Is my block bush fire prone?
Written by Shea Cullen, architect, for Dudils.
Bush fire prone land in New South Wales is mapped by councils and certified by the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). Type an address and the Site Checker reads the RFS certified Bush Fire Prone Land map for your lot, your council's own copy where we can read it, and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service fire history, and shows each one separately. It tells you which category of the map your lot falls in. It does not give you a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL).
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Is my property bush fire prone?
If any part of your lot is on the certified bush fire prone land map, it is bush fire prone for planning purposes, and the Site Checker shows the category and the map it came from. Being mapped means a new house or a major addition has to meet Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2019 (PBP), the RFS standard for building on this land, and be built to the construction level its BAL calls for.
The strongest thing the report ever says the other way is that a lot is not on the bush fire prone land map. Each council's map is certified at a date and revised, usually every five years, a council's copy can be older or newer than the state layer, and the report shows the date of the version it read. Land just outside the mapped edge can still be reached by embers, and council can require bushfire measures under its DCP on land the map does not cover.
What do Category 1, 2, 3 and the vegetation buffer mean?
They describe the vegetation on or near the lot, not the risk to a particular house. Vegetation Category 1 is the highest risk group: forest, woodland, heath, forested wetland and timber plantation. Category 2 is rainforest and some smaller or managed patches of bush that the RFS mapping guide treats as lower risk. Category 3, added to the mapping guide in 2015, covers grassland, freshwater wetland, semi arid woodland, alpine complex and arid shrubland, and sits between the other two in risk.
The vegetation buffer is the land within 100 metres of Category 1 vegetation or within 30 metres of Category 2 or 3. A lot in the buffer is mapped because of the bush near it, not bush on it. There is no Category 4. In the RFS data the buffer is stored as category 0, which is why some sites print it that way.
What is my BAL rating?
The Site Checker cannot tell you, and no map can: a BAL is assessed for a particular building on a particular site. BAL stands for Bushfire Attack Level, defined in Australian Standard AS 3959, Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas. It rates how much ember attack, radiant heat and flame a building could face, and it decides the construction standard. There are six levels: BAL LOW, BAL 12.5, BAL 19, BAL 29, BAL 40 and BAL FZ (flame zone). The numbers are radiant heat in kilowatts per square metre.
A BAL is worked out under PBP 2019 from the type of vegetation near the building, the distance to it, the slope of the land under it and the fire weather for the area. It is assessed by an accredited bushfire consultant (the Fire Protection Association Australia lists BPAD accredited practitioners) or by council. The RFS Bush Fire Household Assessment Tool gives a free indicative reading, which is useful for early planning but is not a certificate.
What the Site Checker gives you instead is the map category, the map's date and the fire history, which tell you whether a BAL assessment will be needed and what vegetation it will be measured from. The category is not a BAL: two lots in the same category can be assessed levels apart, depending on distance and slope.
How much more does building in a bushfire area cost?
It depends almost entirely on the BAL, which is why builders price it after the assessment. At BAL 12.5 and BAL 19 the changes are mostly about keeping embers out: sealed gaps, mesh screens on openable windows and vents, and particular rules for decks, cladding and glazing. From BAL 29 the glazing, frames and external materials step up again. At BAL 40 and BAL FZ the walls, windows and roof need tested systems, and complying development is no longer available, so the design goes through council.
PBP 2019 also asks for an asset protection zone (managed land around the house), water for fire fighting and access for fire trucks, which take up land as well as money. I suggest asking your builder to price the house at the assessed BAL and at one level higher, since a change in the vegetation or a shift in the house's position can move it.
Can I still build a granny flat or use complying development on bush fire prone land?
Yes, on the lower levels. Complying development is allowed on bush fire prone land where the BAL is 29 or lower, provided a BAL certificate from an accredited consultant or council is obtained before the application and the design meets the bush fire standards in the code. At BAL 40 or BAL FZ it is not allowed, and a development application goes to council, which assesses it against PBP 2019 and can refer it to the RFS. The complying development page covers the other gates.
The last fire went nowhere near us. Why are we mapped?
Because the map is drawn from the vegetation that could carry a fire, not from where fires have burnt. Bush that has not burnt for decades can carry more fuel than bush burnt last spring. The Site Checker shows the National Parks and Wildlife Service fire history separately, naming the most recent recorded wildfire and prescribed burn over your lot with its season and size. A recorded fire is a mapped boundary, and no record does not mean fire has never reached the land.
Is my block bush fire prone? Check any NSW address, free.
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What else do people ask?
Is BAL LOW the same as not being on the map?
No. BAL LOW is an assessed level for a site on mapped land where the assessment finds the exposure too low to need specific construction under AS 3959. Land off the map is not normally assessed for a BAL at all.
Does the bush fire prone land map change?
Yes. Councils review their maps, usually every five years, and the RFS Commissioner certifies each new version. Land can join the map at a revision, so a map read today describes the version in force today.
Does being bush fire prone affect insurance?
It can. Insurers use their own bushfire models rather than the planning map, so ask for a quote on the actual address before you exchange contracts.
Which council bush fire maps does the Site Checker read?
For these councils the report reads the council's own copy of the certified map as well as the RFS map. Each page explains what that council publishes and how its map is dated.
Where does this information come from?
The Site Checker reads public maps. It is not a section 10.7 planning certificate, a flood certificate, a bushfire attack level assessment or a survey, and a map can be out of date for your lot. Confirm anything you rely on with council or the relevant authority before you buy, design or build. Nothing on this page replaces advice from your certifier, engineer, lawyer or your own designer.