Hon Gerry Brownlee

Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission

4 September 2014 Media Statement

Two major EQC repair milestones reached

Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission (EQC) Gerry Brownlee says the fourth anniversary of the first Canterbury Earthquake has coincided with the reaching of two significant milestones by the organisation.

“First, the Canterbury Home Repair Programme (CHRP) has reached $2 billion in net payments to contractors since the repair of earthquake damage began in the city in October 2010.

“Second, the programme has just completed its 60,000th full-scope repair, leaving just under 10,000 repairs to go.

“These milestones illustrate the scale of the programme, which has made it easily the largest employer of residential construction skills and resources in New Zealand’s history,” Mr Brownlee says.

The programme allocates work to accredited contractors under scopes of work approved by the EQC. Fletcher EQR is the project manager under contract to the EQC.

“In total, the programme has now completed over 138,000 repairs; 60,000 full-scope repairs, 59,000 emergency repairs and 19,000 heating repairs or installations.

“The numbers tell their own story about the challenge accepted by EQC and Fletcher almost four years ago,” Mr Brownlee says.

“But this isn’t just about the scale of the job, it’s been about high standards which property owners can count on, and this has underpinned confidence in greater Christchurch’s housing market.”

Of the just under 10,000 repairs to go, most are booked in and awaiting start dates while some other customers are considering their options. It is estimated that between 2000 and 3000 repairs will be completed in 2015 to round off the programme.

Repairs must be consistent with EQC’s obligations under the Earthquake Commission Act, the Building Act, the Building Code and any other relevant legislation.

Fletcher EQR has accredited contracting firms that meet the requirements for registration under the Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) regime. Contractors are allocated work through a process that includes reference to scale, capacity, capability, qualifications and past performance. There is also a structured process of contractor performance evaluation and a disciplinary regime that deals with under-performance.

Quality assurance is provided by a hierarchy of processes that includes:

• Contractor accreditation based on industry standards

• Monitoring by a Contract Supervisor who is a Fletcher EQR staff member

• Solutions and repair strategies approved by BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand)

• Building Act and trade warranties

• Three-months Defect Liability Period

• A robust and transparent process for queries and complaints

“EQC’s regular polling of customers has established a satisfaction rate consistently above 80 per cent for the repairs, which is higher than the known experience for the repair and renovation sector generally in New Zealand,” Mr Brownlee says.

For more information on the Canterbury Home Repair Programme visit: www.eqc.govt.nz/canterbury-earthquakes/home-repair-process/chrp

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