Indicative only. This is not a BAL report.
Indicative only. This is not a BAL report.
BAL Buddy works out an indicative Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) for a building site in Australia. You find the site on a map, draw the building and the vegetation around it, and choose what kind of vegetation each patch is. BAL Buddy then applies Method 1 of AS 3959:2018, working out the slope under each patch of vegetation from elevation data and the distance from the building to it.
The result is an early, indicative answer to help you plan. It isn't a BAL assessment and doesn't replace one by an accredited bushfire practitioner. Your building surveyor or council decides which BAL applies to your building, and the mapping and elevation data BAL Buddy uses can be wrong or out of date, so check what you draw on site.
No. Use it to understand your site and plan ahead. A permit application needs whatever your building surveyor or council asks for, which is usually a BAL assessment by an accredited bushfire practitioner.
From public elevation data, sampled under each patch of vegetation you draw. The data varies in detail from place to place, and the summary says which source was used and how fine it is.
Its type, judged mostly by its structure: how tall it is, how much of the ground its canopy covers and what grows underneath. The vegetation guide describes each class in plain words, with photos by region where available.
It applies the same national method to any site in Australia. Whether your land is in a mapped bushfire prone area, and what your state requires, are separate questions: check them with your council or the state's own maps.
Very steep ground under the vegetation is outside the simplified method, and BAL Buddy says so instead of giving a result. Sites like that, and anything you're unsure about, need an accredited bushfire practitioner.
You can try it free, then pay per run, buy a pack or subscribe. See the pricing page for current prices.