Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 10Jul 15, 2012 8:06 am Hi. I am going to be building in flame zone in the next 6 months. Have been investigating options. It seems that there is more info available now than when this thread started. Also, shutters seem to have come down in price. Has anyone used these guys? http://www.bushfirerollershutters.com.au/ they seem very cheap compared to what I have read above. I think if I use bal40 windows and these shutters I should be OK for fz rating. Does this sound right? I am also looking at www.modakboard.com.au Anyone had experience with it? Apparently it comes in a timber veneer for decking. When I asked my local supplier for a sample of the decking he had never heard of it but is going too find out. I'll keep you posted! Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 11Jul 15, 2012 12:29 pm simon&jo Flatlined For anyone about to go through this process, do not pay for a bushfire report. You can do your own assessment and submit that into council with your plans. Check your council website for the paperwork - it's about 4 or 5 pages from memory and explains everything you need to do to determine what BAL rating you are. Completely agree. I also did our bushfire report. I researched the RFS website, background documents on the RFS website and guides to assessment. Luckily I also had a copy of a bushfire report done for a neighbour (which I didn't think was very impressive). So I knocked it up and it passed Council and the RFS no problems. The good thing about doing it myself is that I then had the knowledge to communicate with the builder. We are only BAL 12.5, but another client with our builder (Zen Homes) is in the Flame Zone and has all the requirements (special roofing, fire rated glass etc). That poster is Ryan 1977 and she would know more about requirements for Flame Zone than me. I don't think the costs were outrageous... SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 12Jul 16, 2012 2:02 am Hi, We are building in a Flame Zone, in the Hawkesbury area of outer Sydney. Our DA stipulates that all construction work must comply with section 9 (BAL FZ) Aus Standard AS3959- 2009. This standard is the minimum requirement. For those wondering how much extra meeting these requirements might cost I can tell you that the best (least expensive) option we found for roofing was Color steel Promatect 40 Bushfire roofing system. This is a board system which goes under the iron & totally covers the roof fascia & eaves with no gaps, then an insulation blanket with foil sarking on the top. This roof cost us about an extra $18k for a 2 storey house of approx 300m2, so a single storey house of the same size would be twice that I imagine. A photo of our house with this board can be seen on the Zen homes thread page 69 All our windows have to be 5mm toughened glass with steel screens to the opening windows. There is to be no exposed timber. All down pipes guttering etc must be metal, also have to have gutter guard. We did not have to have shutters on our windows or a sprinkler system, but this seems to have been an oversight by the council usually you must have at least one or the other. We also had to have 10,000 litres of water dedicated for fire fighting purposes. We are not on city water & had to have a 100,000 litre water tank (massive) I will submit this now as it is quite long and I don't want to lose what I have written so far. Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 13Jul 16, 2012 2:20 am Further to the above post I can't really say what the extra costs of the windows & screens were as they were included in our tender price from Zen Homes & not itemized. I could not say with any accuracy what the cost of shutters or sprinkler systems would be but we were told approx $10-$15k for a sprinkler set up for our size roof. If anybody knows of where to source a front entry door that meets FZ requirements please post on here, I would really like a timber or timber look door. We are hoping that a timber door with a steel screen security dooor will meet the standard but not sure. I don't want a prison door! Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 14Sep 20, 2012 5:16 pm Hi Ryan1977, all, Check our Paarhammer - they have windows and doors which have passed the FZ testing, and ironically are made of timber [ironbark hardwood]. Might want to check with your building certifier first that they are comfortable with you using a timber product [even though it meets the requirements, I've had feedback from the RFS that we still can't use timber - Go figure]. In terms of where we're at... we're still in council [since February this year] all due to some history on our block which we weren't aware of when purchasing it. Oh the joys of building. As an FYI on pricing... for those looking to build, to give you an idea on the difference between BAL40 and BALFZ, we had quotes done for our place:- BAL40 = $26K BALFZ = one quote for $180K, and another for $140K. Oh, and sprinkler systems are out of the question now... the RFS are becoming quite strict on this position. It just seems to be getting harder and harder these days. Can anyone dig me a bunker? Simon Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 15Sep 21, 2012 9:23 am Hi Simon, We are also building in FZ however we have designed our house so that most of the house 'shields' the rest. So we only have 1 side and a short section FZ and the rest has been down graded to BAL40. I assume you probably have your design already though! The standards do allow for use of timber externally assuming they are of certain timbers mainly red gum, black butt, ironbark etc that have practically zero combustability rating. Paarhammer use these i think, but they are beyond expensive! We have our planning through but are yet to get a price for the build, I am a bit nervous about this especially with your quotes above! I really just can't understand the price hike for FZ? Do you think most of it was in the windows? Can I ask what your external material for your build will be? Cheers, K Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 16Sep 21, 2012 10:05 am Those quotes for building in a fire zone are ridiculous, did they itemize the extra costs? I wonder if builders do not really know what they are in for & just quote a big figure to cover their arses. Ktotherose I am sure it is not the windows. Shutters can be expensive but usually would only be required on the side/s facing fire risk. Our front door situation was sorted, a BAL 40 door was acceptable as the front of the house was not facing the bush & was recessed. We built an FZ rated house (nearly finished) for approx $1100-$1200. per sq/m though we were not required to have shutters. For anyone interested we built with Zen Homes they are based in Glendenning NSW. Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 17Sep 21, 2012 10:12 am thats a great price! seems very reasonable for a flamezone ryan. I have heard that builders do up the price to cover their butts! Very unfair. I guess it is best to find a builder that is familiar with fire ratings and sympathetic. What windows did you end up useing Ryan? Re: Anyone built in the FLAME ZONE??!! 19Sep 21, 2012 10:15 am Ahh, that must be why your build was so cheap! The regs for windows are so strict now! Hi All It has been a few weeks since my last update. The build has been progressing well. No major issues to report. 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