AFAC CEO - Opinion Piece from the Melbourne Herald Sun

By Naomi Brown
CEO
Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC)

As the urgency and scale of the rebuilding effort becomes ever more pressing it is commendable that the Victorian Government has moved fast in an effort to introduce tougher standards for building in bushfire prone areas in Victoria.

AFAC does not oppose the interim building standard to be introduced this week but cautions that the interim Standard should be withdrawn when a more robust national standard is introduced.

Continuing to use the current Standard for Building in Bushfire Prone Areas (AS3959) is not suitable as it is simply too weak to provide the appropriate level of protection for those living in the bush. As the peak body representing all of Australia’s and New Zealand’s firefighting and land management agencies AFAC is strongly of the view that there are serious flaws in the proposed new draft of the Standard.

AFAC is the only fire agency representative on the Standards Committee responsible for developing this national standard. For nearly a decade AFAC has been battling with the other Standards Committee representatives, which includes construction interests, to have fire safety as the guiding principle of this Standard. Yet year after year the argument has been distilled down to cost, with industry groups favoring less costly options that suite their commercial interests.

The most serious flaws relate to houses that are built in the flame zone - the area around a house that can be licked by flames from the surrounding burning bush land. You need a defendable space around the house so you can protect your property from ember attack and shelter inside as the fire front passes. A home is compromised by susceptibility to ember attack as well as exposure to radiant heat and flame; factors determined by its proximity to bushland.

The latest draft assumes that when a bushfire hits a house the average flame temperature is 1000 Kelvin, or 727degrees. A figure which is simply too low as it underestimates the temperatures at which a bushfire will hit a house, which at its peak could reach 1600 Kelvin (1327degrees). The Standard is used to make sure that all the materials on the exterior of the building won't fail when exposed to fire attack and needs to be higher.

Another concerning issue is what’s called “deemed to satisfy” provisions in the Standard. Put simply, these are provisions that state if your design can meet a set of criteria on paper then your house has meet the Standard. While suitable for many standards, AFAC believes “deemed to satisfy” provisions are an entirely inappropriate method for houses that are located within a flame zone. Any home that is being built in these areas (flame zone) will need an individual assessment and will need to be individually designed to the specific fire risks the property faces.

There are also no provisions for the ongoing maintenance of the design of a building over the course of its life. A substantial risk is posed by the construction of decks, pergolas and planting of trees which then alter the fire safety design aspects of a house. There is a need to maintain compliance to the Standard for the entire duration of a building’s life.

A more stringent standard will mean increased investment in design and construction of homes in bushfire areas. The key question residents need to ask themselves, and we as a community need to debate, is what price are we prepared to put on the safety of communities in these areas?

Our current Standard, which assesses economic cost as construction costs versus annual losses from fire, is failing to understand the true cost of these disasters on communities. The loss of life, the loss of loved ones the loss of community is immeasurable in dollar terms but they are the central part of the equation.




AFAC CEO Naomi Brown