There are more than 50 earthquake-prone buildings in Dannevirke. Photo / Mark Mitchell
There are more than 50 earthquake-prone buildings in Dannevirke. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Dozens of earthquake-prone buildings on Dannevirke’s main street have been given extensions to complete strengthening work.
A law change came into force in November extending remediation timeframes for earthquake-prone buildings by an extra four years.
Councils have been busy issuing notices in recent months with the new timeframes, includingin heavily-impacted towns like Dannevirke.
Dannevirke township has just over 50 buildings which have previously been identified as earthquake-prone, including 39 buildings along the township’s main drag, High St.
A building owner says the extra time to complete strengthening work will be beneficial, but it is a shame that at some stage “some beautiful old buildings” may have to be removed if the costs are deemed unaffordable.
Tararua District Council issued its updated notices to impacted Dannevirke building owners during February and March.
“Building owners now have until their new deadline to either complete the required strengthening work on their buildings or, if that’s not possible, to have the buildings removed,” a Tararua District Council spokeswoman said.
Impacted building owners have between 2034 and 2043 to complete strengthening work (depending on their building).
"If these buildings remain earthquake-prone, there is a risk they could collapse during an earthquake, leading to property damage and potential injury to people.”
Buildings can stay open in the interim - until the repair work is completed or the deadline is reached - but they must display their Earthquake-Prone Building (EPB) Notice.
Dannevirke is no stranger to earthquakes and was hit hard by the 1990 Mother’s Day Earthquake, which led to some buildings being rebuilt.
Shires Fruit and Vege Market is one of the buildings on High St which requires strengthening, and was largely rebuilt following the 1990 earthquake.
Suresh Patel of Shires Fruit and Vege Market. Photo / Christine McKay
Owner Suresh Patel said they were one of the lucky ones, in that the strengthening work required was relatively minimal at the rear of their building.
He said they were working with an engineer to have that work completed well before the deadline.
Patel is a long-standing business owner and served on the Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce committee for 25 years.
He said it was good building owners in the township had more time, but the biggest challenge would be the cost - which would be substantial and perhaps unaffordable in some cases.
“We have some beautiful old buildings and it is a shame that at some stage they may have to disappear, but if we could restore one or two and bring them up to the standard that would be fantastic.”
Most of the buildings identified as being earthquake-prone in Dannevirke are retail or commercial buildings.
Notable buildings on the list also include the Dannevirke Fountain Theatre on Ward St and the eye-catching Bank of New Zealand building on High St.
How a building is deemed earthquake-prone
Councils are mandated by the Government (via the Building Amendment Act 2016) to identify potentially earthquake-prone buildings in their area, and councils can identify buildings at any time.
Owners of potentially earthquake-prone buildings are then contacted by their council.
The building owner must obtain an engineering assessment.
That assessment determines whether the building meets seismic performance requirements in the Building Code, with a rating below 34% deemed earthquake-prone.
Earthquake-prone notices are then issued if a building falls into that category. The notice states that strengthening work needs to be done by a set date.
If a building owner does not get an engineer’s assessment completed then that building is considered earthquake-prone.
“If building owners do not complete the required seismic work within the time specified in the EPB notice, they can receive an infringement notice, with a fine of $1000,” the Tararua District Council spokeswoman said.
“If convicted, they could face a fine of up to $300,000. These fines are set by Government.”
