NZ Government Passes Earthquake-Prone Building Reform Bill

The New Zealand government has passed legislation to reform the earthquake-prone building system, which is expected to save Kiwi building owners and the economy a staggering $8.2 billion.

The Earthquake-prone Building Amendment Bill was unanimously passed in Parliament, with approximately 55% of quake-prone buildings, about 2900 buildings, set to be removed from the register.

According to Minister Simon Watts, this move will enable building owners to invest their money elsewhere, rather than spending it on remediation costs that are disproportionate to risk. 'Expensive and often unrealistic remediation costs threaten buildings becoming derelict,' he said.

Under the reformed system, low-risk concrete and wooden buildings will no longer have earthquake-prone building status. However, high-risk unreinforced masonry buildings and vulnerable multi-storey concrete buildings in high and medium seismic zones will continue to be subject to earthquake-prone building requirements.