Earthquake-prone Buildings - Introduction

Wellington is built on several earthquake fault lines

The impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes have raised public awareness of the need to prepare for earthquakes or other disasters.

It is important to understand how a significant earthquake could affect Wellington. The city is built on several earthquake fault lines and areas of reclaimed land. As a result, Wellington's building performance standards are the highest in New Zealand.

Buildings in Earthquakes

We've pulled together some general information to answer the types of questions you may have about building safety in earthquakes:

Common Questions about Building Safety (22Kb PDF) l Text version (8Kb RTF)

Commercial, Public & Residential Buildings

We're providing a range of information for building owners, homeowners and tenants about the response of different building types to an earthquake:

Heritage Buildings

If you have a heritage building, see:

Conserving Heritage Buildings

Technical Information & Regulations

We've also put together some of the technical information and reports about designing and building for earthquakes:

Design and Technical Reports

There are also legislative acts, standards and Council policies and plans that apply to make buildings safe in earthquakes:

Regulations

The Council's Role in Earthquake Preparedness

Since the 1970s, Wellington City Council has been actively identifying at-risk buildings and requiring the owners to make these safe to occupy.

The Council has an Earthquake-prone Buildings Policy. The policy is designed to make sure that public and commercial buildings, and certain multi-storey residential buildings, meet the building performance standards required by the Building Act 2004.

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Role of Local and Central Government

The Council is also working on a range of projects to strengthen our infrastructure and build our city's resilience. For more information see:

Earthquake Resilience Work Programme (26Kb PDF) | Text version (4Kb RTF)

Buildings Not Affected by the Policy

Buildings used for residential purposes are generally excluded from the scope of the Council's Earthquake-prone Buildings Policy unless they are two or more storeys high and contain three or more household units. This means the policy doesn't apply to most of the city's houses, but it might affect apartments or blocks of flats.

Reviewing Our Approach

The Council's current Earthquake-prone Buildings Policy was adopted in 2009. The Canterbury earthquakes have prompted us to look at the policy again.

During 2011/12 the Council is undertaking a broad-based review of its approach to buildings in earthquakes and this review may recommend that the Council extend its role beyond its regulatory functions. However, the Council will first wait for any changes to building standards and/or legislative changes that may come out of the findings of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission.

The Council's review will cover commercial, public and private buildings, and take into account heritage preservation, character, economic and community considerations. This review may lead to changes to the Earthquake-prone Buildings Policy.

Report 2: Review of Council's Response to Earthquake-prone Buildings - Strategy and Policy Committee meeting - 15.09.11

The Council also plans to strengthen some of its own properties where we've identified the need for improvements.

Introduction
Earthquake-prone Buildings Policy
Building Safety in an Earthquake
Role of Local & Central Government
Regulations

Earthquake-prone Buildings