Council hunting for quake-prone buildings putting people at risk

Wednesday, 10 October 2018

The CTV building in Christchurch after the February 2011 earthquake.

Thousands of Christchurch buildings could prove dangerous in future earthquakes, and a new campaign is targeting those that could collapse on the public.

Under new laws all councils must identify quake-prone commercial and multi-unit residential buildings, and order owners to strengthen or demolish them within set timeframes.

Some of New Regent St's buildings are listed on the national register of earthquake prone sites.

Christchurch City Council estimates up to 10,000 Christchurch buildings, including those built before 1974 and many others, are potentially affected.

The council is now launching a public consultation programme to find quake-prone buildings near busy roads or walkways, or on routes of strategic importance, which it must target under the new laws.

Quake-prone buildings on key routes such as these roads leading to Christchurch Airport will be targeted for attention under new laws.

Earthquake-prone buildings will be required to display warning notices, such as this one at Christchurch Hospital's riverside building.

* No work on earthquake-prone hospital building for at least 12 months

* Government halves timeframe to fix most dangerous buildings**

Despite large numbers of demolitions and repairs since the earthquakes, Christchurch has the second-highest number of listings, behind Wellington, on a national register of quake-prone buildings. This is due to engineering assessments done after the earthquakes to identify at-risk properties.

The 588 buildings already on the Christchurch list include buildings at Christchurch, Burwood and Hillmorton hospitals, central city buildings including the former chief post office and old Odeon theatre, buildings at schools including Christchurch Boys' and Shirley Boys' high schools and St Margarets College, shopping complexes such as The Palms, both the city's cathedrals, factories, fire station and office buildings, and a raft of small buildings from toilet blocks to sports pavilions and community libraries.

As a high-risk area, Christchurch has two-and-a-half years to assess and seven-and-a-half years to repair high priority buildings, such as hospitals, schools, emergency sites and central city buildings. Lower priority buildings must be assessed within five years and strengthened or demolished within 15 years.

Owners will also need to display a notice warning the public of the building's quake-prone status.

Buildings left damaged and dangerous by the earthquakes are already required to be cordoned off until repaired, so are not included in the new process.

Ann Brower, who was the only survivor when a building collapsed on a bus in the February 2011 earthquake, made submissions to Government before the new law was passed and later said she was 'delighted' that it would force owners to strengthen buildings sooner.

A total of 40 people died in the Christchurch earthquake because of the failure of unreinforced masonry buildings.

The council's head of building consenting, Robert Wright, said while about 4000 buildings have been assessed, an estimated 6000 remain to be done.

About half the owners asked for detailed engineering evaluations (DEEs) by Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) after the earthquakes have provided them. Wright said those reports would suffice as the detailed seismic assessments (DSAs) now required by the new laws.

Wright said that while the council still had many quake-prone buildings to identify, owners in the city 'recognised the risk aspect' better than those in other centres.

Council has already listed some of the city's busy roads, pedestrian ways or strategic routes, and wants public feedback on its list.

They include all roads and walkways in the central city, as well as busy spots on private land and key routes to places such as hospitals and the airport and port.

A month of public consultation starts on Monday, when council will launch an interactive map on its website illustrating the strategic routes it has identified.

'We are well ahead in identifying our at-risk buildings. But we not suggesting that we know about every nook and cranny in the city near public access - it would be great to have some fresh eyes from the community,' Wright said.

'We'd rather have a long list of things to check off rather than miss places.'

Property owner and investor Shaun Stockman has strengthened at least 20 old buildings in Christchurch and said it made sense for owners to get on and do it.

'Why would you want an asset that's deficient? It's like owning a car that's half broken,' Stockman said.

'Generally fit-outs wear out in about 15 years, so that's probably not a bad time to do it.'

The national register of earthquake-prone buildings can be viewed online at www.building.govt.nz/managing-buildings/managing-earthquake-prone-buildings/epb-register, while the interactive map of important routes goes live on Monday at ccc.govt.nz/thoroughfaresandstrategicroutes.