Bushfire Resistance: How to make your home safer this summer

There’s lots to love about living in Australia. But one challenge many of us face every summer, is the threat of bushfire.

If your home is in a bushfire prone area, you’ll be starting to think about bushfire season, and how to best prepare your home as the weather gets warmer and drier.

Some questions you might be asking are:

What can I do with my existing home to make it more bushfire resistant?

And…

How do I choose the bushfire-resistant materials for my new home or renovation or roof upgrade?

These are exactly the questions we’re going to explore in this article as we look at the things you need to keep in mind when it comes to creating a more bushfire resistant home.

Bushfire Construction Standards: What they are and why they matter

Understanding bushfire construction standards and how they came about is an important first step to making your home more bushfire resistant.


Australia’s bushfire construction standards emerged from decades of shared learning between researchers, firefighters, architects and communities, all working together to create safer, smarter ways to live with our landscape. 

This collaboration led to the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) system.  

BAL helps guide how we design and build with bushfire resilience in mind by assessing how close a property is to vegetation and the potential intensity of radiant heat. Each site is given a BAL rating—from LOW through to BAL–FZ—and that rating gently guides the materials, construction methods and design details needed for a resilient home.

Depending on the BAL level of your home location, the materials and details become progressively more robust. This can include things like toughened glass, radiant-heat-resistant claddings, ember-proof sarking for your roof, well-sealed gaps and carefully screened openings.

Yes - you can make your existing home more bushfire resistant.

Bushfire resistance isn’t just for new builds.

Existing homes can also take meaningful steps towards greater bushfire resistance by making some simple upgrades.

Things like sealing gaps where embers might enter, installing metal mesh screens, replacing older windows with toughened glass, and choosing more resilient cladding can all make a significant difference. 

Even thoughtful landscaping and maintenance help reduce your risk, creating a home that feels more secure while still embracing your natural surroundings.


Keeping embers out is one of the most important defences a home can have. 

These tiny, wind-borne sparks are often the cause of your home catching alight during a bushfire and can travel up to 40km. Good detailing, like ember-sealed roof spaces, screened vents and tightly fitted eaves, creates a protective shell that stops embers from sneaking into vulnerable nooks and crannies. It’s small-scale craftsmanship with big protective impact.

Bushfire Home Maintenance and Reducing Fuel

Reducing fuel around your home is another powerful way to improve fire safety. 

Regularly clearing leaf litter, trimming branches away from buildings, and keeping gutters clean can help prevent embers from finding a place to settle. 

Creating small, tidy zones around the house not only lowers your risk, but will also bring a sense of calm order to the landscape you live in.

Reducing bushfire risk is all about thoughtful preparation and smart choices. Simple measures can make a big difference. Position gas tanks well away from the home or vulnerable elements and keep the area around them clear. Think about installing roof and wall-mounted sprinklers or having a portable water sprinkler on hand to offer another layer of defence during high-risk days.

Choosing bushfire-resistant plants and designing with smart landscaping can further enhance protection for your home. Choose plants that are low-flammability species, place your garden beds strategically and keep well-maintained greenery to create a buffer that slows or deflects heat. With the right selection, the garden becomes both a natural shield and a beautifully layered extension of your home’s character.

How to choose Bushfire-resistant Materials and Detailing for your home

Choosing bushfire-resistant materials is all about finding that sweet spot where safety, durability and beauty meet. 

There are many building materials that perform exceptionally well under radiant heat and ember exposure - things like non-combustible claddings, metal roofing, fibre-cement products, masonry, rammed earth and high-performance glazing systems are all excellent choices. 

The right materials form the backbone of a resilient home, providing a stable, protective envelope without sacrificing architectural expression or warmth.

Hempcrete

One of my favourite bushfire resistant materials is hempcrete.

Hempcrete is a natural composite made from hemp fibres and lime. It’s an exceptionally sustainable building material as well as being highly fire resistant. Hempcrete performs very well in bushfire conditions thanks to its composition, which can be exposed to direct flame and intense heat without combusting.

It also offers lovely thermal comfort, acoustic softness (as well as many other fabulous properties) and a tactile, earthy aesthetic, making it a favourite for those wanting sustainability and resilience to sit comfortably side by side.

Windows and glazing 

Windows and glazing are often one of the more vulnerable parts of a home when it comes to bushfire. 

Toughened glass, double glazing, metal frames and ember-resistant seals all help create a stronger protective envelope. Even details like metal mesh screens and bushfire-rated door systems can elevate both safety and style. 

It’s not about making your home feel fortified. The goal is to craft a home that’s elegant, comfortable and confidently bushfire resilient to reduce your risk.

Roofing materials 

How you build your roof also plays a key role. Non-combustible options such as metal roofing or tiles paired with ember-proof sarking and well-detailed flashings help prevent sparks from entering the roof space. 

With careful planning, these elements can be seamlessly integrated into your home’s architectural design, so you get high bushfire performance and thoughtful, long-lasting design.

Bushfire protection doesn’t mean sacrificing architectural beauty.

Whatever the material, good selection should always be paired with good detailing. 

The way joints are sealed, how cladding systems overlap, how window frames connect to walls, and how roofs, eaves and vents are assembled all contribute to a home’s bushfire performance. 

Working with an experienced architect and builder on your project is the best way to ensure optimum bushfire performance integrates seamlessly with your home design and the way you like to live.

With thoughtful specification and creative architectural handling, bushfire-resistant materials can elevate both the safety and the soul of a home. Resilient design can be every bit as beautiful as it is protective.