Quick decision on fire bunkers from Bushfires Royal Commission?

With the latest Bushfires Royal Commission focus on Fire Bunkers, it looks like we are finally going to get the much needed standards and regulations on Fire Bunkers and Fire Shelters.

There are too many backyard amateur Fire Bunkers out there that can easily be death traps, said Craig Morrison from Fire Proof Shelters, Australia’s leading Fire Bunker Designer and manufacturer!

Here is an excerpt from the latest Bushfires Royal Commission recommendations.

Dewi Cooke
September 22, 2009 – 12:00AM

VICTORIANS could soon have access to the first regulations for fire bunkers after a decision by the Bushfires Royal Commission to release interim recommendations on their use.

Commission chairman Bernard Teague said yesterday that following three weeks of evidence investigating bunkers and home-building standards in bushfire-prone areas, it was clear that certain matters ”cannot wait” for the commission to conclude its work next July.

He said commissioners would deliver interim recommendations regarding regulations for bushfire bunkers, some aspects of the new AS3959 building standard and the need for a revision of the Standards Australia handbook for building in bushfire-prone areas.

In evidence last month, the commission was told there was no standard for in-ground bunkers but they were urgently needed amid concerns from Victorian Building Commissioner Tony Arnel that people were rushing to install them without technical knowledge.

Mr Arnel said he had directed Victoria’s Building Regulations Advisory Committee to develop an accreditation criteria for pre-fabricated bunkers and estimated that Standards Australia could develop a standard within six months.

But he said it would also be possible for the royal commission to make a finding that criteria for bunkers be rolled into existing national building regulations, as a way of fast-tracking the process.

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!