Contractor insurance in Bend and Central Oregon.

The City of Bend adopted Section R327 of the Oregon Residential Specialty Code on second reading April 15, 2026, effective May 15, 2026, for new residential permit applications from that date. Sisters and unincorporated Deschutes County already had it. Oregon repealed its statewide wildfire hazard map in 2025, and that repeal did not undo local R327 adoption (City of Bend).

Who this page is for

Contractors building in Bend, Redmond, Sisters and unincorporated Deschutes County, and contractors from the valley taking Central Oregon work for the first time. The CCB requirements travel with you. The building code does not, and as of this year Bend has its own.

What this page covers. Bend and the Central Oregon market, including Redmond, Sisters and La Pine. Wildfire code adoption differs between these jurisdictions, which is covered below.

Bend adopted the wildfire building code in May 2026

This is the most consequential change for Bend contractors in years, and it is recent enough that plenty of people are still working from the old understanding.

The Bend City Council adopted Section R327 of the Oregon Residential Specialty Code on second reading April 15, 2026. The requirements took effect May 15, 2026, and apply to new residential building permit applications submitted on or after that date.

What it covers, and what it does not:

• Applies to newly constructed dwellings and newly constructed accessory structures.
• Does not apply to additions or renovations of existing buildings.
• Requires noncombustible or ignition-resistant materials for exterior components: roofing, gutters, windows, vents and siding.
• Does not apply to buildings under the Structural Specialty Code, such as apartments and commercial buildings.

Bend was catching up to its neighbours rather than leading. R327 was already in effect in the City of Sisters and unincorporated Deschutes County, so the practical result is a consistent regional standard across most of Central Oregon.

And to clear up the confusion that comes up constantly: Oregon's statewide wildfire hazard map was repealed in 2025, and that repeal did not undo local R327 adoption. The map is gone. The locally adopted code is very much in force.

What R327 does to your exposure, not just your material list

Contractors read R327 as a specification change. It is also a liability change, and the second part gets less attention.

Ignition-resistant assemblies are prescriptive: specific materials, specific vent products, specific detailing. Work installed to the wrong spec on a permit issued after May 15 is defective work, and the defect surfaces during a wildfire event, when the failure is total and the loss is scrutinised closely.

That sits squarely in completed operations, the part of your general liability policy that answers for work after you have left the site. It is also why the CCB requires your certificate to state that products and completed operations coverage is included. In a jurisdiction that just adopted a prescriptive fire-hardening code, that line stops being paperwork.

Snow load, and the number that varies by building age

Structures built in Bend under permit are designed for a minimum roof snow load of 20 to 25 pounds per square foot. That is a range rather than a single figure, and it varies with the age of the structure, so older buildings may sit below current minimums. Manufactured homes were historically designed to a higher standard.

For contractors this matters in two directions. On new work, it is a design input. On remodels, additions and re-roofs of older Bend homes, you are attaching new work to a structure that may have been built to a lower standard, and the question of whose work failed after a heavy winter is exactly the kind of dispute completed operations coverage exists to handle. Verify the figure for your specific project with the building department rather than assuming.

Registering with the city, twice

Bend has two requirements that surprise contractors who assume the CCB is the whole story.

First, the City of Bend requires business registration for anyone conducting business activity within city limits, including businesses with no physical location in Bend. Working here from Redmond or Portland does not exempt you.

Second, Bend requires contractors to register with the city in order to be listed as contractor of record on permits. That is separate from your state CCB licence and separate from the business registration. If you are not registered, your permits stall.

Bend also levies a construction excise tax on building permits, which funds affordable housing, and was the first such tax adopted in Oregon. Confirm the current rate with the city before you price a job, because the rate structure has been revisited.

A market built on high-value custom homes

Deschutes County's population sits around 213,886, with the City of Bend around 107,079, per Portland State University's 2025 certified estimates. Deschutes added more residents than any Oregon county except Washington County over the year, which is a different claim from fastest-growing by rate; several smaller counties grew faster in percentage terms.

What matters for your coverage is not the headcount but the value per project. Bend's typical home value is in the low seven hundred thousands and has softened recently; check a current source before quoting a figure, because it moves monthly. High-value custom homes change the calculation in three specific ways:

• Completed operations limits. A defect claim on a $1.5 million custom home years after completion is not a small claim.
• Builders risk. On new custom construction the structure needs coverage during the build, and the limit should reflect the finished value, not the contract price alone.
• Subcontractor density. A busy custom-home market means heavy sub use, which raises additional insured obligations and makes your workers compensation audit far more sensitive to uninsured subs.

Questions worth asking before you build in Bend

• Was my permit application submitted on or after May 15, 2026, and does my scope meet R327?
• Does my certificate state that products and completed operations is included?
• Am I registered with the City of Bend as a business, and as a contractor of record?
• Is my builders risk limit set to finished value on custom work?
• Have I collected a current certificate from every subcontractor?
• What snow load was the existing structure designed to, and what am I attaching to it?