Principles, not rules

The Government should take a principles-based rather than prescriptive approach to the issue of ensuring members of the public are safe from earthquake-prone buildings, southern councils say.

The suggestion is part of a joint submission on the Building Seismic Performance Consultation Document from 11 southern councils and five southern industry and employer groups. The submission was signed off by the Dunedin City Council this week.

In this alternative approach, the Crown would focus on defining a set of principles along with outcomes it would like to achieve, such as improved safety for pedestrians, improved public awareness of the earthquake risk of buildings, strengthening of high-occupancy buildings and/or critical infrastructure, with associated specific time frames for each, the submission said.

Each local authority, or group of local authorities (organised geographically, by seismic risk zone, or by population and socioeconomic indicators) would define how best to meet these in the set time frame.

The Government proposes having a national policy that requires potentially earthquake-prone buildings to be assessed by local authorities within five years and requires the owners of earthquake-prone buildings to have either strengthened or demolished them within 15 years.

The joint submission suggests the Crown could work with local authorities to develop a new system.

For example, it said, improved safety for pedestrians might best be achieved in Wellington through the full strengthening of buildings within a five-year time frame, while in Dunedin and other smaller centres with lower seismicity, the targeting of parapets and other such features in the five-year period might be the most appropriate approach, while there could be longer time frames for achieving full seismic upgrades.

''In this way, more targeted regional policies can be used to ensure improvements in safety, in a manner that better corresponds to seismicity and risk, while balancing concerns around affordability.''

The submission said regional clustering of policies would assist the Crown in its desire to reduce the number of approaches across New Zealand, achieve greater consistency and provide flexibility, plus avoid a one-size-fits-all approach that affected certain regions more negatively than others.

Consultation closes tomorrow.

After that, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will analyse feedback and report to the Government.

If adopted, the proposals would require legislative change, at which stage there would be further opportunity for public input through the select committee process later this year.

The Dunedin City Council signed off its own submission this week. That expressed its concerns the proposals placed too much emphasis on earthquake risk at the expense of other risks. In some settlements the greatest risk to public safety and the economy might be from sea-level rise or the loss of important employers, it said. That emphasis in areas where overall seismic risk was low would see the unnecessary diversion of investment away from areas of greater need.

The proposed solutions could worsen other threats to communities, particularly with regard to the loss of jobs and essential services. Solutions needed to suit local situations, the submission said.

- debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz