Rapid Building Assessment Field Guide – all event types
About this document
Introduction
The objective of a rapid building assessment is to quickly establish the usability of buildings and associated infrastructure where functions may be compromised by a hazard event. Hazard events include earthquakes, floods, landslides, rock-fall, volcanic eruptions, severe weather, tsunami, fire, or any other natural hazard event that may have life safety consequences.
Contents
The scope of this field guide covers the rapid assessment of buildings carried out either:
- during a state of emergency or transition period declared under the Civil Defence Emergency Act 2002 (CDEM Act); and/or
- within an area designated under the Building Act 2004 (the Building Act) for the emergency management of buildings.
The focus of the rapid building assessment process is on immediate public safety, not the provision of an engineering assessment service to building owners. Quantified assessment of building damage is necessary to determine reconstruction programmes and resource requirements for repair, and to assess how long recovery may take. Such detailed assessment is outside the scope of this document.