardens against wildfire — embers, flame contact, and the near-home ignition zone.
Hardens the roof against wind, hurricanes, and hail — a different failure mode.
In Colorado’s foothills, many homes benefit from both — and one assessment can scope them together.
Not sure where your home stands against the checklist?
A Fire Resiliency Inspection walks your home against the Wildfire Prepared Home checklist and scopes exactly what it takes to earn the designation.
In Boulder County?
Boulder County has its own locally recognized path — the Wildfire Partnersprogram, which issues a mitigation certificate. If you’re in the county, we’ll scope your work against whichever path fits your goals, whether that’s IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home, Wildfire Partners, or both.
Common questions
- What is IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home?
- It's a designation from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) for homes hardened against wildfire embers and exposure. It comes in two levels — Base and Plus — and is owner-driven: you choose to pursue it, complete the work, and a third-party evaluator documents that the home meets the standard.
- How is it different from FORTIFIED?
- They're two different IBHS programs for two different hazards. FORTIFIED hardens a roof against wind, hurricanes, and hail. Wildfire Prepared Home hardens against wildfire embers and flame contact. A home in Colorado's foothills often benefits from both — and a single assessment can scope them together.
- What does PRQ do — do you issue the designation?
- No. IBHS's evaluator issues the designation; we never grade our own work. PRQ is your pre-designation coach: we walk your property against the Wildfire Prepared Home checklist, tell you exactly where you stand, scope the work to close the gaps, and prepare you for the evaluation.
- Why pursue it?
- Beyond real risk reduction, some carriers now look for wildfire certification to write or keep a policy in high-risk zones — so it can be about insurability, not just peace of mind. We frame it insurability-first and never promise a specific discount.
- Is there another recognized path in Boulder County?
- Yes. In Boulder County, the Wildfire Partners program is a locally recognized path to a mitigation certificate. If you're in that county, we can scope your work against whichever path fits your situation.
Keep going
This page is general information, not legal, insurance, or financial advice, and not an IBHS designation. IBHS issues the Wildfire Prepared Home designation through its own evaluator; PRQ provides pre-designation assessment and the hardening work. Program requirements and carrier practices vary and may change — confirm the current details with IBHS, your jurisdiction, and your insurer.