Earthquake prone buildings

Earthquake Prone, Dangerous and Insanitary Building Policy

Introduction | The policy

Introduction

Auckland City is committed to ensuring that the city is a safe place to live and work. This includes making sure that buildings meet certain standards. It also means ensuring that buildings are strong and safe enough to withstand a natural disaster, such as an earthquake.

Recent changes to the Building Act mean it is now compulsory for councils to have a policy on "earthquake prone" buildings in their area. The Building Act 2004 also introduces new earthquake standards for commercial properties. The policy does not apply to small residential buildings.

The risk

Auckland City's Earthquake Prone, Dangerous and Insanitary Building Policy aims to reduce the level of risk to people of earthquake prone buildings by ensuring that buildings are more able to withstand a moderate quake.

Earthquakes are a low risk in Auckland. In addition, many of the commercial buildings in Auckland were built over the past 20 years, so already meet strict building code requirements for earthquake standards.

This means there are likely to be only a small number of buildings that are earthquake prone in the city. However, the council will undertake a comprehensive assessment to determine exactly how many buildings may be at risk during a moderate earthquake.

Published September 2006