Standards Australia’s technical committee FP-020 has developed an early-stage analysis of the impacts associated with draft changes to AS 3959, Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas, in accordance with the Australian Building Codes Board’s (ABCB) Protocol for NCC Referenced Documents.

The early-stage analysis forms a Preliminary Impact Analysis (PIA).

The ABCB’s PIA process is required to make changes to documents referenced by the National Construction Code (NCC). AS 3959 is a current referenced document in NCC Volumes One and Two.

The PIA requires the identification of the nature and extent of the problem, consideration of all feasible options that address the problem, and a cost-benefit analysis of all options considered.

The PIA will also be used to support the proposal to reference when considered by the ABCB’s Building Codes Committee.

The AS 3959 draft can be accessed by Standards Australia’s Public Comment portal.

To assist in establishing the nature and extent of the problem and the likely impacts of Option 2, Standards Australia is seeking responses from interested parties on the “Consultation Questions” in the PIA. Responses will be used to inform the final PIA.

Responses can be emailed to Standards Australia Project Manager Damith Rupasinghe at Damith.Rupasinghe@standards.org.au by November 22.