Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 19, 2013 4:10 pm I have just sold my house and am now looking into building a new house. I have found a 1 acre bush block that I would love to build on. I am just wondering if anyone has any advice on approx costs of added costs for both bush fire ratings and clearing some of the block? It is mainly small trees and dense scrub. Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance Re: Bush block advice vic 2Jan 20, 2013 2:49 am I've recently started researching bushfire compliance as we bought a block with the highest rating - BAL FZ - without realizing what that meant. You can get an expert (bushfire certifier?) to check your block of land & advise you even before you buy it. There are plenty of articles online which summerize the standard & tell you how to do a simple calculation of what the bushfire rating would be on the property in question. Determining the additional cost obviously depends on so many factors including design & size, even state, so no one can tell you upfront. I've had one builder estimate that Flame Zone compliance could add $50 to $80,000. Being in NSW, we can actually get away with a cheaper option for our FZ doors & windows, than you in VIC. I think there's a huge difference b/n BAL 40 & BAL FZ. FZ may be twice the cost - so if it's rated FZ, don't buy it unless you REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE it & have a big budget! Other disadvantages of FZ, apart from cost: At least 1/2 the project builders I contacted said they simply won't build on FZ (& many hadn't even heard of FZ - they thought 40 was the highest). You can't do the quick DA option - the 10 day compliance certificate or whatever - full DA is necessary. You are restricted in choices - for example, it may be a NSW thing only but we can't have ANY timber externally - including the fence! So I can't have the beautiful timber door I want, no timber window frames, no timber deck or railings etc. SIP's may not be allowed. I read that many homes in VIC actually caught fire because the gas tanks blew from the heat, so although it's permissible, I've decided to not get gas tanks so gas heating is not an option for us. I'm not saying I regret buying the land we did, but if we'd bought the house 4 doors up (not that it was for sale), we'd still back bush but have a BAL 40 or less rating instead of FZ. Re: Bush block advice vic 5Feb 27, 2013 3:47 am My advice is avoid BAL FZ. BAL 40 is not too bad, but find out what the costs will be first for your particular design. It might be more than you want to pay. My last two BAL 40s likely work out at $30000 more than if it was BAL 12.5 but having said that, one has to know why, and how, and how one could have saved quite a bit of money by the right design for economical building e.g. saving deck area. cheers Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 15692 I have posted this before: We hired Darbecca to do every stage inspection, and I strongly recommend them to anyone that asks me. They were amazing. Thorough reports… 2 4481 6 11133 |