With the bushfire season fast approaching, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has developed a guide to help people understand the bushfire risk to their homes and surrounds.
Leader of the Bushfire Adaptation team at the CSIRO, Justin Leonard said the online Bushfire Best Practice Guide provided a range of advice on building and retrofitting to improve the bushfire resilience of Australian homes and gardens.
“It can be difficult to work out the best ways to build while navigating building and planning regulations that are focused on what the minimum requirements are to be allowed to build,” Mr Leonard said.
“Often bushfire building design and landscaping are considered separately when, in fact, there are so many opportunities to have them complement each other,” he said.
“The Guide applies bushfire risk management advice for residential building and landscape design.”
Mr Leonard said the Guide would help homeowners understand that bushfires were a natural part of the Australian landscape; how bushfires interacted with homes and gardens; how to use principles of design to reduce bushfire risks; how to improve on existing bushfire regulatory controls; and how to build or retrofit a house or garden to reduce risk.
He said the Guide was applicable for homeowners across Australia and also included specific additional advice based on regulations for Victorian homeowners.
Mr Leonard said the Guide was developed in collaboration with The University of Melbourne and the Victorian Country Fire Authority.
The CSIRO’s online Guide can be viewed at this PS News link.
