Petition for inquiry into Christchurch earthquake repairs presented to Andrew Little

A petition calling for the government to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Canterbury earthquake repairs has been presented to Labour Leader Andrew Little this morning.

Around 2500 people have signed the petition, launched by Christchurch insurance lawyer Duncan Webb in November last year.

It calls for an investigation into the repairs carried out by EQC and insurers, as well as the consenting process of Christchurch City Council, to prevent defective earthquake repairs in the future.

"We are confident that a Royal Commission will result in an improvement of the ability of insurers, councils and EQC to respond effectively to disasters in the future," Mr Webb said.

"There's an urgent need to identify houses which have been poorly repaired so that they can be remedied.

"Repaired houses should be warm, weather-tight and sound - unfortunately we are seeing that is too often not the case."

Mr Little was presented with the petition in Christchurch today.

Homeowner Melanie Tobeck says her house underwent repair work in 2012, which failed and her story along with many others haven't been listened to.

She's hopeful that the Government will listen but believes it doesn't have a vested interest in exposing how many failed repairs are out there.