The New Zealand Defence Force is looking for a new base after two of its historic Dunedin buildings were found to be prone to earthquake damage.
A defence force spokeswoman confirmed the NZDF was looking for new premises to house its Dunedin Defence Centre.
Kensington Army Hall, in Bridgman St, and HMNZS Toroa, in St Andrew St, were assessed by engineers in 2013 as being below the acceptable national building standard and a risk in a major earthquake, she said.
No decisions had been made on the future of the buildings - which house the army, navy, cadet forces and defence careers personnel - but NZDF would keep the public informed of developments.
''The first step is to ensure the health and safety of our people,'' she said.
''We intend to maintain and invest in our presence in Dunedin and are going to market to find suitable, alternative accommodation in the city.''
It was yet to decide whether a new base would need to be constructed or existing buildings would be used, but it aimed for the new base to be open by ''early to mid-2017''.
Its current buildings, which are NZDF-owned, have long housed its Dunedin operations.
Kensington Army Hall was built in 1915 and HMNZS Toroa founded in 1928.
The engineers' assessment in 2013 found Kensington Army Hall was 11% of the building standard and HMNZS Toroa 18%.
Temporary support had been added to the buildings to ensure staff safety, but these were not viable long-term solutions.
About 10 full-time and six part-time staff are working out of the two properties.
The confirmation the defence force was looking for new premises comes after NZDF released a request for proposals seeking suitable office space in the city.
Tenders for that close on December 4.
The request said resilience in the event of an earthquake and a low risk of flooding and liquefaction were important requirements for any new site and the estimated land area required would be 4300sqm.
