If you are building within 100m of natural bushland, you will need to ensure your house is protected against damage from brushfires. Recent changes to Australian Building codes now require every house within a bushfire prone area to be assessed for the potential risk of damage from brushfires. The Australian Standard AS3959 ‘Construction of buildings in bushfire prone area’, covers the assessment requirements and building amendments that may be required if your house is assessed as vulnerable to bushfire.
If you are building near bushland then you will need to submit a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) report to your local council with your building plans. Essentially there are 6 level of treat based on your homes proximity to the vegetation, the vegetation type and the slope of the land under that vegetation. The treat levels range from BAL-LOW, meaning no changes are required to your building, to BAL-FZ (Flame Zone), meaning significant building amendments are required to make your home safe.
We can prepare a BAL report for you property and guide you on what amendments (if any) are required to ensure your house meets the Australian Standard and is safe from brushfires. Our service is very cost effective so contact us today to enquire about how we can help you.