Quake checks tracking well

More than 400 buildings have been entered into the Timaru District Council’s potentially earthquake-prone building register – most on Stafford St.

Assessment of the district’s earthquake-prone buildings is tracking well ahead of schedule, according to the council’s latest report.

At Tuesday’s environmental services committee meeting, building control manager Jayson Ellis told councillors it had until July 2022 to identify all of the district’s ‘‘priority buildings’’, and until July 2027 to identify all other earthquake-prone buildings.

‘‘In terms of the progress that we have made, things are tracking very nicely. We’ve been given heaps of time. We’re well on the way,’’ Ellis said.

Of those entered so far, 194 buildings have been determined as either not earthquake-prone or do not meet the legislative criteria, with the remaining 228 buildings waiting for their owners to provide an Initial Seismic Assessment (ISA) as requested by the council, he said.

To date, 10 buildings in the district have been added to the Government’s earthquake-prone buildings (EQB) register.

‘‘We’ve completed all of the satellite townships and are now working our way through the CBD of Timaru,’’ Ellis said.

‘‘It is important to note as we only have limited information on buildings, we note them as only potentially earthquake-prone.’’

Cr Stu Piddington asked Ellis whether there had been any issue for building owners requiring engineers to carry out the assessments.

‘‘I heard there is a shortage,’’ Piddington said.

Ellis said the council was aware that engineers outside of Timaru have had ‘‘lots of inquiries about buildings in Timaru’’.

‘‘Fortunately, I do have a team related specifically to the EQB process. It is something we will be monitoring over the next few years,’’ he said.

Ellis said the council would continue to hold workshops to help building owners and other affected parties get the right information about the process.

His report also noted it was expecting an ‘‘influx’’ of ISA reports over the next year, which might create ‘‘resourcing challenges for the professional services providers and within council if there are a bulk number of assessments required at the same time’’.

Cr Allan Booth asked whether there was a chance the council could source extra money from Central Government for the project.

Ellis said it was unlikely.

‘‘If the Government wants to splash some extra money around, it’s up to them,’’ he said.

The register can be viewed online.