The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has released for public comment a draft national standard for the design and construction of private bushfire shelters.
"The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission identified that there were no national regulations addressing the design and construction of bushfire shelters and it recommended that a technical standard be developed," says ABCB chairman, Graham Huxley.
"The purpose of this document is to provide a platform for future decision making in regard to the regulation of private bushfire shelters."
The standard will enable building designers and approval authorities to make informed professional judgements regarding the most appropriate means of mitigating life safety risk by the use of private shelters during the passage of a bushfire.
Huxley advised that once the draft technical standard was completed, the Board would determine the scope of new technical provisions to be included in the 2011 edition of the Building Code of Australia.
"If state and territory governments wish to independently introduce new regulations for private bushfire shelters prior to 2011 they can use the document to develop their own regulations as an interim measure," he said.
