During a recent hearing, the lawyers assisting the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission proposed a safety rating for buildings in bushfire prone areas. The scheme would be in the model of star rating scheme for homes according to their energy efficiency, said Melinda Richards, counsel assisting the commission. The scheme would encourage the building compliance requirements in bushfire prone areas, not just at the time of building a house, but for subsequent users also.

Though the recommendations look quite good, both Victorian government and the local councils opposed the idea indicating that such a scheme would be against the provisions of the Building Act-1993. Kerri Judd SC the counsel representing the Victorian government argued that such a scheme would make a dangerous false sense of security. If a high rating has been given to a building it may compel the families to defend the property, but however there is greater risk involved in doing such an effort.

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