In Western Australia the Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner designates bushfire prone areas, which DFES shows on a statewide map; the current version took effect on 13 December 2025. The designation decides when extra planning and building requirements apply to something new, while building rules are generally not retrospective for a house already standing.
General information, not legal or building advice. DFES, the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, and Building and Energy are the official places to check; for a particular building, a BAL assessor or a building surveyor can advise.
One map, two sets of rules
The map feeds two systems that work side by side, one for planning approval and one for building approval.
| Question | Planning | Building |
|---|---|---|
| The rules | State Planning Policy 3.7 Bushfire and the Planning for Bushfire Guidelines. | The bushfire requirements of the Building Code of Australia, and Australian Standard 3959. |
| What they cover | Strategic planning proposals, subdivision and development applications on land in a bushfire prone area. | Certain residential buildings, and buildings for vulnerable uses, in designated areas. |
| What can set them off | A proposal that intensifies development or land use, brings more visitors, residents or employees, or raises bushfire risk to the site or its neighbours. | Building work in a designated area, such as a new house or an extension. |
| The key document | A bushfire management plan, which assesses hazard and risk and sets risk management for the life of the development. | The bushfire assessment the building surveyor relies on to set construction requirements. |
The map
DFES describes the Map of Bush Fire Prone Areas as identifying land in Western Australia that bushfires could affect. Its Office of Bushfire Risk Management prepares and maintains it under a mapping standard, and reviews it regularly; local governments are the channel for information towards the next review. DFES made the current designation under section 18P of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1998, with a four-month transition for newly designated areas.
Building and Energy explains the transition with its own example: land first designated on 8 December 2015 had to meet the building requirements from 8 April 2016.
SPP 3.7 since November 2024
The present State Planning Policy 3.7 Bushfire was published on 24 September 2024 and has been operational since 18 November 2024, together with the Planning for Bushfire Guidelines. Its approach is to avoid bushfire risk first and, where that cannot be done, to manage or mitigate it to an acceptable level; the department adds that “the preservation of life and the management of bushfire impact are paramount.”
Not every proposal on mapped land triggers the policy. DFES says that intensifying use, adding people, or raising risk “may trigger” it, and recommends talking to the decision maker for the proposal early in the planning process. The department publishes manuals for preparing bushfire management plans and bushfire emergency plans. DFES, for its part, gives technical bushfire advice to the people deciding strategic proposals, subdivisions and development applications on land in a bushfire prone area. Separately, the City of Swan’s yearly notice applies to all land in the City, mapped or not; see firebreaks and the fire season.
What a BAL assessment weighs
On the building side, the construction requirements depend on the home’s Bushfire Attack Level, or BAL.
The ground around the building
The assessment looks at the surroundings, including how the land slopes, what vegetation grows there and how close it is to other buildings or structures on the site.
The method
AS 3959 has two methods for working out a BAL: Method 1, the simplified one, and Method 2, the detailed one. When a BAL has been worked out by anything other than Method 1 and the decision maker wants it checked, the planning proposal usually goes to DFES.
The assessor
A BAL assessor would usually carry out the assessment, and Building and Energy points to the Fire Protection Association Australia’s list of accredited Level 1 BAL assessors. The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage publishes a complaints process for BAL assessors and bushfire planning practitioners.
What it reaches
Garages, carports, decks and verandahs attached to or beside a house can fall under the requirements too, and putting an evaporative cooler on a roof counts as building work in a designated area.
Building and Energy is frank about the limits: no building is guaranteed to survive every bushfire, because fire and extreme weather behave unpredictably, but the Standard aims to make buildings perform better under attack.
A house that is already there
- Building standards are generally not retrospective. A house bought in an area designated after it was built may not have to be upgraded by law.
- For additions or extensive renovations, Building and Energy says the local government, a building surveyor or another qualified practitioner can advise whether an upgrade is needed.
- Retrofitting may need a building permit, and above BAL-29 Building and Energy refers owners to a building surveyor or another suitably experienced practitioner.
- For anyone thinking of buying an existing house in or near bushland, Building and Energy suggests having a bushfire assessment done before making an offer, whether or not the land is designated.