Engineers fully booked with quake assessments

Wanganui's consulting structural engineers are being kept busy assessing hundreds of buildings for earthquake strength.

There hasn't traditionally been a lot of work in the River City for structural engineers, with not many large new buildings going up and those owned by national chains often designed elsewhere, a Wanganui engineer, who did not wish to be named, said.

But the city's five or so structural engineers are sought after at present, and some building owners are also consulting out-of-town engineers.

"I think some local clients are finding it difficult to source some of that expertise," the engineer said.

It's all because Wanganui District Council is now requiring hundreds of owners to have an initial evaluation procedure (IEP) for buildings outside the CBD by December.

The IEP was a standard approach developed by the New Zealand Earthquake Engineering Society. It was a first, very rough, assessment of a building's earthquake strength.

"It's only based on age of the building, the type of construction, the location and that sort of thing. A lot of buildings will be considered earthquake prone based on the fact of their age and being built of unreinforced materials."

The cost and time taken for an IEP varied considerably between buildings, the engineer said. The council is offering to pay half the cost for some buildings - up to a top level of $1500.

The engineer's company was getting a steady number of IEP inquiries, and deciding whether to follow them up based on the clients' ability to pay.

He said getting an IEP had benefits to owners aside from fulfilling council requirements. One of them could be reducing the cost of earthquake insurance, which has surged since the Christchurch quakes.

"The drivers aren't just coming from council. Insurance companies are obviously pushing their clients to confirm the level of risk."

After having an IEP, some buildings would have to go on to have a detailed assessment, which would take longer and could be quite expensive.

It entailed measuring components, studying drawings and sometimes doing computer modelling.

That second stage assessment would give clients more confidence about their buildings' strength and also give them options for strengthening and some idea of the cost.