File photo: Officials want to talk to the incoming minister about how the new model may prompt changes to building standards Photo: 123RF
The impacts of a new model of seismic hazards on the design of buildings nationwide is about to become clearer.
A new briefing said a key decision facing the government was how to factor in the new model to constructing new buildings and fixing old ones.
The model revealed a greater chance of stronger shaking from earthquakes for large parts of the country.
The new briefing to incoming Minister Chris Penk said officials wanted to talk to him about the changes to building standards that might result.
This comes with Engineering NZ (ENZ) and Standards NZ poised to release a new Technical Specification about this, which will be open for public consultation.
This will not lay down the law. Rather, the aim is to give designers guidelines so they can voluntarily test designs of new buildings before regulators set hard-and-fast rules around them.
"The pace of any work in this regard may also be informed by the government's priorities and commitments," the ministry said.
The new briefing put the impact on home owners to the fore.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment should focus on "supporting owners to make decisions on how to remediate their buildings, investigating what tools and resources building owners need to manage seismic risk effectively and proportionately", it told Penk.
The new hazard model released 18 months ago was key to understanding New Zealand's risk from earthquakes.
When it came out, it imposed an obligation to consider what the new seismic science meant for building design standards.
MBIE then got ENZ and Standards NZ to work up a spec.
It "does not change the earthquake-prone building system", the ministry said. It was, however, considering such changes.
"All seismic assessments should continue to be made in accordance with the Building Act 2004."
