Why Bushfire Roller Shutters?

Bushfires present considerable risk to homes across the state. During the ‘October 2013’ bushfires in NSW, close to 250 dwellings and other buildings were destroyed. People’s homes and belongings were lost. The bushfires had a devastating impact on the families and owners of these properties.

However, property damage caused by bushfires can be prevented. In most cases, the cause of damage to homes is triggered when excessive heat forces windows to explode. Curtains and other furniture catch ablaze and fire spreads within the property.

By protecting the windows of your property, the fire has no entry point and the likelihood of the building burning down is significantly reduced.

Windows and doors can be protected by installing heat reducing roller shutters. Almost 90% of heat is reduced and the risk of exploding windows is eliminated simply by having bushfire roller shutters. They also provide a protective shelter from flying debris which is frequently blown into windows by the strong winds.

The bushfire danger of a particular building is rated with one of six potential bushfire attack levels (BAL). Ranging from low-risk (BAL-LOW) to very high-risk (BAL-FZ (Flame zone)):

• BAL – LOW
• BAL-12.5
• BAL 19
• BAL 29
• BAL 40
• Flame Zone (Alternative solutions required)

At Adshutters, our shutters are rated at BAL-40 and pass the new Australian standard AS 3959-2009. This means they are the highest grade of shutter and do not contain combustible materials such as foam, a material often used in many types of roller shutter. They are manufactured with radiant heat defensive properties and made from double wall extruded aluminium. This makes our bushfire shutters extremely resistant to burning.

To comply with safety regulations, bushfire roller shutters must operate manually from either inside or outside the property. We sell manual and electric shutters, but our electric shutters incorporate a special manual over-ride motor, that allows the roller shutter to be manually cranked in case of a blackout, which can happen quite often in a bushfire scenario.

Few other bushfire roller shutters have this special feature.

Please note: You may be able to satisfy BAL FZ with some certifiers by incorporating Adshutters Bushfire Roller shutters with BAL 40 windows on the home.