Bushfire Shutters
Comfort Shutters is a leading installer of BAL-40 bushfire shutters and BAL-FZ flame zone shutters in the Blue Mountains region. We’re the only installer accredited by the Blue Mountains City Council to date.
We manufacture all of our bushfire shutters to your measurements. Only components of the highest quality from best-in-industry suppliers are used in our manufacturing process. You can trust that our products have been made with care and integrity from end to end.
Comfort’s BAL-FZ Flame Zone Shutters and BAL-40 Bushfire Shutters
Building in a bushfire zone that requires BAL-FZ compliance means that you must use BAL-FZ compliant materials. It doesn’t mean that your property needs to be ugly. We use Heroal’s industry-leading bushfire shutters that have been perfectly designed to have the smallest possible box sizes.
Our bushfire shutters are available in a wide range of colours and sizes. So we’re confident that we can fit your windows with attractive, BAL-FZ (Australian Standard AS 1530.8.2) or BAL-40 (Australian Standard AS 1530.8.1) compliant bushfire shutters.
Comfort Shutters will work hard to keep your home safe from fire on your worst day and to make your home more comfortable, and attractive every other day. Our aluminium and stainless steel bushfire shutters have all the same benefits of aluminium shutters, with added protection from fire. Check out the benefits of aluminium shutters here for more information.
What is a BAL rating?
BAL ratings or Bushfire Attack Levels are a measure used to define the level of bushfire intensity a property may experience during a bushfire. The Bushfire Attack Level considers the potential flame contact, ember attack and radiant heat exposure.
These ratings are then used to determine building and construction requirements for properties built in bushfire prone areas. The building standards have been developed to better protect properties in these areas in the event of a bushfire. Ensuring that your property meets its BAL standards is the best way to protect your home or commercial building so that it may survive a bushfire.
Australia’s building standards for bushfire prone areas were completely rewritten following the devastating Victorian bushfires in 2009. Reports from prominent agencies, like the Climate Council’s 2016 Report, give a bleak outlook regarding the economic havoc that bushfires are likely to wreak into the coming years. In fact, it is predicted that bushfires will cost the state of NSW $800 million annually by 2050.
The Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) standards have been created in an effort to combat not only the rising financial cost of bushfires to the state of NSW, but also the rising risk to human life. In NSW, we face an uncertain future in terms of our extreme weather events. We owe it to ourselves to protect our homes, businesses and our loved ones as best we can from the increasing risk of bushfire.
What do BAL-FZ and BAL-40 mean?
BAL-FZ and BAL-40 are the two highest ratings in the BAL system. The system has six different ratings for bushfire intensity.
BAL-FZ (BAL Flame Zone)
A BAL-FZ (or BAL Flame Zone) rating is the highest danger rating that a property can given. It means that the property is likely to experience direct exposure to flames from the fire front and is susceptible to ember attack. It also means that a heat flux of more than 40kW/m2 can be expected.
This rating applies to specific properties in regions of NSW, including the Blue Mountains region and surrounding suburbs. It extends into Sydney’s Western Suburbs, the Hills District and the suburbs of the North Shore and the Northern Beaches.
Installing flame zone bushfire shutters is the only way to meet the BAL-FZ standards with standard windows.
BAL-40
BAL-40 is the second highest fire danger rating behind the BAL-FZ rating. It means that the property (or section of the property) is exposed to increasing risk of ember attack, ignition from debris and/or exposure to flames in the event of a bushfire.
Installing BAL-40 bushfire shutters is the only way to meet the BAL-40 standards with standard windows.
The other ratings are BAL-29, BAL-19, BAL-12.5 and BAL-Low. BAL-Low is the only rating that doesn’t have any specific construction requirements.
| Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) | Risk | BAL Construction Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| BAL-Low | Low risk | No construction requirements |
| BAL-12.5 | Risk of ember attack | Construction requirements |
| BAL-19 | Increasing risk of ember attack and burning debris being ignited by windborne embers together with increasing heat flux. | Construction requirements |
| BAL-29 | Increasing risk of ember attack and burning debris being ignited by windborne embers together with increasing heat flux. | Construction requirements |
| BAL-40 | Increasing risk of ember attack and burning debris being ignited by windborne embers together with increasing heat flux and increasing risk of exposure to flames. | BAL-40 Bushfire shutters are the only way to protect standard window |
| BAL-FZ | Direct exposure to flames from fire, in addition to potential for high heat flux and high risk of ember attack. | Flame zone Bushfire shutters are the only way to protect standard windows |
How are the BAL ratings calculated?
Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) ratings are different for every property. There are no specific ratings given to a property just because of the suburb or street that you live on. In fact, different sides of your house can be rated differently.
The BAL rating for your property will vary depending on:
Where you live;
The type and amount of vegetation around your property;
The distance from your home to the vegetation; and
The slope of the ground under the vegetation.
How do BAL Flame Zone or Bushfire Shutters protect my property?
Windows are structurally one of the weakest points of a building. They are prone to cracking and breaking during bushfires. Airborne sparks and embers can then float into your home or commercial property through the broken windows, igniting your curtains, carpet and/or furniture and destroying your home.
Aluminium shutters can protect you from prying eyes and the efforts of burglars, but only flame zone bushfire resistant shutters are designed to protect your property in the toughest bushfire conditions. Flame Zone Bushfire Shutters help protect your windows against the effects of radiant heat, ember attack, debris and direct flame contact.
At Comfort Shutters, we use components made by all of the leading brands from around the world. We work hard to stay at the forefront of innovation – which is why we were the first company to use the German-engineered/Australian-manufactured heroal bushfire shutters.
Heroal bushfire shutters are widely regarded as the best in the industry and are one of the only bushfire shutters in the world that has managed to meet Australia’s stringent AS1530.8.2 2007 standard.
Do BAL-40 bushfire resistant shutters do the same job as BAL-FZ flame zone shutters?
The testing standards for BAL-40 bushfire shutters and BAL-FZ flame zone shutters are different. Meeting the BAL-40 standards is easier than meeting the BAL-FZ standards, so the BAL-FZ bushfire shutters are designed to withstand more extreme fire conditions.
Call us today for a free quote.