Why You May Require A Bushfire Assessment Before Renovating Your Home

If you are considering renovating your home or putting on an addition, you may need to undergo a bushfire risk assessment before you can get started. These assessments are required to determine the dangers from fire for proposed dwellings, and when you are making changes on your property, the local government might require a report. Even if the home has been there for years and you are just now renovating, you might need to have another one of these reports.

The bushfire assessment report is a document that you receive after you have undergone the Bushfire Attack Level assessment. It will include information including the site plan, dimensions, imagery, vegetation distances, and the BAL rating. This rating is used to provide an idea of how much risk your property faces from bushfires. The ratings go from low, where there is virtually no risk to risk of ember attack all the way to risk from flames from the bushfire.

Naturally, you want your home to score as low of a rating on the BAL as possible. If you have a higher rating, you might not be able to renovate. Of course, you can always take steps to mitigate your risk and lower your BAL rating. Doing some simple things like removing brush and vegetation around the property, changing up some of the building materials for fences, etc. can help.

You could then get a Bushfire Management Statement, which is a document that your local government might require to place the responsibility on the homeowner to maintain their property properly.

Get Help from the Professionals

When you need to have a bushfire assessment report, make sure you are working with a reputable company such as WA Fire & Safety. Get the help you need with the report, as well as a management plan to help to reduce the fire risk your property is facing. Lowering the BAL rating can make it easier for you to get permission to renovate your home. Take the time to find a company that can provide you with a free quote and that can provide you with the reports and help you need.