Fire
Most fires spread rapidly throughout a home via the wood framing in the walls. Rammed earth homes are obviously much safer than wood frame homes. Rammed Earth walls have a four hour fire rating (highest needed in most general building codes).

Fire tests to AS 1530.4 - 1985 on a 300mm thick stabilised rammed earth wall stabilised gave 240/240/240 for structural adequacy/integrity/insulative capacity.

Rammed Earth does not burn or evolve smoke or toxic chemicals as many other building products do.

There are well documented cases of old earth buildings having their roofs and fitments destroyed by fire, and the earth walls left standing undamaged and because they are simply too difficult to demolish, being used again as the solid basis for the rebuilding and refurbishing of the building.

"In Washington, DC, a formidable two-story rammed earth building, with walls 2 feet (610 mm) thick, was constructed in 1773. It stood at 1300 Rhode Island Avenue for two centuries, serving for a period as an embassy, and was demolished only when the land became more valuable for other real estate. It is said that the wrecking ball used in this effort was ineffective, the thick earth walls absorbing the shock."

Earthquake
Rammed Earth Houses are engineered to withstand or reduce the damaging effects of earthquakes.

In Mendoza, Argentina, historical rammed earth homes with walls of 60 to 100 cm thick had enough resistance to withstand all earthquakes of the last centuries, whereas all modern buildings built of adobe or bricks collapsed.

Research in New Zealand also indicates that monolithic earth walls perform better under earthquake conditions than walls made of separate bricks or blocks.

Whatever the engineering design, each home is constructed to the highest standards of workmanship and quality control and built to meet the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code.

"The Church of the Holy Cross in Sumter, South Carolina, was constructed in 1850 of rammed earth and is still in use today. This impressive public structure, with its steeple and steeply pitched gable roof, has required relatively little maintenance over its 148 years."

Weather
The lasting qualities of rammed earth as a construction material are apparent in the traditional buildings that have survived over two centuries of use.

As long as the soil is chosen properly with a small percentage of cement stabilising the soil, the finished walls will be as resistant to deterioration as the parent rock from which the soil came from, and in some cases even more so. We protect the majority of our walls with overhangs (eaves), as is prudent in any form of construction.

Strength
Our rock solid, durable, wall system of 350mm thick rammed earth walls give a true feeling of stability and permanence.

Rammed earth is very strong in compressive strength and can be used for multistory load-bearing construction.

Due to the elasticity of rammed earth (the ability to absorb shock) there is less need for steel in the walls than concrete as it is not so inflexible. This is evident when demolishing earth walls that refuse to crack into large blocks (demolition of earth walls is never an easy job!).

This inherent flexibility or elasticity is also the most important structural defense against earthquakes, as well as aiding in its impressive load bearing ability.