The Building Code of Australia (BCA) nominates AS3959 -Construction of Buildings in bush fire prone areas as one means of complying with the performance requirements relating to new construction in bush fire prone areas.

Following the devastating bushfire in Victoria on 7 February 2009 priority was given finalizing the rewrite of the Standard and the updated edition AS3959-2009 was published on 10 March 2009. The Standard is primarily concerned with improving the ability of buildings in designated bushfire prone areas to better withstand attack from bushfires and providing a measure of protection for building occupants as well as the building.

The new AS3959-2009 incorporates a number of key changes to the Standard, including:

A method of determining the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) for a building site has been revised and now comprises 6 categories based on heat flux exposure thresholds. A detailed method to calculate the BAL category is contained within the Standard.

The revised AS3959-2009 also incorporates the test criteria developed exclusively for building materials and elements of construction in bushfire prone areas, namely; AS 1530.8.1 Test on elements of construction for buildings exposed to simulated bushfire attached (Part 8.1 radiant heat and small flaming source) covering BAL 12.5 to BAL 40 with AS1530.8.2 (8.2 Large flaming sources) applied BAL –FZ (Flame Zone).

With the publishing of AS3959-2009 PFPA will be working on the development of a new publication titled; Bushfire Handbook for Construction Products. The handbook will be available as a free download from this website.

PFPA recommends that anyone involved planning, design and construction in bushfire prone areas make themselves familiar with AS3959-2009. While state & territory planning and building legislation may vary between jurisdictions, reference to this new standard will be consistent.