BAL CERTIFICATES, BUSHFIRE REPORTS & ASSESSMENTS

The aim of this assessment is to help clients understand what they are facing before they start. Buying or building on or near bushfire prone land does have certain constraints in relation to land use, building design, construction materials and ultimately cost.

A pre-purchase or preliminary consultation can identify potential issues relating to bushfire risk before you start to sink money into the development.

This report, however, does not take the place of a full bushfire risk assessment which may still be required with the submission of a development application. Alternatively a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) Certificate may be required for complying development purposes.

A Bushfire Risk Assessment Report (s.4.14 EPA Act) is needed for new homes, granny flats, dual occupancy or alterations and additions to an existing dwelling in bushfire prone areas.

Bushfire Risk Consultants provide comprehensive bushfire reports for your Development Application (DA) to Council. Having extensive experience, environmental and bushfire qualifications, we work closely with you, to achieve your dream of living amongst the trees.

Your report will include what you need to do to for your dream development to be realised. By engaging Bushfire Risk Consultants in the early planning stages, you will achieve greater peace of mind, increased approval success, potentially reducing BAL rating and building costs, planning restrictions and costly delays.

Bushfire Risk Assessment Reports are required for large and small scale sub-divisions, boundary adjustments, sub-dividing dual-occupancies and special fire protection purpose developments (SFPP) in rural, rural-residential and residential bushfire prone areas.

Bushfire Risk Consultants conduct comprehensive bushfire assessments for development applications against the NSW RFS document ‘Planning for Bushfire Protection’ 2019 and AS3959-2018. Under s.4.46 of the EPA Act 1979 in combination with s.100B of the NSW Rural Fires Act 1997, these developments require a Bushfire Safety Authority (BFSA) from the NSW RFS.

We work closely with our clients, balancing site constraints, the built and natural environmental requirements, and present a detailed report, outlining what you need to do to achieve compliance. We promise that our service, availability and advice will exceed your expectations. By engaging Bushfire Risk Consultants in the early planning stages will prevent costly delays, planning restrictions and potentially maximise development yield.

Alternative Solutions Reports are used if your development cannot comply with the acceptable solutions, or your site is heavily constrained, and a one-size-fits-all approach under the planning framework may not suffice.

Development applications of this type will require the submission of additional information to that as identified in the submission requirements for 100B (RF Act 1997) and s.4.14 (EPA Act 1979) developments.

Specialist alternate solutions may include site-specific fuel load assessments and complex calculations to determine potential fire behaviour, presented in a standalone ‘Bushfire Safety Engineering Brief’ or within a ‘Bushfire Risk Assessment Report’ for the DA.

Examples where alternate solutions may be required:

• Heavily constrained or flame zone sites with reduced APZ distances between the building location and hazard.
• Asset protection zones (APZ) on neighbouring land or steeply sloping sites.
• Sites where vegetation retention is a priority.
• Sites with one access road to a proposed dwelling more than 200m from a Council road.

The benefits of using alternate solutions may include the following:

• Reduced BAL rating and construction costs.
• Increased building material choices.
• Minimise vegetation clearing.
• Establish suitable property access for fire-fighting and evacuation purposes in remote areas.

A BAL certificate is a statement of the Level of Bushfire Attack for your land or development. It certifies that the development is not in the Flame Zone or BAL 40 as per Australian Standard (AS) 3959-2018.

This is a NSW legislative requirement if you are carrying out Complying Development on bushfire prone land. It must be prepared by experienced and trusted ‘BPAD Accredited Practitioners’ as Bushfire Risk Consultants are, recognised under current NSW planning legislation.

We determine the BAL rating to ensure that your development is undertaken in such a way that risk to people and property is minimised and to determine the appropriate level of construction required relative to the potential bush fire attack.

Bushfire Risk Consultants provide accurate bushfire assessments considering site-specific development requirements including provisions for access, water and utility services, siting and design in order to achieve compliance outlined in NSW RFS document ‘Planning for Bushfire Protection 2019 and the requirements of the SEPP Code.