How to find your BAL rating in the ACT
Your BAL rating in the ACT sets how much bushfire protection a new home needs, but the ACT works differently to the states. Being inside the Bushfire Prone Area on the ACT Government's map doesn't automatically mean your house must be built to a BAL. What matters is whether a BAL is set for your block, your approval asks for one, or the land is rural.
This page walks through how to find out which applies, and how to get a quick indicative BAL with BAL Buddy before you buy, design or pay for an assessment. Building across the border in Queanbeyan, Googong or elsewhere in NSW? See the NSW page.
How to find your BAL rating in the ACT, step by step
- Get an indicative BAL with BAL Buddy. Trace your house, existing or planned, and the vegetation near it, and classify each patch with the vegetation guide. BAL Buddy takes slope from public elevation data and applies AS 3959 Method 1. You'll see the indicative BAL, how it was worked out and how far the building would need to move to reach a lower level.
- Check whether your block is in the Bushfire Prone Area. Search your address on the ACTmapi bushfire viewer.
- Check whether a BAL is already set for your block. In urban Canberra, building to a BAL is mandatory where your block is specifically identified in the planning rules: for exempt houses, in the district development controls for single dwellings; for work that needs development approval, in the district technical specifications. Your certifier can check this. Buying in a new estate? Ask the developer: some publish a BAL for each block.
- Get a formal BAL assessment if you need one. If your development approval asks for a site-specific BAL, or you're building on rural land, you'll need a formal assessment from a suitably qualified bushfire consultant.
Is my property bushfire prone? The ACT Bushfire Prone Area map
The ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) maps the Bushfire Prone Area. It covers urban areas next to forest and grassland, plus all of the ACT's rural land. Check it on ACTmapi's bushfire viewer by street address or block and section. ESA reviews the map as land use and vegetation mapping change, so check the current version.
What being in the Bushfire Prone Area means
For urban blocks, the map is mainly an awareness map and a trigger for closer assessment. Access Canberra's guidance is that if your block isn't specifically identified with a BAL in the planning rules, and your approval doesn't set one, there's no requirement to build to AS 3959, although you can choose to. Rural land is different: all of it is bushfire prone for building purposes, and a bushfire risk assessment is required.
So in the ACT, being in the Bushfire Prone Area and having to build to a BAL aren't always the same thing. Ask your certifier before you start designing. Access Canberra's requirements for bushfire prone blocks (June 2026) sets this out. More on maps: BAL rating map.
Bushfire building rules in the ACT: who's responsible
- ACT Emergency Services Agency: maps the Bushfire Prone Area and can comment on development applications.
- Territory Planning Authority: decides development applications under the Planning Act 2023 and administers the Territory Plan, including the district technical specifications that can set a BAL.
- Access Canberra and the Construction Occupations Registrar: regulate building work under the Building Act 2004 and the National Construction Code.
- Your certifier: approves the building plans and checks the bushfire construction.
Where a block is identified, Access Canberra says houses, with their garages, sheds and decks, must be built to the requirements for the specified BAL in AS 3959. See AS 3959 explained.
When do you need a formal BAL assessment in the ACT?
Based on Access Canberra's Construction Note (June 2026):
- Your block has a BAL set in the planning rules. Build to that BAL. It's already set, so ask your certifier whether anything more is needed.
- Your development approval has a bushfire condition. The Notice of Decision can require a specific BAL, or a site-specific BAL assessment from a suitably qualified bushfire consultant, whose measures must then be adopted.
- You're building on rural land. A bushfire risk assessment under the standard is required.
- None of these applies. There's no requirement to build to AS 3959.
Extending or renovating? Ask your certifier whether bushfire requirements apply to the new work.
Who can do a BAL assessment in the ACT?
Access Canberra's guidance refers to a suitably qualified bushfire consultant. Consultants working in the ACT commonly hold BPAD accreditation through FPA Australia. Ask your certifier what they'll accept.
Need a bushfire practitioner?
FPA Australia keeps a public register of BPAD-accredited practitioners, searchable by state and accreditation level: BPAD practitioner register. If you're not sure who to call, email me and I'll point you in the right direction. I don't take referral fees.
How much does a BAL assessment cost in the ACT?
Most BAL assessments cost between about $800 and $2,000, depending on travel, site complexity and whether you need advice on lowering the BAL. Rural blocks further out generally cost more. More: BAL assessment.
BAL requirements in the ACT by level
Where a BAL applies, the ACT uses AS 3959's construction requirements. Plain-English summary only.
BAL-LOW. No bushfire construction requirements. BAL-LOW guide
BAL-12.5. Keeping embers out: sealed gaps, screened openings and vents. BAL-12.5 guide
BAL-19. Stricter glazing and materials near the ground. BAL-19 guide
BAL-29. Toughened glass and fire-resistant frames, decks and cladding. BAL-29 guide
BAL-40. Tested systems or shutters. BAL-40 guide
BAL-FZ. Systems tested for flame contact. BAL-FZ guide
Where BAL Buddy is most useful in the ACT
In new estates the BAL is often already set block by block. BAL Buddy is most useful on rural land, on older blocks on the reserve edge (knockdown rebuilds especially), and for buyers comparing blocks before the estate paperwork arrives.
How BAL Buddy handles the ACT
In the ACT, BAL Buddy applies Method 1 with the single fire danger index AS 3959 gives the territory. The ACT is surrounded by NSW, whose index depends on the fire weather district, so BAL Buddy works out the jurisdiction from the building outline you draw, and asks you to check it when the site is within about 1 km of the border.
BAL Buddy gives an indicative Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) only. It isn't a determination under any Act, and no council or building surveyor has to accept it. For a BAL you can rely on, use an accredited bushfire practitioner.
Questions people ask
How do I find my BAL rating in the ACT?
Check whether a BAL is set for your block in the planning rules or your development approval, and whether the land is rural. BAL Buddy gives an indicative BAL first; your certifier can confirm what applies.
If my block is in the Bushfire Prone Area, do I have to build to a BAL?
Not automatically, in urban Canberra. You do if a BAL is set for your block in the planning rules, your approval asks for one, or the land is rural.
Who can do a BAL assessment in the ACT?
A suitably qualified bushfire consultant, often BPAD-accredited. Ask your certifier what they accept.
My new estate already has a BAL for my block. Do I need another?
Usually not: you build to the BAL that's set. Ask your certifier whether your design needs anything more.