Compiled Plans & Documents OPW18-0342 02

                                                                       Retirement Living & Aged Care Facility
                                                                              Grasstree Court, Sunrise Beach

     •    consideration of more simple designs which avoid numerous roof valleys and avoiding re-
          entrant corners around the building;

     •    consideration of door locations and door types, some types more affordably meet AS3959-
          2009 than others (i.e. consider avoiding bi-fold doors);

     •    stainless steel security screening to doors and windows and aluminium roller shutters (shutters
          may not be essential but may be more affordable than specified glazing requirements). For
          aged care facilities, screening for bushfire protection purposes may need to be balanced
          against other competing safety concerns relating to resident well-being (particularly for
          secured components of certain facilities for dementia patients, etc.). In these instances,
          enhanced glazing specifications may be more suitable;

     •    avoid timber framing to windows and doors where applicable, which require selected
          timbers to a bushfire resistant density;

     •    avoid entry sidelights adjacent to external doorways;

     •    avoid any unnecessary skylights and certain roof ventilation systems (i.e. whirlybirds) to avoid
          additional need for ember guarding;

     •    consider the need for timber decking and / or other timber structures which may be located
          adjoining to or affixed to the main building, and which would require bushfire resisting timber
          for construction. Alternatives may include aluminium or steel products which give the
          appearance of timber; and

     •    ensuring all internal and external cladding systems comply with all mandatory Australian
          Standards regarding flammability.

Informed building design can substantially decrease costs associated with ember and radiant heat
protection construction methodologies. The function of specific spaces and buildings may render
some of the above options less desirable. AS3959-2009 provides a suite of construction and material
options for consideration.

7.5.2       Limitations of Building Construction Provisions
The Australian Standard provides that although its provisions are:

            ‘designed to improve the performance of buildings when subjected to bushfire attack in
            designated bushfire-prone areas there can be no guarantee that a building will survive a
            bushfire event on every occasion. This is substantially due to the unpredictable nature and
            behaviour of fire and extreme weather conditions’.

It is significant to also understand the objective of AS3959-2009, which is to

            ‘prescribe particular construction details for buildings to reduce the risk of ignition from a
            bushfire, appropriate to the:

            •     potential for ignition caused by burning embers, radiant heat or flame generated by a
                  bushfire; and

            •     intensity of the bushfire attack on the building’.

Further and as set out previously in this report, the FFDI provisions pursuant to AS3959-2009 adopted
for Queensland is 40 and as such the design parameters in this context are designed to a maximum
of Very High (FDI 25-49). Thus, fire days in excess of FFDI 48 (which is adopted by the 2016 RPS
assessment and by this report) i.e. Severe, Extreme and Catastrophic days, are not accommodated
by existing statutory building instruments and is beyond design parameters. Thus, on these higher
danger days, the safety and evacuation plans for the facilities will need to be consulted (refer to
Section 7.6.1).




Status: Final                                                                                       March 2019
Project No.: 18-030                                                                                    Page 35