Many Wellington buildings signed off as compliant with earthquake regulations prior to the 2011 Canterbury quakes weren’t actually in line with rules on restraints of services like ducting and lighting, the city council has admitted.
And the problem isn’t confined to Wellington. Engineers and insurers say that thousands of buildings across New Zealand aren’t up to standard, according to a Radio New Zealand report. In fact, during tests on seismic restraints run last year by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 19 out of 20 buildings failed.
“No-one actually ensures that the restraints are installed,” Ignatius Black, of consulting engineer Silvester Clark, told RNZ. “Traditionally it hasn’t been done by the council. It’s not necessarily seen as being within the structural engineer’s domain. It’s often put on mechanical engineers, so it’s something that slips between the cracks.”
Black estimated that just 10% to 20% of new buildings were getting restraints installed properly, RNZ reported. And according to Black, there doesn’t seem to be any entity with the power to force existing buildings to fit proper restraints, which don’t fall under the earthquake-prone-building regulations of the New Building Standard.
While the NBS rates buildings for their safety during a large earthquake, it doesn’t take into account whether what’s in the ceiling is properly restrained, RNZ reported.
Insurance Council insurance manager
John Lucas told the news outlet that this gap in regulation needs to be addressed in law.
“It is possible that a lot of tenants in buildings don’t fully appreciate that, even though the building may have an NBS rating of 150%, there’s still a risk that the internal fit-out could fail, resulting in either injuries or that building being closed for some considerable period of time,” Lucas said.
Related stories:
NZ well on the path to recovery after massive quake - Minister
EQC leads clean-up efforts in flood-hit town
.jpg)
