New building regulations to improve bushfire safety
09 Sep 2011The Building Amendment (Bushfire Construction) Regulations 2011 came into effect on 8 September and replace interim regulations which were put in place following the February 2009 bushfires.
Key features of the new building regulations
The new building regulations have three key features:
1. Minister for Planning now determines designated bushfire prone areas
Following the Black Saturday bushfires the whole of Victoria was declared a bushfire prone area. Under the new Regulations, the Minister for Planning has designated bushfire prone areas across the State for the purposes of the building control system.
This means that only those landowners or developers seeking to build new homes in designated bushfire prone areas will need to undertake a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) assessment to determine the specific construction requirements for their homes.
2. Apply a minimum construction requirement in bushfire prone areas
Under the new Regulations all new homes in bushfire prone areas are required to be built to a minimum BAL 12.5 providing some level of ember protection as recommended by the Victoria Bushfire Royal Commission. Ember attack is the predominant bushfire attack mechanism and most houses that are burnt in a bushfire are burnt because of ember attack.
3. Retain the integration of the planning and building system
The new Regulations retain the integration of the planning and building system introduced in March 2010 by continuing the requirement for building surveyors to accept a BAL assessment obtained in the planning system.
What are Bushfire Prone Areas?
Bushfire prone areas are areas that are subject to or likely to be subject to bushfires.
The Minister for Planning has determined that specific areas are designated bushfire prone areas for the purposes of the building control system. This means that specific bushfire construction requirements apply.
Victoria is one of the most bushfire prone areas in the world. It is therefore no surprise that the majority of the state is covered by designated bushfire prone areas. However the highly populated metropolitan areas are excluded due to a low bushfire risk.
The municipal areas of Melbourne, Yarra, Maribyrnong, Moonee Valley, Darebin, Boroondara, Stonnington, Glen Eira, Moreland, Port Phillip and Bayside do not have any designated bushfire prone areas.
View maps of bushfire prone areas for each local government area
More information about planning and building for bushfire protection
Copies of the Building Act and Building Regulations are available from www.legislation.vic.gov.au