Indicative only. This is not a BAL report.
Indicative only. This is not a BAL report.
BAL Buddy is a BAL rating calculator for building sites anywhere in Australia. Find your site on the map, trace the building and the vegetation near it, and it works out an indicative Bushfire Attack Level. It applies Method 1 of AS 3959:2018, with the slope taken from public elevation data. Use it to check your likely BAL before you pay for a formal assessment, buy a block or design the house.
Your BAL rating isn't something you can look up. It's worked out for a building in a particular place, from the vegetation within 100 metres, how far away it is, the slope of the ground under it and your region's fire danger index. Two houses on neighbouring blocks can have different ratings. That's why the calculator asks you to draw the building and the bush around it rather than just enter an address.
Your first run is free. After that you can pay per run, buy a pack or subscribe (pricing).
From lowest to highest: BAL-LOW, BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29, BAL-40 and BAL-FZ (Flame Zone). Each one has its own guide: BAL-LOW, BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29, BAL-40 and BAL-FZ. BAL levels explained compares them side by side.
It's an indicative result from a map, not a formal assessment. It can't be used for a planning or building permit. It doesn't visit the site, so the result is only as good as what you draw and the public data underneath. Where the ground under the vegetation falls away more than 20 degrees, the site is outside Method 1 and BAL Buddy says so instead of giving a result.
A formal BAL assessment is done by a bushfire practitioner, usually after a site visit, and is what councils and building surveyors rely on. Rules on when you need one differ between states: see the BAL calculator by state.
Four things: the class of vegetation within 100 metres of the building, how far away each patch is, the slope of the ground under it, and the fire danger index for your region. Each patch gets a level and the highest one sets the building's BAL. How a BAL is worked out explains each step.
No. A calculator gives an indicative answer from your own tracing and public data. A formal assessment is done by a practitioner who looks at the site, and it's the one your building surveyor or council will ask for. The calculator is the cheap first check before you pay for that.
For an early answer, run the calculator. When you're ready to apply for a permit, get a formal assessment. How to find your BAL walks through both.
It covers every state and the mainland territories. In NSW, assessors work to Planning for Bush Fire Protection rather than AS 3959 directly, so a NSW result is a first indication only.
Your first run is free. See pricing for what comes after.