Did you know, after the 2009 Black Saturday, many rural properties became substantially more expensive to build or renovate? The Australia Standard for bushfire construction was dramatically rewritten to reduce the threat of bushfire in the community. Many properties were no longer financially viable to build or renovate due to high additional construction costs to meet new regulations. This not only applied to rural settings, many Melbourne suburbs with close proximity to the outer fringes were also designated as bushfire prone areas.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean a rural lifestyle is no longer possible, it just requires careful consideration of the site and its potential bushfire threat. Aaron Neighbour from Atlas Architects, has substantial experience in dealing with the Australian Standard for bushfire construction, and provides 3 tips to consider when buying a property in the rural area.
1. Check the site
If your site is in a designated bushfire prone area or has a bushfire management overlay, any building work will require a Bushfire Attack Level assessment (also known as BAL). A Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) is a rating on how prone your site is to the threat of bushfire and determines the appropriate building materials that can be used on the land development.
How to determine if your site is bush fire prone and at what level? You can follow these steps:
Step 1: A quick visit to land.vic.gov.au will tell you whether your potential property is in a designated bushfire prone area or a bushfire management overlay. Alternatively, can call your local council to purchase a detail copy of your Property Information Report.
Step 2: Once you know the property is in a bushfire prone area, you will need to determine the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) as this level will widely vary the construction requirements.
There are 6 BAL classifications (LOW, 12.5, 19, 29, 40 & FZ), with LOW being the least restrictive and FZ (flame zone) the most. You will need to engage a Bushfire Consultant or Building Inspector to carry out the assessment. The site is assessed on the type of surrounding vegetation and its proximity to the house, along with the direction and slope of the site.
Source: www.vba.vic.gov.au
2. Material specification
The BAL level will determine the appropriate construction material for your building. It is important to accommodate these requirements early in the design process, as it may not be possible to retrospectively apply these measures.
In the most extreme level BAL FZ, some of the essential building material are:
Walls: non-combustible wall cladding (i.e. masonry, concrete)
Roofs: non-combustible roof covering (i.e. metal sheet roofing)
Windows and doors: bushfire shutters to window and door openings
While building in comparison a BAL LOW will have no special construction requirements, meaning conventional lightweight building materials can be applied.
The Victorian Building Authority has extensive resources regarding building in bushfire prone area. Click on this link to access ‘A guide to building in Victoria after bushfire’ and other bushfire related resources.
3. Cost management
Did you know, a typical four-bedroom home in a high risk bushfire area BAL FZ (the most extreme zone) can cost more than $100,000 extra than a standard home? A BAL of 12.5 or higher will incur additional building costs that must be considered when assessing a projects feasibility.
There are also associated costs to consider such as design and consultancy fees. Design work to meet BAL standards will require more time than that of a standard project.
From a design perspective, properties with a BAL of 19 or lower can achieve the Australian Standard requirement with relative ease. Properties with a BAL of 29 or higher will require substantial more design work and specification to achieve compliance.
Insurance prices may be substantially more than expected for homes in a bushfire prone area. It is important to ensure the amount of cover is adequate for not only rebuilding the home, but rebuilding it to comply with the current Australian Standard for bushfire construction.
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The above information is just the tip of the iceberg to help you started reviewing your property bushfire threats. Do you have any other tips or relevant experiences? Please leave a Facebook comment or shoot us an email at info@atlasarchitects.com.au to share your experiences. We’d love to hear from you!
