Thousands of NZ buildings no longer require earthquake strengthening

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says common sense has prevailed, after the government passed legislation that means thousands of buildings across the country will no longer require earthquake strengthening.The Earthquake-prone Building Amendment Bill brings an end to quake strengthening rules in Auckland.It also means the earthquake-prone building system will no longer apply in the Chatham Islands and the low-seismic zone in the upper North Island within a matter of days.Parts of coastal Otago and Stewart Island that were previously in a low seismic zone will move to a medium seismic zone."Auckland is one of the least seismically active regions of New Zealand, with a much lower earthquake hazard than places such as Wellington and much of the South Island," Brown said."Despite that, Auckland building owners were being hit with ridiculous seismic assessment and strengthening costs for a risk that is far lower here than in other parts of the country."The system became a big earner for consultants and building managers writing reports, preparing estimates and assessments, proposing strengthening work and producing the dreaded earthquake ratings, all at considerable cost to building owners."Thankfully, common sense has prevailed.Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says the legislation is great news for residents in his city.RNZ / Nick Monro"Now we need to tackle the equally bad fire rules that hinder the conversion of second-tier office buildings into apartments in the city," Brown said.On Saturday, Building and Construction Minister Simon Watts hailed the unanimous passing of the legislation, saying the rules would now focus on buildings located in the areas with the greatest earthquake risk."Today, we are delivering significant reform that will save Kiwi building owners and the New Zealand economy a staggering $8.2 billion," he said on Saturday."Expensive and often unrealistic remediation costs that are disproportionate to risk threaten buildings becoming derelict. Instead, we're enabling that money to be invested elsewhere to grow businesses, jobs and the economy."For buildings that remain designated as earthquake-prone, remediation requirements will be more targeted, helping reduce costs and complexity, while ensuring life-safety risks are addressed."For many communities, particularly smaller towns, meeting the current requirements has been a significant challenge. The reforms take a more proportionate approach to managing seismic risk, while ensuring high-risk buildings continue to be identified and addressed," Watts said.About half of all buildings currently designated as earthquake-prone are expected to be removed from the system.