Christchurch’s Civic Building now considered ‘earthquake prone’, but still safe to occupy, council says

Monday, 23 February 2026

The city council’s Civic Building is in worse shape than originally thought, and the repair bill, already over $1 million, continues to rise.

Problems with the Christchurch building’s six-storey annex, fronting Worcester Blvd, were identified in May, leading to the abrupt evacuation of 400 staff from the 9m by 80m space.

The area, which includes the council meeting chamber, has been off limits since and now problems have been discovered with several sets of stairs, parts of the roof, cladding, verandas and a small section of flooring.

The issues mean parts of the building, which houses about 1500 staff, now sit below 33% of the new building standard (NBS) and are considered earthquake prone.

But Christchurch City Council head of facilities and property Bruce Rendall said independent engineers had confirmed none of the issues posed an immediate safety hazard that would require closing the building.

“As with any multi‑storey building, the overall NBS rating is determined by the lowest‑rated structural element. The draft DSA (detailed seismic assessment) indicates that a small number of items fall below 33% NBS.”

Documents released to The Press show the additional flaws were discovered during a DSA commissioned in mid-2025.

Preliminary findings were shared with the council in late November and prompted an urgent rethink of the plan to repair the annex.

Internal council emails show annex repairs were due to start in January but were delayed while work to strengthen two stairwells at either end of the building was prioritised.

The stairwell work began in late December when the council building was shut for the holidays and will continue through March.

The council and Ngāi Tahu Property Ltd jointly own the building and the council’s 50% share of the stairwell strengthening is expected to be under $1 million, Rendall said.

But, the full cost of all the seismic work including the annex, has not yet been disclosed.

Rendall said the cost had not been provided to the council, as the responsibility for defining and delivering the work sat with the building owners.

The council was also unable to say when work on the annex and the other additional issues would begin.

On November 25, the council responded to questions from The Press about the annex, saying repair work would start in January and be completed by October.

Documents released under official information laws show a day later the council received a summary of the structural assessment highlighting the further problems - problems revealed to the public only through The Press’ recent request.

Internal emails also show staff raised concerns about the seismic safety of the building after being told about the stairwells.

They questioned why the annex, with a 40% NBS rating, was evacuated, yet the stairs were below 33% and considered safe.

In a response to staff, the council said the stairs were safe for normal use, but in a major earthquake could pose a risk to safety, which was why the repair work was progressed quickly. However, before Christmas staff were encouraged to use the lifts until the strengthening was complete.

Staff were told they could use the internal stairs in the annex to exit the building in the event of a fire.

Rendall last week said the safety of staff, elected members and visitors was the council’s highest priority.

“As part of our risk‑management approach, we have relied on Government guidance on the continued occupation of buildings with identified seismic risks. Based on that guidance, along with our existing safety procedures and controls, continued use of the building is considered appropriate.”

Rendall said some strengthening had been recommended for publicly accessible stairs, but this was precautionary, and all stairwells had been assessed as safe for continued use.

He said the full seismic assessment had yet to be finalised.

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 with the council.

The annex was added during the redevelopment, and had an NBS rating of 40%, so the annex was not earthquake-prone, but the connections posed a risk due to the potential for brittle failure.