Every home in Victoria located in a designated bushfire prone area falls under one of six bushfire attack level categories.
Since the 2009 bushfires, new building standards apply within our designated bushfire prone areas. These new standards apply to:
- all new dwellings
- alterations or additions to existing residential buildings or structures.
To find out if your property is located in a bushfire prone area, access Vicplan’s free online interactive map.
If you wish to build on land within a designated bushfire prone area, you must get a bushfire attack level (BAL) assessment done. This will determine the level of protection that your buildings and structures must be designed to provide.
The building code only requires compliance with the minimum level of protection, but we encourage you to consider improved measures in your new home design.
The Victorian Government has introduced new regulations for the construction of private bushfire shelters and bunkers.
If you are buying or constructing a bushfire shelter, it must comply with the criteria set out in the regulations. You will need a building permit and may also need a planning permit.
Find out more about building private bushfire shelters at the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) website, or call the VBA on 1300 360 320.
Australian Standard (AS) 3959 specifies the construction requirements for buildings in bushfire prone areas. It aims to improve buildings’ resistance to bushfire attack, including from burning embers, radiant heat and flames.
However, most existing houses in bushfire prone areas pre-date the current building legislation and are unlikely to achieve the increased levels of bushfire protection required by AS3959.
Get some advice
The VBA and Country Fire Authority (CFA) have helpful advice for property owners wanting to upgrade their existing homes to be better protected from bushfires.
Find A Guide to Retrofit Your Home for Better Protection from a Bushfire on the VBA website.
Find out more from the CFA about retrofitting your home.
The current building regulations state that there must be a static water supply (such as a tank) onsite when a new house is built on a property:
- where a house was destroyed by the 2009 bushfires
- within a bushfire management overlay
- exempt from obtaining a town planning permit for construction of the new dwelling.
Property owners must also display appropriate signage to alert firefighters.
If you own a bushfire affected property, you can buy one of our water storage signs, ensuring compliance with this requirement of the building regulations.
How to purchase a sign
Our signs are double-sided to allow for placement in either direction. Each sign costs $48 (including GST) plus $12 postage.
To purchase one of our signs, visit our Building Services counter at our Civic Centre offices in South Morang, or call us on 03 9217 2170.