Second opinion on BAL FZ for knock down rebuild?????

Hi All,

Just a quick question. My husband and I are looking to knock down and rebuild our house as we have outgrown it. We were ready to sign the dotted line when the company we wanted to build with came back and said we needed to do a BAL report. We did the report and it came back Flame Zone. We aren't 100% sold on this report classification as a house that is 5 doors up and the same distance from the bush was classified as BAL 40. Has anyone asked for a second opinion on a BAL report??? It simply isn't worth us building here if we need to add all of the extra requirements.

Thanks in advance!
Tanya

 

Do you know if the house 5 doors down did a report? I would engage the consultant that did their house.

Are you building via CDC or DA?

 

If it's in the flame zone, the upgrades are for your protection - obviously not a concern for you even though you have lived there forever, never seen an ember etc...

Is the whole house in FZ or does only one/two walls need to comply? Work out what is required, reposition the building on the site, modify the design (get rid of or relocation of open timber decks or open areas under the house, use steel or hardwood in lieu of treated pine, relocate windows, use shutters etc).

 

Thank you for your reply. Yes they did I will ask who it was. Although they are new owners so they might not know that specific detailed but i will try! We are building DA

 

Thank you for the reply. Yes i know re protection! We are more than happy to pay for any complying components. Our issue was the builder with the house we wanted won't build in flame zone areas even with us asking for them to with the required materials. It's something they don't do. It's all so confusing.

 

Distance from bushland can be one contributor but also things like
- slope/angle from bushland
- fuel load on your own block. Some clearing and mowing before assessment can sometimes reduce it
- location of new dwelling - some tweaks can move it further and reduce BAL impact
- fire breaks

I'd encourage you to talk to the current BAL assessor and read the the report in detail to work out where most of the risk is coming from.

 

Thank you for your response. Aware of all of those reasons. But figuring out the biggest risk factor is a good idea