About BAL Buddy
- BAL Buddy works out an indicative Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) for a building site, from a map.
- It uses Method 1 of AS 3959:2018, including Amendment 1, and nothing else.
- You place the site, draw the building and the vegetation, and choose each patch's class.
- Slope comes from the best public elevation data at the site, with a profile you can check and override.
- It shows its working, and how far the building would have to move to drop a level.
- BAL Buddy gives an indicative Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) only.
Beta
BAL Buddy is in a private beta. It's free for testers while we find and fix problems. Results are indicative only, as everywhere in BAL Buddy. Saved runs may be reset before launch, so keep anything you need (Export saves your work as a file). Use Feedback at the foot of any page to tell us what worked and what didn't.
How it works
- Site. It finds the state, the fire weather district and the Fire Danger Index (FDI) that AS 3959 Table 2.1 sets for it, and the mapped bushfire-prone status.
- Building. You draw the footprint. The assessment area is everything within 100 m of it.
- Vegetation. You draw each patch of vegetation, choose its class (A–H) from the standard's descriptions, or record why it is excluded.
- Slope. The effective slope under each patch is worked out from elevation data, which you can check and override with a reason.
- Result. Each patch's class, distance and slope are looked up in the standard's Method 1 table for the FDI, and the highest BAL governs the building.
Limitations
- Method 1 only. Over 20° downslope needs Method 2 or an accredited practitioner, and BAL Buddy gives no BAL.
- It relies on what you draw and choose. Vegetation is best judged on site, and a desktop view can be wrong.
- Elevation data ranges from 1 m LiDAR to about 90 m satellite data. Coarse data can misjudge slope over short patches, and BAL Buddy says when it is relying on it.
- Mapped bushfire-prone status can be out of date, and in some states the map isn't the whole test.
- BAL Buddy doesn't check whether a site is in a mapped bushfire-prone area. Confirm that with your council or building surveyor.
- It gives no planning advice.
New to bushfire ratings? Read What is a BAL?