Aluminium Windows Rated to BAL-40 for Bushfire Zones
Windows for a bushfire-prone site in Australia needed a BAL-40 rating. The client had the product but not the evidence, and their sales team could not answer a single question about BAL levels.
The Challenge
After the 2019–20 fire season, Australian requirements for bushfire-prone areas tightened. The client's customers began asking a question the sales team could not answer: which BAL level does this window achieve? BAL is assessed under AS 3959 against vegetation, slope, distance and the resulting heat flux. The client had windows that passed air and water testing, but nothing that addressed radiant heat, ember attack or the assembly requirements of AS 1530.8.1.
What We Did
We started with training, not testing. Half a day with the sales and technical teams covered how a BAL is assessed, what AS 1530.8.1 measures compared with AS 1530.8.2, and what a salesperson should ask before quoting. Then we reviewed the existing product component by component: profile wall thickness, the temperature rating of the thermal break, the melting point of the hardware, the glazing specification and the absence of an expanding seal at the opening sashes. Three rounds of modification followed — glazing and profile first, hardware and seals second, then the glazing build-up and external screening required at BAL-40, where aluminium mesh is not permitted because its melting point is too low.
The Result
The assembly passed AS 1530.8.1 and covered up to BAL-40. The client added the achievable BAL level to their product literature and quotation sheets, and the sales team went from deflecting questions to answering them. We also defined the limits of the report — which profile series, which glazing build-up, what maximum size — so the team could not over-promise and the factory could not build outside the tested scope.
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