The Australian Building Codes Board has issued a draft technical standard for public comment on Private Bushfire Shelters.
We are advised that “the document has been developed as a performance-based standard, which will enable informed decisions to be made regarding the design and construction of private bushfire shelters”.
The Board has stated that “Development of this draft technical standard is an important step to providing a compliance pathway for building practitioners and manufacturers for the design and construction of private bushfire shelters. However, it is also important to remind the community that private bushfire shelters are not a stand alone measure against the hazards of bushfire and occupant life safety cannot be guaranteed.”
Significantly, the Board also advises that “The draft document is designated as ‘Part 1’ because it contains a Performance Requirement without a comprehensive ‘Deemed-to-Satisfy’ building solution. In time, it is intended that a Deemed-to-Satisfy building solution will be developed, which may then be designated as ‘Part 2′”.
The draft technical standard contains five sections being; Design Standards (Section 1), Design Requirements (Section 2), Design Considerations (Section 3), Acceptable Metrics (Section 4) and Ancillary Information (Section 5).
A copy of the standard is available here » …
The Board announcement is available here » …
Oops! the public consultation period opened 25 Jan 10 and then closed 8 Feb 10; it was so short that like WCCC, the ACT Government’s Zone newsletter even missed advising of its existence until it had closed.