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Bush Fire Attack Level FAQs
The bush fire construction requirements laid out in the Building Code of Australia apply to the following classes of residential buildings located in designated bush fire prone areas:
- Class 1a — A single dwelling being a detached house, or row houses, duplexes, town houses, terrace houses or villa units where attached dwellings are separated by a fire resisting wall.
- Class 1b — Includes the following:
boarding houses, guest houses, hostels or the like in which not more than 12 people would ordinarily be resident and with a total area of all floors not exceeding 300m²; or
four or more single dwellings located on one allotment and used for short-term holiday accommodation. - Class 2 — Dwellings, such as apartments and flats in a building containing two or more units.
- Class 3 — A residential building which is a common place of long-term or transient living for a number of unrelated persons, including:
- a boarding or lodging house, guest house, hostel, or backpackers accommodation;
- a residential part of a hotel or motel;
- a residential part of a school;
- accommodation for the aged, children or people with disabilities;
- a residential part of a health-care building which accommodates members of staff; or
- a residential part of a detention centre.
- Class 10a buildings and decks associated with Class 1a, Class 1b, Class 2 or Class 3 buildings. Class 10a buildings include non-habitable buildings such as garages, carports, sheds, or the like.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services have produced a Map of Bush Fire Prone Areas. Bushfire prone areas can be identified by their pink colour on the map. This provides a general overview of the homes that may be subject to additional Bush Fire requirements, however the final decision is reviewed and approved prior to the building permit being submitted by your builder.
You may be required to comply with additional bushfire building requirements if your building is either completely or partially located in a bushfire prone area. If part of the lot your building occupies is within a bushfire prone area but no part of your actual building falls within the area, you are not required to comply with these additional bushfire building requirements.
The list of designated bushfire prone areas is not static and is added to over time. In newly designated bushfire prone areas, the Building Regulations Act 2012 stipulates a four-month transition period before the bush fire construction requirements of the Building Code of Australia come into effect for certain residential properties. This four-month period begins on the date that an order from the Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner designating a new area as ‘bush fire’ prone becomes operative.
For example, if an area is designated as bushfire prone on 4 April 2023, the transition period will end on 4 August 2023. By this later date, compliance with the bush fire construction requirements is mandatory.
After the completion of the four-month transition period, building approval applications for certain residential buildings located in those newly designated areas will be required to comply with the bush fire construction requirements of the Building Code of Australia.
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