Earthquake Prone Buildings

The new law came into effect on 1 July 2017 with an amendment to the Building Act 2004.

To ensure that the way our buildings are managed for future earthquakes is consistent across the country and provide more information for people using buildings, such as notices on earthquake prone buildings and a public register.

The new law focuses on the most vulnerable buildings and their risk to public safety. The changes are designed to manage and reduce the risk to people: either building occupants or passers-by.

Read more information about managing earthquake prone buildings on the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) website.

https://www.building.govt.nz/managing-buildings/managing-earthquake-prone-buildings/

A building, or part of a building, is earthquake-prone if it is likely to collapse in a moderate earthquake in a way that is likely to cause injury or death to persons in or near the building or on any other property, or damage to any other property.

District and city councils use the EPB methodology provided by MBIE, which sets out how councils identify potentially earthquake prone buildings, how engineers undertake engineering assessments, and how councils determine whether a building or part is earthquake-prone, and if it is, its earthquake rating.

The methodology is available on the MBIE website.

EPB methodology | Building Performance

The following buildings are defined in the Act as priority buildings:

• Hospitals, police stations, fire stations, halls and other buildings likely to be needed in an emergency.
• Early childhood centres, schools, tertiary and training centres.
• Buildings of two or more storeys used for accommodation or contains three or more household units.
• The following categories of buildings, if they are on priority routes:

The Council has resolved that there are no priority routes in the District, so the building categories in 4. above are not classed as priority buildings. They will be considered after the priority buildings in 1. to 3. have been assessed.

NBS means the new building standard (the building code) and the Council has to assess the performance of an existing building in an earthquake compared to a new building. This is its earthquake rating, expressed as a percentage. For example, 25%NBS means the Council considers the building meets 25% of the code’s requirements. The focus is on risk to lives, rather than risk to the building. 34%NBS is considered to be the minimum level of risk and a building assessed as having an earthquake rating of less than 34%NBS is regarded as earthquake prone.

The seismic work required to ensure that the building is no longer earthquake prone, which can consist of strengthening the building or demolition.

1 July 2022: Council to identify all priority buildings that could potentially be earthquake prone.

1 July 2027: Council to identify all other potentially earthquake prone buildings.

Council staff have begun identifying priority buildings in the District. While this was to be done within five years, that is, by 1 July 2022, it should be completed by the end of July 2022. The Council can identify a potential EPB at any time, but it must identify all EPBs by 1 July 2027.

If your building, or part of it, meets certain earthquake prone building criteria (for example, age or structure type) we will contact you to arrange a visit. We may only need to assess from the outside any particular features or the actual use of the building, to determine whether your building requires further assessment as being a potential EPB.

If the Council identifies your building, or part of it, as potentially earthquake prone, we will advise you of that decision. You’ll then need to contact a suitably-qualified seismic engineer and organise either an Initial Seismic Assessment (ISA) or Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA).

You’ll have 12 months from when Council contacted you to supply this report. You can apply for one extension of 12 months, but you must do this no later than two months before the original time frame due date.

An engineering assessment must be overseen and signed off by an engineer with relevant skills and experience in structural and earthquake engineering, and assessments of existing buildings. At a minimum, the engineer that oversees and signs off an assessment must be a structural engineer chartered under the Chartered Professional Engineers of New Zealand Act 2002. Engineers undertaking an engineering assessment will need to be able to interpret and apply the requirements and technical methods set out in the Engineering Assessment Guidelines.

The Council will review the existing IEP reports it has on file and make a decision on their status as per the new EPB methodology.

If your building is identified as potentially earthquake prone, you can provide your IEP report. The Council will assess this report against the EPB Methodology and make a decision on its suitability.

The Council will advise you of the decision and will accept the report or you’ll need to contact an engineer and organise an ISA or DSA.

An ISA is an Initial Seismic Assessment, which is the first step of a Detailed Seismic Assessment and is produced by an engineer. This can be submitted to the Council as evidence of a building’s earthquake rating (%NBS).

A DSA is a Detailed Seismic Assessment and is a comprehensive seismic report supplied by an engineer. This can be submitted to Council as evidence of a building’s %NBS.

The Council will assess the report and either request further information or accept the findings and document its decision.

The Council must “promptly” issue an EPB notice when a building or part of it has been identified as earthquake prone. The EPB notice must be in the prescribed form, dated, state whether whole or part of building is an EPB, specify if it is a priority building, and specify the %NBS and the timeframes for remediation.

Once the appropriate decisions of a building, or part of a building’s status, have been made and recorded, the Council will then update the property file and this information will be included in any Land Information Memorandum (LIM). The National Register will be updated with this information.

A priority building must be strengthened or demolished within 12.5 years and other EPB buildings within 25 years.

If the report confirms that the building or parts of it are not considered earthquake prone, the building owner will be advised accordingly, and this information will be stored on the property file.

Yes, you can, however you can only apply for an exemption once the Council has issued the EPB Notice.

An exemption may be granted if the building is used infrequently and there is a low risk of injury to people or damage to other property in an earthquake. Priority buildings are unlikely to be granted an exemption.

The Council can charge a fee for this service.

A building owner of a Category 1 Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga listed building may apply for an extension of time to carry out seismic work.

An application can only be made once a building has been identified as an EPB and an EPB notice has been issued. The application for an extension must be in writing.

There is the potential for the Council to grant a 10-year extension if the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga criteria are met.

The Council can charge a fee for this service.

Yes.

The Regulations* list two categories of ratings for earthquake-prone buildings:

0% to less than 20%

20% to less than 34%

These categories determine which form of EPB notice is issued by Council.

Once the Council issues and attaches the appropriate EPB notice, it must be displayed in a prominent place on or adjacent to the building.

If an EPB notice ceases to be attached to the building or becomes illegible, the building owner must advise the Council, who will issue a new notice.

*Building (Specified Systems, Change of Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005

The Council can issue a $1,000 infringement fee or on conviction, you can be fined up to $20,000 if you fail to comply with the requirement to attach an EPB notice or exemption notice or fails to notify the Council when a notice becomes illegible.

Yes, you can; however, once an EPB notice has been issued, any substantial alterations will trigger the requirement to carry out seismic work before the EPB notice deadline.

When the Council receives a building consent for work on a building that has been identified as earthquake prone, it must consider the substantial alteration criteria of the EPB Methodology (25% of the capital value of the building measured against the estimated value of the building work over a two- year period).

A building consent is processed as per standard section 112 of the Building Act requirements and must address:

• Means of escape from fire.
• Access and facilities for people with disabilities.

If the building work triggers a Change of Use, the building must be upgraded to meet all parts of the current building code as near as reasonably practicable.

Yes. You can undertake seismic work only on a building or part of a building that has an EPB Notice without having to address:

• Means of escape from fire.
• Access and facilities for people with disabilities.

A building consent is required and must clearly outline the scope of work.

If you fail to complete seismic work within the time specified in the EPB notice, you can receive an infringement notice for $1,000 or a fine up to $200,000, if convicted.

The Council may carry out seismic work if the requirements of an EPB notice are not completed by the deadline applied to that particular building or part.

The Council can apply to the District Court authorising the Council to carry out seismic work. Costs can be passed to the building owner.

The seismic work can include the demolition of the building or parts of it.

South Taranaki District Council

Planning and Development Manager

Policy and Governance Manager

Business Development Manager

Phone: (06) 278 0555 or 0800 111 323

Managing earthquake prone buildings - Managing earthquake-prone buildings | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (mbie.govt.nz)

Register of earthquake prone buildings - Register of earthquake-prone buildings | Building Performance

Heritage NZ - www.heritage.org.nz