Dunedin people should feel assured the council-owned buildings they are most likely to use are seismically strong.
Structural assessments have been completed on more than a dozen public buildings, with almost all above 67% and most above 100% of the seismic resistance standard required for new buildings.
Preliminary assessments also show the Dunedin Railway Station and Port Chalmers Town Hall are at 67% of the standard, but full assessments are under way.
More modern council buildings already assessed are all above 100%.
The Regent Theatre fares the worst of the council's historic buildings assessed, but is still above the 33% minimum strength requirement.
Full assessments on the gasworks, about 30 community halls, two sports stadiums and operational buildings owned by the council are still to come.
Buildings are required to be at least 33% of the seismic resistance standards required for a new building.
Councils at present have discretion on how the regulations are enforced, but that is expected to change this year with the introduction of new rules requiring buildings to be upgraded in certain time frames.
The Dunedin City Council last year gave all owners of commercial buildings built before 1976 and multi-unit residential buildings in its area two years to provide an initial evaluation from a structural engineer.
It will then give building owners up to 30 years to have buildings upgraded to minimum requirements.
The council's assistant property manager, Rhonda Abercrombie, said the council expected to have the 38 pre-1976 buildings in its property portfolio assessed by July 2014.
The important, high-capacity and historic buildings would be assessed first, but there were considerable delays as a result of structural engineers' heavy workloads.
City property manager Robert Clark said the council would expect its buildings were at least at 67%, although there was no policy on a minimum level. Once all the assessments were in, the executive management would discuss what to do in terms of upgrading any buildings requiring it, he said.
He expected that would be a decision by the executive management, to be ratified by councillors.
