The Kāpiti Coast District Council has announced that its work to identify potentially earthquake prone buildings in the district is now complete.

Kāpiti Coast is an area of high seismic risk with deep soft soils, which can pose challenges for buildings built there, council group manager of regulatory services Natasha Tod said. The council has now identified 28 potentially earthquake-prone buildings. Owners have been notified and advised that they will need to obtain a seismic assessment of their building - they have 12 months to do this, or a further 12 months extension can be sought.

“The council then decides if the building is earthquake-prone and issues a notice, which must be displayed on the building if it is,” Tod explained. “But even though a building is identified as being potentially earthquake-prone it doesn’t mean it is earthquake-prone, which is why further seismic assessment is required to determine this with certainty.”

The council is now entering the next phase of deciding if buildings previously identified as potentially earthquake-prone are truly earthquake-prone – and has issued five notices to date.

Under the Building Act 2018, councils are responsible for identifying potentially earthquake-prone buildings in their district. The strength of old buildings are expressed as a percentage of new building strength (%NBS) and where this falls below 34%, the building is classified as earthquake-prone.