Territorial authorities and earthquake-prone buildings

Under the national system for identifying and managing earthquake-prone buildings, territorial authorities must:

• identify potentially earthquake-prone buildings and notify the building owners
• consider engineering assessments provided by building owners
• determine if a building is earthquake prone, and if it is, assign an earthquake rating
• issue earthquake-prone building notices to owners of earthquake-prone buildings
• publish information about earthquake-prone buildings on the earthquake-prone building register.

MBIE has developed a methodology to assist in this process, and provides a detailed step by step approach to be followed for both territorial authorities and engineers. 

Extension to EPB notice deadlines

The current earthquake prone building system was introduced in 2017 in response to the recommendations of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission.  A review of the system was expected to be held in 2027, however in April 2024 the Government has announced the review would be brought forward to commence in 2024.

The review has now started, with the formation of a Steering Group who will have oversight of the review.

It is possible the review will result in changes to existing obligations and deadlines for remediation. The review and any subsequent changes to the settings are expected to take until the end of 2026 to complete.

Earthquake-prone buildings with notices that expire on or after 2 April 2024 will have their deadline extended by 4 years, whilst the review is carried out.

It is important to note that the obligations remain for earthquake-prone building owners to remediate their buildings. Equally, territorial authorities are obliged to follow up with owners to ensure compliance for buildings with expiry notices on or before 1 April 2024.

For detailed guidance on extending EPB notice deadlines:

Identifying potentially earthquake-prone buildings

Territorial authorities must identify potential earthquake-prone buildings in their district. To identify these buildings, they must:

• use the various risk areas that apply in their district
• use any information that they already have on file on this building, like previous assessments or any building work that has been done to the building
  
  Advice on how to use existing information on file to identify potentially earthquake-prone buildings [PDF 197KB]
• use the profile categories as defined in the earthquake-prone building methodology
• identify earthquake-prone buildings through business-as-usual activities at any time. For example, this can be if a building consent application or proposed change of use triggers concern about a building’s earthquake performance
• consider priority buildings first as the timeframes for identifying those buildings are shorter. Some priority buildings are considered a higher risk because of their location. Councils will need to consult their community to help identify routes with priority buildings.
  
  Read more information on these priority buildings. 

Informing building owners

If a territorial authority identifies a building or a part of a building as potentially earthquake prone, the territorial authority must inform and request that the owner of the building or part to provide an engineering assessment. This request must include the due date for the engineering assessment, which must be 12 months after the date of the request. It also described the options if the owner is not reasonably able to provide this engineering assessment by the due date.

Engineering assessments

Building owner sending the engineering assessment to territorial authority

The building owner will have 12 months from request to provide an engineering assessment to the territorial authority. In addition, the building owner may request for an additional extension of 12 months if it is unable to reasonably provide an engineering assessment by the due date.

Read more information on building owners responsibilities.

Considering engineering assessments submitted

Territorial authorities must determine if engineering assessments for buildings meet the requirements of the earthquake-prone buildings methodology. Assessments completed before the new system came into effect can be accepted by territorial authorities if they meet the criteria specified in the earthquake-prone buildings methodology for previous assessments. More information about this can be found in earthquake-prone buildings methodology.

Determining and assigning an earthquake rating

Territorial authorities use the information in the engineering assessment to help determine whether a building is earthquake-prone. If this is the case, an earthquake rating must be assigned to the building. The earthquake-prone buildings methodology sets out how to do this.

The earthquake rating of the building will be the % of the New Building Standard or NBS specified in the engineering assessment report. The earthquake rating will correspond with an earthquake rating category prescribed in the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005.

Earthquake ratings mean the degree to which the building, or part, meets the seismic performance requirements of the Building Code.  This relates to how a building is likely to perform in an earthquake.  This is what would be used to design a new building on the same site as at 1 July 2017 – the date the new system came into force. 

For example, if a territorial authority determines that a building meets 25% of the requirements of the Building Code described above (ie equivalent to 25% of the New Building Standard or NBS) the earthquake rating of the building would be 25%.

The categories of earthquake rating prescribed in regulations are:

• 0% to less than 20%
• 20% to less than 34%.

These categories determine which earthquake-prone buildings notice will be issued. Detailed information on this can be found in the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005 - legislation.govt.nz 

Earthquake-prone building notices

Buildings that are earthquake-prone need to have an earthquake-prone building notice displayed. It is the responsibility of the territorial authorities to give out these notices.

These notices have different borders to indicate the earthquake rating category the building is in. The notices are shown below, with information on the relevant rating category.

Territorial authorities also putting this information in the online earthquake-prone building register.

Read about the meaning of these notices

Earthquake-prone building register

Publicly available information about earthquake-prone buildings is an important aspect of the national system. Territorial authorities are required to enter information about buildings that have been determined earthquake prone in the earthquake-prone building register, which is maintained by the MBIE.

Register of earthquake-prone buildings - epbr.building.govt.nz

Considering and granting exemptions

Owners of an earthquake-prone building or part of a building can apply to their territorial authority for an exemption from completing seismic work. The characteristics of buildings that may be eligible for an exemption from the requirement to carry out seismic work are outlined in regulations.

Territorial authorities should only grant exemptions from completing the necessary seismic work if there is a low consequence associated with the building’s failure in terms of life safety and property damage. The types of building expected to be eligible for an exemption are likely to be those located well away from other buildings or passers-by, eg some small rural community halls or churches.

Priority buildings will generally not be considered to have the characteristics necessary to be granted an exemption from remediation requirements due to their use, location or occupation characteristics.

Extensions for heritage buildings

Territorial authorities may receive applications from owners of earthquake-prone heritage buildings for an extension of up to 10 years to strengthen their buildings. The building will need to be a Category 1 historic place on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero, or included on the National Historic Landmarks list/Ngā Manawhenua o Aotearoa me ōna Kōrero Tūturu.

Managing non-compliance

If building owners do not display an earthquake-prone building notice, provide an engineering assessment or undertake seismic work within the time frames required, territorial authorities have powers to take action. This is described in The Building Act 2004.

The Building Act 2004 - legislation.govt.nz

Reporting on identification progress

Territorial authorities must report regularly to MBIE on their progress towards identifying potentially earthquake-prone buildings. Timeframes for this vary by seismic risk area:

• High – annually
• Medium – every two years
• Low – every three years.

Territorial authorities with multiple seismic risk areas are required to report on progress across their whole district at the frequency required according to the highest seismic risk area in their region.

Territorial authorities can find out how often they are required to report by checking their seismic risk area.

Z-values to determine seismic risk has further information.

More information

More information is available for territorial authorities.

Access a variety of resources and tools to assist.

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