More earthquake-prone building notices appear in the center of Invercargill

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Robin Eddy

Invercargill City Council is nearing the end of its engineering assessment for priority earthquake-prone buildings.

More earthquake-prone notices will appear in the center of Invercargill as the City Council reaches the end of its engineering assessment process for priority buildings.

In 2018, the council conducted inspections of 420 buildings with 209 declared as not earthquake-prone.

The remaining 211 priority building owners were required to conduct engineering assessments of their buildings within 12 months.

A 12-month extension has been granted due to the Covid-19 lockdown. They are now at the end of this extension, said Michael Hartung, the council’s compliance specialist.

Read more: * The Invercargill’s Splash Palace has closed due to a structural issue.

So far, the council has issued 93 earthquake building notifications.

Owners of earthquake-prone buildings will either have to display an orange framed notice specifying it is a 0 to 20 percent rating of new building standards, or a black and white notice highlighting a 20 to 34 percent rating.

“We will see those in the city going forward with the building owners they are required to fix in prominent locations in front of their buildings,” Hartung said.

“Some buildings require multiple signs with multiple entry points. The intent is for building owners to know what they are walking in before they enter.”

We are getting calls from building owners, as well as tenants, who suddenly realize they are in an earthquake-prone building. It’s fair to say it was not well received.”

The council did not actively monitor that notices were installed on the required buildings, but did send a letter to the owners informing them that they would be.

There has been nothing about the situation, Hartung said, given that it is a legislative requirement of the central government.

Building owners have 12.5 years from the date of notification that their building condition has been earthquake-prone to upgrade or demolish. Non-priority building owners have 25 years.

The priority buildings were those that were located on important transportation routes or had a high level of pedestrian traffic.

Once the council has worked through the priority buildings, it will focus on the other buildings in Invercargill.

About 2,000 buildings need to be investigated, Hartung said.

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