Seismic issues at city council’s Civic Building force 400 staff to relocate

Tuesday, 20 May 2025

Staff working in the northern part of the Christchurch City Council’s Te Hononga Civic Offices are being relocated.

Four hundred staff working in part of the Christchurch City Council’s Te Hononga Civic Offices are being abruptly relocated following engineering issues with the building.

Mayor Phil Mauger’s office is affected along with the council meeting chamber.

Wednesday’s council meeting has been cancelled and after that meetings will be held at the Fendalton Service Centre until the issue is resolved.

The issue with the building is not related to the construction of a new building next door, council chief executive Mary Richardson says.

About 1500 staff work in the building, which is jointly owned by the council and Ngāi Tahu Property.

The council on Tuesday said engineers were reviewing the seismic performance of the building’s annex and staff working on the north side of the building were being moved.

Engineers have advised the council it may have to bring the annex on the Worcester Blvd side of the building to a higher standard, council chief executive Mary Richardson said.

A detailed engineers assessment was under way and was expected to be completed in three weeks.

Richardson said the council was taking a precautionary approach, as safety was paramount, to relocate staff working on the north side of the building.

“As a result, staff will be relocated to other parts of the main Te Hononga building or to other council facilities until we receive the report,” Richardson said.

“Once we have the engineers’ findings, staff will either return back to their desks or we will start work on strengthening the annex’s connection to the main building.”

Council chief executive Mary Richardson says the council is looking at various options for moving affected staff. (File photo)

The issue was with the northern edge of the building, which faces Worcester Blvd. It is an annex that was integrated onto the original building. All floors of the building were affected.

Richardson said she was advised on Friday afternoon that the council may be required to bring the annex up to a higher standard and then received a more detailed engineering briefing on Monday morning, leading to the call to relocate 400 staff.

Richardson said the issue with the building was not related to the construction of a new building next door on Worcester Blvd.

The issue caused a council briefing earlier on Tuesday to be moved to the multicultural centre at Hagley Park.

Richardson said a range of relocation options for affected staff were being developed.

“I want to thank staff, elected members and visitors to our Civic Offices for their patience and understanding. We want to minimise disruption as much as possible,” she said.

“We’re in a period of uncertainty and people may have questions that we may not be able to answer until we have all the details while we wait for the outcome of the report.”

The council moved into the seven-storey building in 2010. The former New Zealand Post Mail Centre was redeveloped by Ngāi Tahu Property in a joint venture.