NZ Parliament Passes Earthquake-Prone Building Reforms
New Zealand's parliament has passed legislation to reform the country's earthquake-prone building system, aiming to reduce costs and complexity while addressing life-safety risks.
The reforms are expected to remove around half of the buildings currently designated as earthquake-prone from the system, saving building owners and the economy approximately US$4.7 billion, according to Minister Simon Watts.
Under the new system, remediation requirements for remaining earthquake-prone buildings will be more targeted, reducing costs while addressing life-safety risks. High-risk unreinforced masonry buildings and vulnerable multi-story concrete buildings in high and medium seismic zones will continue to be subject to earthquake-prone building requirements.
Councils will retain the ability to identify serious seismic risks that may have been missed, and updated seismic zones based on the latest seismic science will take effect after formal approval. Buildings in Auckland, the Chatham Islands, and the upper North Island low seismic zone will be entirely removed from the earthquake-prone building system.