DIY vs hire a contractor for firebreak clearing in WA
You can legally clear your own firebreaks in WA. Whether you should depends on block size, slope, equipment, and how much your weekend is worth.
DIY vs hire a contractor for firebreak clearing in WA
The legal answer is straightforward. The Bush Fires Act 1954 (WA) requires you, the landholder, to clear and maintain firebreaks to your council's standard. It says nothing about who has to do the work. If you want to do it yourself with a brush cutter and a Saturday, the council does not care - as long as the result passes inspection. The practical answer is more nuanced and depends on four things: block size, slope, what equipment you have or can hire, and how much your time is worth. This guide walks through the decision honestly. Most rural-fringe owners who try DIY on a Hills block end up calling a contractor after the first failed inspection.
The quick answer
| Block | Honest recommendation |
|---|---|
| Under half an acre, flat, grass only | DIY with a brush cutter |
| Half to 1 acre, mostly flat, light scrub | DIY if you own a ride-on, hire otherwise |
| 1 to 2 acres, any slope, any scrub | Hire |
| Over 2 acres, Hills block, dead timber | Hire, and book early |
The crossover point is roughly 1 acre or any slope above gentle. Below that, DIY is realistic. Above that, the equipment cost and time burden almost always favour hiring.
What "clear your own firebreak" actually involves
A council firebreak notice typically requires a strip of cleared land (usually 3 metres wide, sometimes more) around the inside of your boundary, with vegetation reduced to a maximum height (commonly 50mm) and either kept as short grass or grader-cut to mineral earth. Most notices also require reducing fuel load across the rest of the block - leaf litter, dead wood on the ground, low scrub thickets, branches under 2 metres on tree trunks.
So DIY is not just mowing a strip. It is:
- Slashing or cutting the perimeter to width and height
- Reducing fuel load across the whole block
- Pruning ladder fuels off trees
- Disposing of the cleared material
- Coming back through summer to top-up the regrowth
Each of those is its own job and each has its own equipment requirements.
Equipment you need
For a flat sub-acre block
Minimum kit:
- Brush cutter or whipper snipper with a metal blade (not just nylon line) - $400 to $900 new, or $80 a day to hire
- Long-sleeve thick cotton or canvas, eye protection, hearing protection, sturdy boots
- A rake and a wheelbarrow
- A way to deal with the green waste - tip pass, bulk bin, or mulch pile
A reasonable Saturday of work for a fit person on a half-acre. Maybe two Saturdays the first time.
For an acre-plus block
You need a slasher, not just a brush cutter. Options:
- Ride-on mower with a slashing deck (4-foot minimum). $4,000 to $15,000 new, $200 to $400 a day to hire. Cuts a 1-acre flat block in under 2 hours.
- Tow-behind slasher on a small tractor. $3,000 to $10,000 for the slasher, assumes you already own the tractor. The professional option.
- Self-propelled walk-behind slasher. $2,000 to $5,000 new, $150 a day to hire. Slow but handles rougher ground than a ride-on.
You also need a chainsaw for any dead branches, scrub up to wrist-thickness, and ladder fuel pruning. A 14-inch petrol chainsaw is $300 to $600 new, $50 a day to hire. If you have never used one, do not start now during firebreak season. Chainsaw injuries are common and bad.
For a Hills block with slope
You probably do not own the right equipment. A standard ride-on mower will roll on slopes above about 15 degrees. A tow-behind slasher behind a small tractor will skid out. The right machine is a tracked remote-controlled slasher (think Robocut or McConnell Robocut) - and those are $40,000 to $80,000 to own. Daily hire, if you can find one, is $800 to $1,500 plus operator. By the time you have hired the machine and the operator, you have paid contractor rates anyway.
Hire-vs-buy economics
The break-even calculation looks like this. Say you have a 1-acre block in Kalamunda that needs initial clearing plus three summer touch-ups.
| Option | Year 1 cost | Year 5 cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hire ride-on + brush cutter + chainsaw (4 days/year) | $1,400 | $7,000 | Plus your time |
| Buy used ride-on ($4,000) + brush cutter ($600) + chainsaw ($400) | $5,000 | $5,800 | Plus storage, servicing, fuel |
| Hire contractor for season package | $2,000 to $3,000 | $10,000 to $15,000 | Done in 4 visits, no labour from you |
Buying is cheapest over 5 years if you are willing to do the work. Hiring equipment makes sense only for very small blocks. Hiring a contractor is most expensive in dollars but the cheapest in time. The right answer depends on whether you would rather spend $5,000 over five years and 16 days of weekends, or $12,000 over five years and zero weekends.
For a detailed cost breakdown of the contractor option, see the firebreak cost guide.
Time required for DIY
Honest numbers for an average-fitness owner doing it for the first time.
| Block size | Initial clear | Each touch-up | Annual total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-acre flat | 1 day | 2 hours | 2 days |
| 1 acre flat | 2 days | half day | 3 days |
| 1 acre with light scrub | 3 days | half day | 4 to 5 days |
| 2-acre Hills with scrub | 6 to 8 days | 1 day | 10 to 12 days |
Add 50% to all of these if it is your first year. Add another 30% if you have to learn to use the chainsaw safely. Subtract 30% if you have done it before and know your block.
What is NOT DIY
Some jobs you should not do yourself, full stop.
Operating a slasher on a sloped block
Hills blocks roll machines. Every Perth Hills contractor has stories. If your block is steeper than you can comfortably walk up while carrying a bag of groceries, do not put a slasher on it. Hire someone with a tracked machine.
Felling dead trees over the firebreak
Standing dead trees (stags) are the most dangerous thing on a rural block. They have unpredictable internal rot. They drop branches without warning. Felling one with a chainsaw is technical work and people die doing it badly. If your block has stags within reach of the firebreak, get an arborist or a qualified contractor. Budget $200 to $600 per tree.
Operating a tow-behind slasher you have never used before
Tow-behind slashers have power take-off (PTO) shafts that turn at 540 rpm. They are the number-one cause of agricultural amputations in Australia. If you have never operated one, do not start with a hired one during firebreak season.
Pile burning without a permit
If you DIY-clear and pile the green waste to burn, you need to wait for the council's permitted burning window (usually winter, 1 May to 30 September in most Hills councils, but check your council notice) and you may need a written permit. Burning out of season is an offence with separate fines stacked on top of any firebreak offence. See the green-waste disposal guide.
The "failed first inspection" story
This is the most common pattern in Hills councils. An owner does the initial clear themselves, thinks it looks fine, fails the council ranger inspection, gets a "rectification notice" with a tight deadline, panics, and calls a contractor in mid-November when every contractor is booked solid. The contractor charges urgency pricing. The owner has now spent the same money they would have spent hiring upfront, plus their own weekend, plus the stress.
Why does this happen? Three reasons:
- Width. Owners underestimate 3 metres. Walking it off looks wider than it actually is. Inspectors measure.
- Fuel load across the block. Owners focus on the perimeter strip and miss that the notice requires fuel reduction across the whole block. Long grass between the house and the firebreak fails inspection.
- Ladder fuels. Tree branches under 2 metres on the trunk are ladder fuels. Inspectors look for them and most DIY clears skip them.
If you are going to DIY, walk your block with a ranger before the deadline (most councils will do an advisory visit on request) and ask them to point out what they would fail you on. Free, and saves the panic call later.
The honest break-even
The DIY decision comes down to this question: what is your time worth, and do you enjoy doing the work?
If you genuinely enjoy a Saturday on the mower, own the equipment, and have a manageable block, DIY is fine. Most retirees on a flat 1-acre block in Swan or Wanneroo do it themselves for decades without issue.
If your block is steep, scrub-heavy, or larger than 2 acres, the math always favours hiring. The equipment is more expensive than the contractor and the risk profile is worse.
The cleanest middle ground is the season package - hire a contractor for the initial October clear (the hard one) and DIY the summer touch-ups (the easy ones). Most contractors will quote this way if you ask.
A DIY checklist if you are going ahead
- Read your council's firebreak notice in full. Linked from your council hub: Mundaring, Kalamunda, Swan, Armadale, Chittering, Serpentine-Jarrahdale.
- Measure your perimeter. Walk it with a tape. 3 metres in, 3 metres along.
- Plan green-waste disposal before you start cutting. Tip pass, bin, or mulch.
- Service your equipment in September. Slasher blades sharpened, chainsaw chain new, brush cutter line stocked.
- Start in early October at the latest. Earlier if you have any chance of rain.
- Do an advisory walk with a council ranger. Free, useful.
- Photograph the result. Useful if there is any later dispute about whether you complied.
- Schedule the touch-ups. Calendar reminders for December, January, February.
FAQ
Is it legal to clear my own firebreak in WA?
Yes. There is no licensing requirement to do firebreak work on your own land in WA. Anyone can do it. The legal requirement is that the result meets your council's notice standard by the deadline.
Do I need a chainsaw licence?
Not for use on your own private land. For commercial work yes, for your own block no. That said, chainsaw injuries are common. If you have not used one, do a TAFE half-day course before firebreak season. About $250 and well spent.
What if I do it badly and the inspector fails me?
You will get a rectification notice with a deadline (usually 7 to 14 days). If you do not fix it by then, the council can either fine you, do the work themselves and bill you (typically at 1.5x to 2x normal rate), or refer you for prosecution. Best case: an extra week of stress. Worst case: a $5,000 fine on top of having to pay for the work anyway. See your council's penalties.
Can I share equipment with neighbours?
Yes, and it is a great idea. A used ride-on shared among three neighbours becomes much more economical. Just agree in writing who pays for fuel, servicing, and replacement when it dies.
What about hiring just the slasher and operator without the contractor?
Some equipment hire places offer a slasher-plus-operator day rate. Around $600 to $900 a day in Perth. Cheaper than a full contractor quote on small jobs, but you are still on the hook for fuel-load reduction, dead tree removal, and green-waste disposal as separate jobs.
Will the council give me an extension if I do it myself and run out of time?
Sometimes. Most councils have a hardship-extension process but you need to apply before the deadline, not after. "I tried to DIY and ran out of time" is not a strong case. "I am 78, on a pension, and recovering from surgery" is. Talk to your council ranger early.
Is hiring labour off Gumtree the same as hiring a contractor?
No. A licensed contractor has insurance, an ABN, and a track record. A Gumtree day-labourer with a brush cutter has none of these. If they injure themselves on your block, your home insurance will not cover it. If they damage your fence, you have no recourse. Cheap is not always cheap.
If you have decided to hire, the firebreakcheck directory lists contractors by council and service. If you are still on the fence, check the firebreak cost guide for what hiring actually costs on a block like yours.