No idea except to say nearly every rental I've had and our house when we moved in has been a gas range with painted dry wall or plaster behind it. No fires... I'm sure there is relavent code though!

This is not advice and you need to consult your fire authority with jurisdiction. We had the GC take out the drywall and put in cement board Durock for above the counters (for tiling) and behind the gas range as Durock is noncombustible. I wasn't too concerned about the whole assembly of a fire wall because the other side is just around an open corner to a mud hall. Your situation may be different. We then tiled down 6 inches from the top of the range.

Re above -- again, refer to the manual about how high above (and to the sides) must be noncombustible.

We had to change plans for the range hood mid project planning when we bought a charbroiler instead of a griddle gas range. The charbroiler required 44 inches above. I didn't want a hood that high, so we switched to a SS hood.

Simply follow the manufacturer's installation instructions and quit worrying.

Joe - you're right, you're right I know you're right! I'm a worrier for sure.

We built our house after a house fire and several of the builders on the BAH forum told me that drywall was non-combustible because I worried so much about fire.

So, according to them...drywall is fine., until you are ready to tile.

It really must be discussed with your fire authority if you are concerned about passing any sort of inspection. The paper backing on drywall catches fire.

The only time I saw any safety concern was when I had a 36 inch bluest at range. IIRC backslash had to be tile/stainless. I did have the plumber move the gas shutoff valve to the base cabinet beside range. It was so heavy that if there were a fire, I wanted to be able to access gas shutoff. Most gas stoves have them behind the range.

All of the houses I've owned (approx 21) with freestanding/slide in gas ranges have had painted drywall behind range.

I put in cement board ( fire proof one). I also plan to tile 6" below the rangetop per the requirements.

I'm not sure if codes are very standard across jurisdictions, but a Seattle inspector told our GC that we're required to have non-combustibles for 30" above the cooktop of our 1940's O'Keefe & Merritt, citing this code provision.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think a drywall wall behind the range is considered just safe / unsafe and as is the same wall with tile over top. So, as long as the specs on the range are for distances from back / side walls and distance to cabinets are followed, you're OK.

We installed a 48” Thor 6 burner stove/grill combo with underneath double ovens and the backboard is drywall. I plan to use porcelain tile all the way up (stovetop requires 40” clearance to top of range hood) & 6” down the back toward the floor. Wondering if since this is an oven combo we need to proceed with tiling the remaining wall all the way down to the floor?