NRMA partnership releases free disaster-resilient house designs

IAG-backed NRMA Insurance (NRMA), one of the insurers that helped flood-affected communities in the catastrophic flooding in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) early this year, has teamed up with the Bushfire Building Council of Australia (BBCA) and the Shoalhaven City Council to release free disaster-resilient house designs and handbooks.

As part of the FORTIS House Project, the BBCA has launched free architectural drawings, specifications, and handbooks to make it easier to build affordable, sustainable homes resilient to extreme weather, mould, and pests.

The project, led by the BBCA in partnership with NRMA and Shoalhaven City Council, includes:

• Free architectural drawings and construction specifications of “FORTIS House,” an adaptable house design that is highly resilient to bushfire, storm, heatwave, flood, cyclone, mould, and pests. It is also energy efficient, 100% electric, and solar-powered, and it uses cost-effective building solutions and readily available materials – allowing builders and households to adapt the design to any lifestyle and budget; and
• Free handbooks for community members, designers, and builders outlining how to adapt the FORTIS House and its principles to any house design, site, and local risks.

The resources were developed through a world-first community-led design process with members of the Shoalhaven community who were impacted by floods and bushfires and leading independent bushfire, storm, flood, and cyclone resilience experts, engineers, and architects – including climate and resilience experts from NRMA.

Read more: NRMA’s new partnership to help small businesses ‘survive & thrive’

“As an insurer, we see the heartbreaking impact extreme weather and disasters have on our customers and communities first-hand, so it has been exciting to see the Shoalhaven community lead the design of FORTIS House,” said Luke Gallagher, executive general manager at NRMA.

“It’s incredible to be part of a project that empowers people to protect themselves against these climate and disaster risks and gives them practical solutions so they can build back easier, faster, and stronger. We’re proud to have been working with the BBCA team over the last three years on projects like this to help communities better understand disaster risk and to help them reduce and mitigate that risk.”

Prefabricated FORTIS Houses will be available to purchase and can be constructed in as little as 12 weeks.

“FORTIS House will save time and money, fast-track the building process, and help people create an affordable, sustainable, adaptable, and highly resilient house. It also has the potential to help improve the resilience of our communities and save lives and properties, so we’re very excited to be releasing the drawings and handbooks for free to all Australians,” said BBCA CEO Kate Cotter.

The resources’ release to help individuals become more resilient follows NRMA’s partnership with Survive & Thrive to help small business owners increase their resilience.