What do bushfire consultants do when you’re planning to build or renovate in a bushfire prone area?

And what do BAL Ratings (or Bushfire Attack Level Ratings) and AS 3959 mean for your new build or renovation project?

Bushfire Consultants are an essential team member when building or renovating in a bushfire prone area.

Meet Jeff Dau, Bushfire Consultant from Ember Bushfire Consulting, to learn more.

EMBER Bushfire Consulting are a team of qualified, accredited and experienced fire industry professionals.

They take great pride in delivering professional consulting services in a personalised, cost effective and service oriented manner.

Their work is provided at the highest industry standard and they are all accredited Bushfire Consultants under the Fire Protection Association of Australia accreditation scheme.

Co-Founder, Jeff Dau, has had over 23 years of experience as a professional in the fire services industry.

Over recent years, this has been in a range of fire safety fields including fire safety engineering, bushfire protection, building certification and regulation and urban planning.

Jeff shares some really helpful info, including understanding more about Bushfire Attack Level, or BAL Ratings; what to know about Asset Protection Zones, and more details about AS3959, the Australian Standards for Construction in Bushfire Prone Areas … plus loads more.

In this episode, I ask Jeff questions such as:

• What led him to doing this type of work?

• When and why a bushfire consultant gets involved when someone is renovating or building?

• If you’ve discovered you have some type of bushfire overlay or zoning on your property, what do you need to do then?

• What is a BAL Rating – or Bushfire Attack Level Rating? What are the factors that mater, and how does slope impact the spread of fire on your property?

• What is an Asset Protection Zone – or APZ – and how can it impact your BAL Rating and bushfire strategy overall?

• How does Australian Standard AS3959 factor into building in bushfire prone areas, and how does it relate to BAL Ratings overall? How do the two ‘talk’ to each other or interact?

Ember takes a “whole of life” approach, offering consulting services for all stages of development.

This includes doing bushfire assessments, as well as pre-purchase advice, and larger scale advice for developments and subdivisions.

Ember services local government areas across the Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, Snowy Mountains, South West Slopes and South Coast in NSW.

Many of these areas have been heavily impacted by the Black Summer fires in Australia.

And so I’m really looking forward to talking with Jeff about how homeowners in bushfire prone areas can build homes that are more resistant and resilient to bushfire events, and what we’ve seen in these bushfires that can help us build better in the future.

So, let’s hear more from Jeff Dau.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

Jeff Dau, Ember Bushfire Consulting
Website >> https://www.bushfireassessor.com.au/
Fire Protection Association Australia (to find an accredited Bushfire Consultant in your area) >>
Website >> http://www.fpaa.com.au/
Australian Standard for Construction in Bushfire Prone Areas
AS3959 PDF Download (available free) >>> https://infostore.saiglobal.com/en-au/standards/as-3959-2018-122340_saig_as_as_2685241/