Earthquake prone buildings in Ōtorohanga District

   Added a month ago

Ōtorohanga is following a national system led by MBIE to manage earthquake-prone buildings in our district. Council has a role in this process – as a regulatory body issuing the EPB notices.
Under the MBIE system, buildings are regarded as earthquake-prone (EPB) if they are assessed as being less than one-third of the strength required
for a new build (New Building Standard – NBS) in the same location in a moderate earthquake. 

The rating is determined by a building’s weakest element. This means if one area of the building (whether used or not) is rated as below standard, this rating applies to the whole building until the area is strengthened or removed.
The rating does not mean a building is unsafe or cannot be used, it means it won’t perform as well as a new building on the same site in a moderate earthquake.

Ōtorohanga is in a medium-risk earthquake zone which means building owners in Ōtorohanga have between 12.5 and 25 years to resolve any issues identified, depending on type, use or location of the building. Buildings identified as Priority Buildings only have half the timeframe (12.5 years) to be strengthened or removed.

MBIE issued guidance in July 2022 that it is not necessary to stop using a building on the basis of its NBS rating.

We have been working with building owners since 2022. Notices stating the rating of Ōtorohanga's EPB (14 buildings) were issued to applicable building owners in late Jan 2024. These buildings will also be registered on the national database managed by MBIE.

You can find out more information here - Earthquake prone building info sheet (pdf 104KB)