Building Behaviour in Bushfires

This subject is not offered in 2013.

100 - 120 hours

It is recommended that students have previously completed the following subjects:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject covers the fundamentals of how domestic buildings respond to bushfire in a planned environment context. Working from the science fundamentals through to the policy and legislation frameworks that tackle bushfire risk mitigation through to building design. With successful completion of the course, students will be well equipped to judge and implement design solutions within the scope of Victorian building regulations relating to bushfire risk management.

Building behavior in bushfires requires some critical background knowledge in order to be effectively taught, with pre-requisite subjects Bushfire and Climate and Bushfire Urban Planning. An improved understanding of the broader range of values that are inevitably considered in bushfire urban design will be better addressed in this subject when the subject Bushfire Planning and Management is completed prior to beginning this subject.

Objectives. By the end of the subject students should:

• Have an understanding of building performance and compliance within a planned environment;
• Have an understanding of the assumptions and complementarity of building and planning measures in achieving acceptable levels of bushfire risk management;
• Have an understanding of how regulations tackle quantification of the mechanisms of interaction between bushfires and building envelope;
• Have an understanding of building legislation in Victoria including history, tiers of government, agencies and the roles of the Building Commission, municipal building surveyors and private building surveyors;
• Be introduced to the role and process of performance-based codes and solutions;
• Be knowledgeable of processes of building regulation and permits;
• Be able to carry out bushfire attack assessments and prepare a report to submit to the relevant building surveyor;
• Have a sound understanding of construction and testing requirements under relevant building codes for fire-prone environments;
• Be introduced to a broader context of bushfire urban interface risk issues.

• Literature review (1500 words) due prior to commencement of intensive (30%)
• Four in-class tests (1000 words in total) due throughout intensive (30%)
• Final written assignment (3500 words) due 3 weeks after completion of intensive (40%)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.