shutters.net.au

Shutters, blade by blade

A guide to shutters in plain words, published by Dotto from the official sources listed at the foot of each page. Five guides, one for each blade of the louvre, each answering one question a household asks before shutters go up.

General information only. Rules differ between states and territories, and each guide says whose rule it is.

Late sun through white louvred shutters throws bands of light and the shadow of a wooden chair across a tiled room.
Light through louvred shutters, the idea behind this guide. Photo by sharonrea on Pixabay

The five blades

Tilt any blade open. The bushfire blade is the one in ember orange.

  1. 01Who may sell and install shuttersThe NSW licence that covers selling and fitting roller shutters, and what every other state’s licence pages say.
  2. 02Shutters in bushfire areas outside NSWWhat Queensland, Victoria’s CFA, South Australia’s CFS and WA say about shutters where bushfires happen.
  3. 03Cords on blinds and internal coveringsThe ACCC’s guide to blind and curtain cords and its overview of the mandatory standards, both quoted whole.
  4. 04Windows, children and fallsThe building code’s rule for openable windows, louvres included, quoted word for word.
  5. 05Buying shutters: your rightsConsumer guarantees, warranties and the rules for a salesperson at your door.

Four things the light shows

Licences differ sharply. NSW Police says that, with some exceptions, people who sell or install roller shutters need a Class 2B and/or a Class 2C security licence. No other state’s licensing page read for this guide names shutters at all, so the licence guide sets out what each one does say.

Shutters help in a bushfire, within limits. South Australia’s Country Fire Service says “Metal shutters provide protection from radiant heat.” It also warns that shutters stop you watching the fire once you have retreated inside.

Cords are a child safety matter. Product Safety Australia says “Young children have died in Australian homes from accidents with corded blinds and curtains.” Its whole guide, and its overview of the standards behind it, are in the cords guide.

A louvre is a window too. The National Construction Code’s window barrier rules reach “windows that may let in air but not light, e.g. metal louvres.”

How each guide is written

Every rule carries the name of the place it comes from. A Queensland rule is written as Queensland’s and a national code as national, because a shutter in Hobart and a shutter in Perth answer to different pages.

Where a government licenses its words for reuse, the guide quotes them exactly, in quotation marks. Where it does not, the guide puts them in plain words and links the page. Safety text, such as the ACCC’s cord guide, is never shortened: it appears whole or not at all.

The guides do not give prices: none of the official pages they draw on sets one, so the buying guide covers your rights instead.

Where the light comes from

Every guide is written from government pages: police licensing branches, fire services, the Australian Building Codes Board, Product Safety Australia and the ACCC, and state consumer agencies. Each page lists its own sources at the foot, with the date they were checked. Where a state has no page on a topic, the guide says so rather than filling the gap.

Shutters bought for a home come with consumer guarantees that the ACCC says businesses must meet when they sell products or services. An installer can talk through the product, the fitting and the paperwork for your windows.