Quake law gives Feilding building owners the shakes

Building owners say they may not be able to afford to fix their quakeprone buildings and are unlikely to meet the deadline.

The Manawatu District Council met with building owners on Tuesday to discuss the implications of the new earthquake-prone buildings law, including timeframes affected owners would need to adhere to. The legislation takes effect on July 1 and councils have been forced to carry out seismic assessments on buildings.

Chief executive Richard Templer said timeframes for owners to either strengthen or demolish buildings depended on the extent of the seismic risk. ‘‘An earthquake-prone building is a building that, after an assessment, is less than 34 per cent of the new building standard,’’ he said.

Priority buildings need to be identified by the council within 21⁄2 years from July. These include any unreinforced masonry buildings and those in town centres that pose a threat to public safety. Following the council’s assessment, building owners will have 71⁄2 years to strengthen or remove their building.

Non-priority buildings that don’t pose a safety threat are required to be identified by the council within five years. Owners will then have 15 years to strengthen or remove. Visique Feilding owner Brian Gifford was worried time constraints were too narrow. He said the time the council took to undertake assessments and sign off work throughout the process could hinder the deadlines building owners had.

Templer said the council was dedicated to working with building owners throughout the process. ‘‘If owners are working toward strengthening or demolition, and are running close to the timeframe, then there is an option to apply for a one-year extension, but that has to be applied for well in advance,’’ he said. ‘‘The onus is on council to get really slick when it comes to that. It’s up to us to make sure we’re not holding up the process.’’

Concerns were also raised about the penalties involved if owners couldn’t comply. ‘‘A building owner would be in breach of the Building Act,’’ Templer said. ‘‘That would involve a warning, fines, court action and potentially the building being taken off them. Building owners would be liable for a fine not exceeding $200,000. There is also the option for council to do the work and then recover costs from the owner.’’