Your patio cover or deck might be in a bushfire zone… so what next?

You can see the bush from your back door or you’ve heard from ‘Bill’ down the road, who thinks that the street might be classed as being within a bushfire zone – so what now?

The bushfire zone & processing can all be a little confusing at first, especially if you haven’t tackled it before; but relax, there IS a way through it.

Building even in the highest level bushfire zone doesn’t stop you from building, it just impacts & limits what your material options are.

Have a look at this outdoor living, deck & patio cover we created at West Pymble. This construction actually ticked pretty much every box.

• Development Application through Ku-ring gai Council
• There is an easement running right under the deck
• The property is classed as BAL FZ – to put it simply that means we couldn’t use any timber within the construction

So can you tell? Does the finished result look so far different from what you had in your mind? Being classed as a BAL Flame Zone (FZ) doesn’t mean the end of your outdoor living dream.

To learn more about this particular deck/patio cover outdoor living area in West Pymble, click through here to go through the case study.

Essentially there are 3 first steps that you need to take to find out IF you are in a BAL zone & if you are, what zone you actually are in.

Step One – Confirm if you are in bushfire-prone land

This can be done quickly & for free in a number of ways.

If you have recently bought the home, dig out all of your paperwork/contract of sale, etc & look for a council document titled ‘149 (2)(5) Certificate’. This will have a section that advises if you are located in bushfire-prone land.

Alternatively, check online via the NSW Rural Fire Service website. Just plug in your street address & it will come up a yeah or a neah. Easy; however & remember that this only steps one.

Step Two – Confirm your BAL Zone

Huh?? What’s a BAL Zone I hear you ask? This is the biggest piece in the puzzle & without this, we really don’t know where we are heading.

For instance, it might be obvious that you are in a BAL Zone, but there might be a house between you & the bush, so the level could be either BAL 29 or BAL 40.

In terms of construction, this could be the difference between timber vs no timber for your deck or being able to use light panels or not within your patio cover. So this changes the aesthetics, feel materials & cost of your project.

BAL = Bushfire Attack Level & it is a calculation based upon the amount of radiant heat which may affect your property. The higher the level of radiant heat, the more protection you will need when you construct.

So what are the BAL zones? Have a look at the table below. BAL LOW is the lowest bushfire risk & BAL FZ is the highest.

BAL	Description of the risk
BAL LOW	Lowest risk form a potential fire
BAL 12.5	Risk is primarily from potential embers during a fire
BAL 19	Moderate Risk
BAL 29	High Risk
BAL 40	Very High Risk
BAL FZ	Extreme Risk

Your BAL Zone is determined by a number of factors where you live including, the vegetation surrounding you, the distance of this vegetation from your home & the slope of the land.

Whether you are planning the construction via a Development Application through your local council or via  CDC (Complying Development Certificate) through a PCA you will require a written BAL report.

Some Local Councils can provide this service or even local private bushfire consultants are available as well. If you are putting it into the too-hard basket, we are here to obtain this report for you, so don’t stress.

Step Three – Material & Design Selection

You have now found out your BAL zone, so you can understand what material options are available to you & get the best design for your outdoor living area. This blog will help you understand your design options.

Essentially, the higher the BAL level, the greater the risk, thus the more limitations there are on the materials you can select for your patio cover or deck outdoor living area.

We’ve created the tables below to try & keep it simple & clear to understand – however, keep in mind that this is very generalized & you will need to seek further advice prior to proceeding with any construction.

Patio Covers:

BAL	Material Options
BAL LOW	Lowest risk form a potential fire
BAL 12.5	All four roofing options are an option & yes you can include natural lite panels
BAL 19	Roofing must be non combustible. Options available/include: ‘Premium Series’ Colorbond – no natural lite strips Insulated patio cover material Lined ceiling
BAL 29	As per BAL 19 detailed above – last opportunity to include natural light srips within the ‘Premium Series’ Colorbond & Insulated materials.
BAL 40	No timber framing ‘Velux’ skylights are still an option here where you are looking at a lined ceiling option. Last opportunity to use Insulated materials, however, no natural skylights are an option
BAL FZ	Options available are: ‘Premium Series’ Colorbond – no natural lite strips Lined ceiling but not in timber – no skylights ‘Eclipse’ Opening/Closing louvers

Decks:

BAL	Material Options
BAL LOW	Easy. No special construction requirements!
BAL 12.5	Hardwood decking is available Framing can still be treated pine
BAL 19	This is where it can get a little tricky….. There are no requirements for decking materials IF: The decking is more than 300mm (measured horizontally at deck level) from glazed elements (ie a window or glass door) that are less than 400mm (measured vertically) from the surface of the deck. In other words, if you have a window or door on the deck, that’s when you will need to consider a non-combustible material or bushfire resisting timber.
BAL 29	You can still use timber however it must be ‘bushfire-resisting’ timber or a non-combustible material. For framing, we move to our ‘Colorspan Exterior Flooring System’
BAL 40	No timber Tiles or aluminum decking boards Framing: ‘Colorspan Exterior Flooring System’
BAL FZ	As per BAL 40 detailed above

Would you like some help?

Let’s chat about your project & see what we can do to bring your outdoor living area to life.

Reach out to us HERE