Faith in building safety at risk

You may have heard the story about the man trapped on his roof by rising floodwaters. Three times a rescue is attempted: by people in boats, with ropes, even a helicopter. Each time he refuses all offers of help. Each time he tells exasperated rescuers not to worry, that he is waiting for the hand of God.

When he is claimed instead by the rising waters and meets his maker, he asks: ‘‘Why did you not save me?’’ ‘‘What do you mean?’’ replies God, ‘‘I sent a boat, guys with ropes, even a helicopter.’’

It’s one thing to have an unshakeable faith in something; it’s another to ignore the evidence in front of you. If and when the next big earthquake hits, resulting in widespread damage and death, will we also wonder how this could have happened, why we had placed so much faith in our construction industry, the standards of its workmanship and the regulatory infrastructure that supports it all? Because the evidence is mounting that such faith is misplaced, possibly even dangerous.

Revelations that new imaging technology has picked up missing concrete and/or reinforcing steel in hundreds of buildings nationwide make up the latest wrecking ball to undermine our faith.

The Christchurch and Kaiko¯ ura quakes claimed a high number of relatively modern buildings. Others stand as empty, ghostly reminders of inadequacies of design, construction and consenting.

Few people and organisations appear to have much faith in the New Building Standard that rates a building’s resilience and therefore dictates its suitability for insurance and purchase. The insurance industry has signalled its concerns in a partial withdrawal from the market, particularly in Wellington, and dramatically increased premiums for commercial building owners. Industry boss Tim Grafton, emulating that deep, damning voice from on high, has spoken of the ‘‘canary in the coal mine’’ that is this country’s poor record on resilience, design and regulation.

Ultrasound technology revealing substandard buildings is merely that canary’s latest tweet. It is the alarm that must wake us from a beautiful slumber of blissful ignorance. It must inspire us to insist of Construction and Building Minister Jenny Salesa and other relevant agencies that an ongoing government review of laws and regulations is not the ‘‘industry group hug’’ that one worried engineer predicts.

But neither can we place that burden of blame solely at the feet of our political leaders. Our politicians like to talk about a decade of neglect in the funding of infrastructure and vital mechanisms of government; the construction industry, too, appears to have suffered from lowballing contracts and tight margins. That has helped squeeze the life out of major players Fletcher Building, Ebert Construction and Arrow International, among others.

The missing concrete and reinforcing steel in many buildings suggests that some might have responded by cutting corners, abetted by a worrying lack of oversight. Like the man clutching to his roof, we face a crisis. We must act: industry, government, all of us. Meaningfully.

There will be no divine intervention. And we will not be able to claim that there were no signs. We’ve had the boats, the guys, the helicopters, and so much more. We have been warned.