We got some great news on the bushfire zoning requirements from Eric recently... They introduced a lot of new rules after the horrible fires in 2009 which we thought might cause us problems. It turns out it will be a bit restrictive but nowhere as bad as we feared.
Here's Eric's notes:
According to the site diagram that you sent, the bushfire attack level would be 12.5 which is pretty easy to manage. I can itemize compliance issues with a table on the "general notes" page.
Most of the items can be covered with simple detailing. Several will require a bit more thought.
Cladding needs to be either:
- 6mm cement sheet, or
- a timber species listed in appendix E1 which includes Silvertop Ash that I often use.
http://www.radialtimbers.com.au/zproducts.htm
Windows that are less than 400mm from ground or deck level need to have toughened glass. Also they need to have either:
- bushfire shutters, or
- metal window/door frames, or
- timber frames made with wood from table E2.
You may need to check timber species from window suppliers, or else use the hybrid metal outside and timber inside windows.
Miglas does a nice window, and the timber species might comply. They don't do traditional double hung windows, though. http://www.miglas.com.au/top/home/
Decking needs to be either:
- non-combustable
- a timber species listed in appendix E1 which includes Silvertop Ash
In a nut shell, it all looks manageable to me without any drastic changes. You might need a few slightly more "modern" finishes than we've been thinking of, but not many.
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