UNDERSTANDING BUSHFIRE COMPLIANT CONSTRUCTION - December 2009

Understanding bushfire compliant construction

The catastrophic events of Black Saturday on the 7 February 2009 have resulted in a number of revisions to building codes in Australia. A contributing factor to their implementation is an attempt to ensure the tragic loss of life and property experienced that day is never repeated.

To ensure new homes, alterations and additions are located and constructed with greater bushfire protection, the new Australian Standard AS 3959-2009 Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas now applies in Queensland, Victoria and ACT and will apply nationally in 2010.

Given the extent and the significance of these changes to the Australian Standards educating individuals and local communities will play an important role in bringing everyone up to speed with the new standards. To facilitate this education process Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia (CHH) has recently produced an electronic guide that helps explain the new standards in detail.

This electronic guide also details the extensive range of products offered by CHH that can be used to build Standard compliant floor, wall, deck and roof systems.

People may mistakenly believe that they have no option other than building with brick or steel if they are in a high risk area. This electronic guide demonstrates that timber is still a very viable option when it comes to achieving a BCA compliant home in a high bushfire risk area. Regardless of where you live, CHH wood products remain the natural solution for you.

One of the benefits of this document being produced in an electronic format is that it allows CHH to quickly update the guide whenever there are subsequent changes to the Standards in the future.

Should you have any technical questions in relation to this or CHH's range of bushfire compliant products please call our Timber Technical Expert on 1800 808 131 or E-mail.

Download a copy of A Guide to Bushfire Compliant Construction