The Amendment Act is expected to take effect on 1 July 2017.
Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission After the Canterbury earthquakes, the Royal Commission was established to report on the causes of building failure during the earthquakes. Among other things, the Royal Commission was tasked with investigating the legal and best-practice requirements for buildings in New Zealand's central business districts. The Royal Commission report contained a number of recommendations for changes to the provisions of the Building Act. Significant recommendations included: (a) that all earthquake-prone buildings be upgraded to at least 34% of Building Code; (b) that timeframes be established to ensure building upgrades are prioritised; and (c) improving the regulation around unreinforced masonry buildings, which was a major contributor to casualties in the Christchurch earthquakes. Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill On the back of the Royal Commission report, the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill (Bill) was introduced to improve the system for managing earthquake-prone buildings. The Bill opted for greater national consistency by introducing the earthquake-prone building methodology (EPB methodology) for territorial authorities to follow in identifying potentially earthquake-prone buildings and determining whether buildings should be categorised as earthquake-prone. The Bill initially introduced strict timeframes for managing earthquake-prone buildings, these included requirements for: • councils to assess and identify potentially earthquake-prone buildings within a 5-year timeframe; and • owners to carry out strengthening works to 34% of Building Code or demolish the building within 15 years (with the potential of extensions for heritage buildings). Discontent with the strict timeframes and one-size-fits-all approach was reflected in the 535 submissions received on the Bill. Of note, a number of territorial authorities provided submissions looking to extend the timeframes for assessment and strengthening and to have the requirements be more targeted. The majority of submitters also considered the timeframes initially proposed to be inadequate for strengthening to be carried out sustainably. Amendment Act In light of the extensive submissions received on the Bill, the Government adjusted its approach to the issues and recognised that the different seismic zones required different treatment and the assessment timeframes needed to recognise the capacity constraints of the New Zealand engineering market. The Amendment Act was passed into law on 10 May 2016 and we highlight the key elements below. Effective The Amendment Act is expected to take effect on 1 July 2017. Definition of Earthquake-prone Building The Amendment Act retains the 34% of the Building Code threshold for defining whether a building is earthquake-prone. However, amendments have been made to clarify aspects of the definition, including that an earthquake-prone building can apply to parts (but not all) of a building.