Project Development and Construction Management Act 1994
Section 30
Ministerial Direction No. 4
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS FOR A COMMUNITY FIRE REFUGE
Issue 2
Effective from: 1 October 2015
I, Robin Scott, Minister for Finance in the State of Victoria, hereby issue the following
Direction pursuant to Section 30 of the Project Development and Construction Management
Act 1994 (the Act)
Purpose
This Direction sets out the requirements for public construction by, or on behalf of,
departments or public bodies of any building to be used as a community fire refuge.
Application
This Direction applies to public construction, as defined in Section 3 of the Act, of community
fire refuges.
Order of precedence
In accordance with Section 31 of the Act, to the extent that this Direction is inconsistent with
a provision of a supply policy within the meaning of the Financial Management Act 1994, this
Direction is to prevail.
Definitions
In this Direction:
community fire refuge has the meaning given to it in Section 50A of the Country Fire
Authority Act.
EMV Guidelines means the guidance concerning community fire refuges issued from time to
time by Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) (or any other body that succeeds to the
functions of EMV). As at the date of this Direction, the EMV Guidelines are set out in the
document entitled Construction and Project Management Guidelines for Community Fire
Refuge but EMV Guidelines extends to any updated or amended version of that document or
to a replacement document according to what might be issued by EMV from time to time.
public construction has the meaning given to it in the Act.
For the purposes of this Direction, a reference to an Act or subordinate instrument is a
reference to that Act or subordinate instrument as amended from time to time
Introduction
The objective of a community fire refuge is to provide a place that may be used by the public
for short-term shelter from a fire front during a bushfire. This Direction is concerned with
establishing the standards for design, construction, modification, and maintenance of a
building (or part(s) of a building) to enable such building (or part(s) thereof) to be a
community fire refuge.
Performance requirements to be met
All aspects of the public construction by, or on behalf of, a department or public body, in
relation to a building (or part thereof) to be used as a community fire refuge must follow the
EMV Guidelines.
To avoid doubt, if a building (or part of a building) to be used as a community fire refuge, has
another use when not being used as a community fire refuge it must also comply with the
Building Code of Australia requirements applicable to its classification. Examples of buildings
that may also be a community fire refuge include a school, fire station, public hall, sporting
club rooms, sport change rooms, sports stadium, community centre or other public buildings
Robin Scott
Minister for Finance