F101 General — 2025 California Fire Code
California Fire Code (Title 24, Part 9) · 2025 edition · updated 2026-09-25 · California
CBSC: official editions, supplements and errata
Italicized text is a California amendment to the model code, as printed in the official publication.
Cite as: 2025 California Fire Code (Title 24, Part 9) § F101 · Effective January 1, 2026 · Official source: Building Standards Commission
F101.1 Scope.¶
Assignment of levels of hazards to be applied to specific hazard classes as required by NFPA 704 shall be in accordance with this appendix. The appendix is based on application of the degrees of hazard as defined in NFPA 704 arranged by hazard class as for specific categories defined in Chapter 2 of the California Fire Code and used throughout.
F101.2 General.¶
The hazard rankings shown in Table F101.2 have been established by using guidelines found within NFPA 704. As noted in Section 4.2 of NFPA 704, there could be specific reasons to alter the degree of hazard assigned to a specific material; for example, ignition temperature, flammable range or susceptibility of a container to rupture by an internal combustion explosion or to metal failure while under pressure or because of heat from external fire. As a result, the degree of hazard assigned for the same material can vary when assessed by different people of equal competence.
The hazard rankings assigned to each class represent reasonable minimum hazard levels for a given class based on the use of criteria established by NFPA 704. Specific cases of use or storage may dictate the use of higher degrees of hazard in certain cases.
TABLE F101.2—FIREFIGHTER WARNING PLACARD DESIGNATIONS BASED ON HAZARD CLASSIFICATION CATEGORIES
| HAZARD CATEGORY | DESIGNATION |
|---|---|
| Combustible liquid II | F2 |
| Combustible liquid IIIA | F2 |
| Combustible liquid IIIB | F1 |
| Combustible dust | F3 or F2a |
| Combustible fiber | F3 |
| Cryogenic flammable | F4, H3 |
| Cryogenic oxidizing | OX, H3 |
| Explosive | R4 |
| Flammable solid | F2 |
| Flammable gas (gaseous) | F4 |
| Flammable gas (liquefied) | F4 |
| Flammable liquid IA | F4 |
| Flammable liquid IB | F3 |
| Flammable liquid IC | F3 |
| Organic peroxide, UD | R4 |
| Organic peroxide I | F4, R3 |
| Organic peroxide II | F3, R3 |
| Organic peroxide III | F2, R2 |
| Organic peroxide IV | F1, R1 |
| Organic peroxide V | None |
| Oxidizing gas (gaseous) | OX |
| Oxidizing gas (liquefied) | OX |
APPENDIX F—HAZARD RANKING
TABLE F101.2—FIREFIGHTER WARNING PLACARD DESIGNATIONS BASED ON HAZARD CLASSIFICATION CATEGORIES—continued
| HAZARD CATEGORY | DESIGNATION |
|---|---|
| Oxidizer 4 | OX4 |
| Oxidizer 3 | OX3 |
| Oxidizer 2 | OX2 |
| Oxidizer 1 | OX1 |
| Pyrophoric gases | F4 |
| Pyrophoric solids, liquids | F3 |
| Unstable reactive 4D | R4 |
| Unstable reactive 3D | R4 |
| Unstable reactive 3N | R2 |
| Unstable reactive 2 | R2 |
| Unstable reactive 1 | None |
| Water reactive 3 | W3 |
| Water reactive 2 | W2 |
| Corrosive | H3, COR |
| Toxic | H3 |
| Highly toxic | H4 |
| a. F3 = Finely divided solids, typically less than 75 micrometers (μm) (200 mesh), that pose an elevated risk of forming an ignitable dust cloud, such as finely divided sulfur,the California Electrical Code Group E dusts (for example, aluminum, zirconium and titanium) and bisphenol A. F2 = Finely divided solids less than 420μm (40 mesh) that pose an ordinary risk of forming an ignitable dust cloud. F—Flammable category. R—Reactive category. H—Health category. W—Special hazard: water reactive. OX—Special hazard: oxidizing properties. COR—Corrosive. UD—Unclassified detonable material. 4D—Class 4 detonable material. 3D—Class 3 detonable material. 3N—Class 3 nondetonable material. |
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