Window woes

By Kath Gannaway
CLEARING 50 metres of trees on their burnt-out property wasn’t an option for Chum Creek’s Pierrehumbert family.
The family, Steve and Sally and children Anne, Michael, Chloe and Emily, survived the Black Saturday which razed their home and everything around them by climbing into their shipping container wine cellar.
Now at the point of rebuilding, Mr and Mrs Pierrehumbert said they were frustrated that they could not proceed because there were no windows available which met the required standard for building in the highest-rated ‘flame’ zone.
They can have the zone downgraded, they say, by removing 50 metres of trees, but having lost so much of the bush around them, they are sticking to their plan of building to the highest standard.
Their frustration is that their search for a window which meets that standard has resulted in plenty of options for the second lowest zone – BAL (Bushfire Attack Level) 40, but nothing for Flame Zone.
The Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority referred the Mail to the Building Commission, the authority responsible for approving the standards, but they are not allowed, in their regulatory role, to promote specific products.
A spokesperson indicated however that some windows had gone through the testing process and passed, but two window manufacturers contacted by the Mail were “unaware” of any that had, in fact, met the standard.
The Australian Window Association however is adamant that there is no commercially available residential window that has passed what they say is extremely stringent testing.
Executive director Tracey Gramlich told the Mail the most any commercially available window had been tested was to BAL40. “The testing for that is different to Flame Zone and at this time it is unknown whether any commercially available residential window system will meet the very stringent requirements for testing,” Ms Gramlich said.
She said some systems involving shutters and screens were available, but still had to have a fire resistant/retardant level for at least 30 minutes and that most of these were not the types of windows people used in homes.
“We say there are no commercially tested residential windows available,” she said.
Ms Pierrehumbert found one such industrial-type window but at $38,000 a window it was also not an option.
The Building Commission suggests anyone wanting advice on window availability for Flame Zone talk to their technical team on 9285 6400.
In the meantime, Mr and Mrs Pierrehumbert are keen to hear from other people building in a Flame Zone.
“If there are people out there in the same situation we want to get a group together and push to move this along,” Mrs Pierrehumbert said.
“One voice is not enough,” she said.
Her phone number is 0438 300 468.