During the 2025 legislative session, the Legislature asked the commissioner to review and evaluate the efficacy of current property protection class rating methodologies and to study the feasibility of modernizing community property classification rating schedules to more accurately reflect the fire protection risk and available mitigations for a specific property.
Report findings and recommendations
Our review shows that Washington would benefit from a more modern, performance‑based approach to measuring fire‑protection capabilities. We’re recommending updates that make the system clearer, more transparent, and better aligned with current risks.
Read the property protection classification standards report (PDF 1.37MB)
About the study
A property protection classification score is produced to evaluate a local community’s ability to suppress structure fires and is often used by property insurance companies to evaluate the property’s risk and to assign a rate factor for fire loss. The classification is developed by the Washington Rating & Survey Bureau and filed with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC).
The commissioner will be working with Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell & Associates to conduct the study.
The study will:
- Evaluate the current property protection classification rating schedule.
- Research and assess any alternative methods for a property protection classification rating schedule.
- Assess the feasibility of deploying an alternative method for a property protection classification, including a cost-benefit analysis of technical approach options for operationalizing.