Draft National Standards for Fire Bunkers Released
The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) has released for public comment a draft national standard for private fire bunkers on 25th January, 2010.This was announced by the ABCB chairman Graham Huxley. He told that the development of this technical standard was a significant step towards the future regulation of private bushfire shelters. The Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission had earlier recommended a national standard for the design and construction of bushfire bunkers.
This uniform standard will be helpful for the building designers and approval authorities to make professional judgments in respect of the technical and safety aspects of the fire bunkers and fire shelters. The finally approved standards would be included in the building codes of Australia in its 2011 edition.
If state and territory governments wish to develop their own regulations prior to 2011 they could use the draft to make their own standards as an interim measure.
Mr. Graham Huxley however warned that extreme caution should be taken when using fire shelters and misplaced reliance could be life threatening.
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