About the earthquake-prone buildings system

Background

Experience from the large earthquakes in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas has shown that if earthquake-prone buildings or parts of them fail, they can endanger people.

During the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011, thirty-nine people lost their lives when unreinforced masonry buildings collapsed. Minimising the risk of this happening is a priority in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Since 1931, when the Napier earthquake happened, Aotearoa New Zealand introduced standards for earthquake-resistant designs for new buildings. 

Improved knowledge of material properties, an understanding of the response of buildings during an earthquake and the way how earthquakes behave, has resulted in further developments to requirements for the design and detail of buildings.

What earthquake-prone means

A building or part of a building that collapses during a moderate earthquake, and causes injury or death, or damage to neighbouring property, is an earthquake-prone building.

National system for managing earthquake-prone buildings

The Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 describes a national system of how earthquake-prone buildings are identified and managed under the Building Act 2004. It uses knowledge learned from past earthquakes in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas. This system is consistent across the country and focuses on the most vulnerable buildings.

Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 - legislation.govt.nz

It categorises Aotearoa New Zealand into high, medium and low seismic risk areas. It also sets time frames for identifying the risk of the buildings and taking action to strengthen or remove earthquake-prone buildings.

Further, it gives information for people using buildings, such as nationally consistent earthquake-prone building notices showing the earthquake ratings for relevant buildings and a public earthquake-prone buildings register.