Hamilton City Council have just issued notices to owners of buildings deemed to be earthquake prone (EPB Methodology), as is required by government legislation under section 133AL of the Building Act 2004. These notices are required to be displayed in a prominent position on the building.
Hamilton is currently classified as a Medium Risk area and buildings below 34% NBS (New Building Standard) are deemed to be earthquake-prone. Under the Building Act 2004 legislation, Councils around New Zealand are required to identify earthquake-prone buildings that fall within the following criteria
A) Unreinforced Masonry Buildings
B) Pre-1976 buildings that are either three or more storeys or 12 metres or greater in height above the lowest ground level (other than unreinforced masonry buildings in Category A)
C) Pre-1935 buildings that are one or two storeys (other than unreinforced masonry buildings in Category A)
HOWEVER, if an owner has previously provided a seismic or engineering report to Hamilton City Council that confirms a building is earthquake prone (below 34% NBS), even if it does not fall within the above criteria, then Hamilton City Council also has an obligation to issue a notice relating it being an Earthquake-Prone Building.
Timeframe to Remedy or Demolish
Buildings that that been identified by the relevant authorities as Earthquake-Prone, generally have 25 years from the date of the notice or remedy to demolish.
HOWEVER, should it be deemed a Priority Building, then an owner would only have 12.5 years to remedy or demolish. A Priority Building is defined under 133AE of the Building Act 2004 and are buildings situated on a Priority Route, such as those having the potential to impede a transport route of strategic importance (in terms of an emergency response) if the building were to collapse in an earthquake. This will apply to unreinforced masonry buildings on main thoroughfares and high pedestrian routes, along with hospitals, emergency response services and education facilities occupied by at least 20 people.
The onus of proof appears to lie with the owner, as there will be buildings at 34% NBS or marginally higher, where the relevant local authority may seek a peer review of the seismic report that they have been supplied with, due to the figure potentially being within a margin of error.
MBIE (Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment) now holds a register, supplied by the local authority, of all of Hamilton’s buildings deemed to be earthquake-prone: epbr.building.govt.nz
There is also a very useful satellite map which enables you to zoom in, which specifically identifies buildings from a birds eye view, including the address.
If one searches, it currently shows for Hamilton (although this may increase if more buildings are identified) the number of such buildings within an area:
- Claudelands 3
- Frankton 58
- Hamilton Central 51
- Hamilton East 21
- Hamilton Lake 9
- Hillcrest 13
- Te Rapa 4
We have also seen some Waikato towns identify theirs:
- Cambridge 42
- Te Awamutu 20
Note: a number of other towns have not as yet uploaded their register of earthquake-prone buildings.
The fact that a building is deemed earthquake prone, having a defined timeframe to remedy or demolish, does not mean that it must be immediately vacated and remain so until this work is completed. There is no legal requirement to close a building because of a low NBS rating.
No need to vacate earthquake-prone buildings, MBIE says
Stuff: Justin Wong, Jul 04 2022
MBIE published new seismic risk guidance for buildings on Monday, saying earthquake-prone structures don’t need to be vacated. Instead, their owners should mitigate earthquakes risks through emergency planning and training.
MBIE’s Building Performance and Engineering Manager Dr Dave Gittings said there was a need to provide guidance on how to interpret seismic assessments, and earthquakes are low probability compared to other risks.
He also said the NBS was not a predictor of building failure in an earthquake, and buildings with low NBS scores were not in imminent danger.
