When Ian Gough of A Grade Constructions was approached to build two new dwellings in the Blue Mountains suburb of Winmalee, NSW he was advised that they had to be built in accordance with the Australian Standard AS 3959-2009 for Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas. The two previous houses were destroyed by the October 2013 Blue Mountains fires and both of the sites were assessed to be Bushfire Attack Level – Flame Zone (BAL-FZ). BAL-FZ is the most extreme zone within the standard. Amongst a number of requirements is for the external walls to meet BAL-FZ certification, which is equal to an FRL of 30/30/30. The owners of both dwellings wanted to retain the previous weatherboard finish to their new homes. After researching the options for weatherboard walls to BAL-FZ construction Ian Gough selected INEX>WEATHERBOARD™ because it represented the best and most affordable solution. To meet BAL-FZ other weatherboard profiles in the market require for the wall to be clad first with a fire resistant plasterboard, which is then over clad with the weatherboard, preferably with battens to provide a cavity to protect the plasterboard.
INEX>WEATHERBOARD™ does not need any fire rated plasterboard to achieve BAL-FZ (or even an FRL of 60/60/60, which is twice the requirement of BAL-FZ). It can be fixed directly to the timber or steel frame and with its interlocking profile, once the lowest board is fixed the rest simply self-level on top.
