Council wrong on risky buildings: MBIE

Owners of earthquake-prone buildings are flouting a law requiring them to display a warning notice.

And in Christchurch, where the February 2011 earthquake killed 185 people, not a single one has been punished.

Nationally, there are more than 2000 earthquake-prone buildings – found to be under 33 per of the new building standard – about 700 of which are in Christchurch. They are deemed to be a ‘‘high’’ life-safety risk to occupants if a quake struck.

The Building Act says local councils must attach the notice or require building owners to attach it in ‘‘a prominent place on or adjacent to the building’’. Those not complying can be fined up to $20,000.

When The Press visited five earthquake-prone buildings in Christchurch, none had publicly visible notices. The buildings were not used by members of the public. A sixth building had a visible notice.

The Christchurch City Council does not know how many buildings are correctly displaying earthquakeprone notices.

Head of building consenting Robert Wright said the ‘‘onus is on the building owner’’ to follow the rules and staff checked ‘‘infrequently’’ if they were doing so.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) disagreed with the council’s stance. Building system assurance manager Simon Thomas said the council was responsible for ensuring owners were displaying notices appropriately.

Wright said the council provided building owners ‘‘with the relevant legislative information at the time of issuing the notice’’.

But not everyone is sure of the rules. One owner told The Press they did not need a notice on an earthquake-prone building because it was a construction site.

Ann Brower, who was the only survivor when a building collapsed on a bus in the February 2011 earthquake, said she was ‘‘shocked, but not surprised’’ to hear the council was unsure how many buildings were correctly displaying the notices. She wanted the council to ‘‘follow the law’’ and found their approach ‘‘offensive’’.

Steven Mclauchlan, who runs a company specialising in Civil Defence emergency solutions, said ‘‘earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do’’. The council should know how many notices were displayed and be enforcing their use, he said.

Mclauchlan believed it was ‘‘very important’’ to identify earthquake prone buildings publicly.

‘‘There’s enough proof with what quakes can do to buildings,’’ he said.

‘‘In New Zealand, we’re very good at managing disasters, but not very good at managing risk."

Mclauchlan’s company recently launched an app, EQ Prone, which has mapped every building in New Zealand issued an earthquake-prone notice.

The app uses data from the national building register.

Ann Brower, the only survivor when a building collapsed on a bus in the February 2011 earthquake, said she was ‘‘shocked, but not surprised’’ to hear the council was unsure how many buildings displayed the notices.