Bradford Insulation (CSR) offers a new roof design guide to help homeowners understand better, the updated residential building standards introduced for bushfire protection. The Bradford Insulation roofing design guide will help homeowners make informed choices about products suitable for use in bushfire prone areas.

Following the tragic events of the Victorian bushfires in 2009, the Australian government introduced new residential building standards, which require each new house to undergo a Bush Attack Level (BAL) assessment. The four levels of risk of bushfire attack (Low, Medium, High and Extreme) in Australian Standard 3959 have now increased to six levels described as Bushfire Attack Levels (BALs).The assessment is aimed at making sure all new houses being constructed are using methods that contribute to better protection for properties prone to bushfires.

To ensure new homes, alterations and additions are located and constructed with greater bushfire protection, the new Australian Standard, AS 3959–2009 Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas, now applies across Australia. The BAL takes into account a number of considerations such as the Fire Danger Index, the slope of the land, types of surrounding vegetation and their proximity to any building.

The complexity of the assessment has led Bradford Insulation to put together a design guide to help homeowners understand these requirements and specifically, how they can meet them through Bradford Insulation products.

The up-to-date design guide will offer better understanding of: What the BAL zones mean; What roofing systems are required for each BAL zone; How to best select a compliant roofing system for a project; Bradford insulation products for bushfire roofing systems; Information on Edmonds Maestro BAL power roof ventilator; the importance of roof ventilation in bushfire prone areas; and how to best treat condensation issues in BAL zone cold climates.

Bradford Insulation has endeavoured to explain the new building standards in relation to roof systems in a very simplified way.

All Bradford Insulation products are manufactured in Australia under ISO 9001 quality systems and comply with AS 4859.1 ‘Materials for the Thermal insulation of Builders’ as independently tested.