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12-month deadline for EQ fix
12-month deadline for EQ fix
Owners of about 300 earthquake-prone buildings will have 12 months to secure unreinforced masonry, following theNovember 14 Kaikoura earthquake.
Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith announced the deadline on Wednesday, which will come with government and council subsidies up to 50 per cent of the remediation costs. The Government will put up $3 million toward the costs and building owners will have 12 months to get the work done.
The buildings in Wellington, Lower Hutt and Marlborough have been identified as having unreinforced masonry facades and parapets that pose a risk to the public in the period of heightened risk of aftershock following the Kaikoura earthquake.
Tieback work to secure parapets and facades was estimated at about $20-30,000 per building, but could significantly reduce the risk of fatalities in an earthquake, Dr Smith said.
The decision was based on a report from the NZ Society of Earthquake Engineering, provided to government in December. The Society's president Peter Smith told media that the aim was not to frighten people, "but there is a heightened period of risk and that...has the potential for causing loss of life".
In the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, 39
people were killed and 100 injured because of unsecured
masonry.
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