FEATURES
The most common causes of fires include human negligence and poor maintenance.
As a result of the disaster, the Australian building regulations
were revised to include new guidelines and standards for
bushfire planning and building. The new regulations state that
all properties will now require a bushfire attack assessment
and a Bushfire Attack Level that outlines the type of
construction required.
“So what lessons do we take from Australia’s biggest natural
disaster? Certainly that fire safety policies and management are
a key response that should be implemented by government and
local authorities. However, government cannot do it alone. The
public and private sector and in particular, the research and
development sector need to play their part in assisting the
country in the development of these environmental protection
plans,” says Strydom.
Fire policies a hot topic
The South African built sector is guided by the National Building
Regulations and Building Standards Act (No. 103 of 1977) and
SANS 10400. Therefore regulation regarding fire protection is of
high importance. According to the Institute for Timber
Construction (ITC-SA), engineers signing off roof structures
which do not comply with the Fire Regulations could be put to
task with the Engineering Council of South Africa.
Professor Walter Burdzik of the Department of Civil
Engineering at the University of Pretoria confirms, “Any failure
of a truss plant or roof inspector to insist on the separation of
roofs as per fire regulations needs to be reported to the ITC-SA.
The same principle applies to low-cost housing; just because a
roof is over a low-cost house does not justify deviating from
National Building Regulations.”
Africa’s only dual purpose fire retardant & biological preservative
treatment for timber. Buildings using Flambor FR will meet the fire
safety requirements as per SANS 10400 - T as wll as preservative
requirements as per SANS 10005, 1288 & 457.
CLADDING // CONCRETE // INSULATION // STEEL // THATCH // TIMBER // TRANSLUCENT // WATERPROOFING // COMPONENTS
AUGUST 2018
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