Share this
Planning for Bush Fire Protection
After the 2001 Christmas fires in Sydney, which destroyed 109 homes and burnt more than 750,000 hectares, a Joint Parliamentary Inquiry was established. The resulting report endorsed the release of a document which contained specifications for building on land identified as bush fire prone. This document is titled Planning for Bush Fire Protection (PBP) and the current legislated version that is adopted is PBP 2019.
Previous editions of PBP were published in 2001 and 2006, and an Addendum Appendix 3 to PBP 2006 was published in 2010. The Pre-Release version of PBP 2018 was published in August of 2018 which was available for use until PBP 2019 was made available in December 2019. Previous versions of PBP can be found on the NSW RFS Publications page for building in a bush fire prone area.
PBP 2019 was legislatively adopted in the Environmental Planning & Assessment Regulations on 1 March 2020.
More information
Use the online tool to determine if you are located on bush fire prone land.
Additional guidance material is available on the Building in a Bush Fire Area page.
Where can I get help?
If you have any questions about Planning for Bush Fire Protection please contact development.policy@rfs.nsw.gov.au.
If you need assistance with your proposed development you can contact a qualified consultant.
Addendum to Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2019
The Addendum to PBP-2019 is available to download here. The effective date of this Addendum is 1 May 2023 to coincide with adoption of the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022.
Certain changes to NCC 2022 will have implications for the application of PBP 2019. This Addendum ensures that PBP 2019 is compatible with NCC 2022. To address this compatibility, changes are introduced via the Addendum to PBP 2019 which comprises:
- Changes to and additional provisions for buildings in bush fire prone areas accommodating vulnerable occupants namely schools, child care centres, hospitals and residential care buildings
- Updated references to legislation, standards, guidelines and policies
In New South Wales, the NSW NCC Variations that apply to bush fire protection (Schedule 5, Part G5, Construction in bushfire prone areas) allow for deviations from the associated Deemed to Satisfy Provisions based on PBP, the relevant General Terms of Approval and Conditions of Consent. The Addendum serves to aligns PBP-2019 with NCC 2022.
