Bushfire building standard hits public domain

The Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) chief executive for industry policy, Kristin Brookfield, has commented that the government initiative “will help thousands of people impacted by the recent bushfires move through the rebuilding process a little bit more smoothly”.

According to the HIA, Australian Standard 3959:2018 for “Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas” provides the technical design requirements for building homes in bushfire areas, along with criteria to assess a property’s bushfire risk.

Ms Brookfield said Standards Australia and the Commonwealth government are to be “commended” for this important funding agreement.

“We hope this one will reduce the red tape involved in designing and building a new home, which needs to meet these requirements,” she added.

For the chief executive, the agreement is “an important example of how Standards Australia are working with new licensing arrangements to ensure those who need to access Australian Standards can do so readily”.

Ms Brookfield said HIA is pleased to see open access being provided to the standard, noting that “the residential building industry relies heavily on these technical standards and contributes significant time and resources to support their development”.

HIA is a member of the Standards Council and the AS 3959 committee, which developed the standard, the chief executive said.