But people were being advised to stay away from barricaded buildings as aftershocks continue to rattle the city.
The Hereford Street/Manchester Street intersection remains closed due to concerns about the safety of the multi-storey at the intersection.
Other central city buildings issued with either red or yellow placards have been secured and barricaded, to reduce danger to the public. People are reminded to stay well away from barricaded buildings.
Power has been restored to most homes in the city but Orion asked anyone still without electricity to call (03) 363 9898 with the line remaining open during the weekend.
Inspectors have re-checked central city buildings after Wednesday morning's 5.1 aftershock.
By the end of the day Friday, 4069 building evaluations had been carried out across the city.
Of the 958 buildings inspected in the CBD only 5.7 percent received a red placard meaning they were deemed as unsafe and should not be entered.
Of the 2290 residential buildings inspected just 1.25 percent received a red placard.
Prime Minister John Key was today returning to Christchurch to visit Bexley, one of the worst-hit areas of the city.
Questions have been raised over why building was allowed on reclaimed land in the suburb.
Much of Bexley now lies beneath sandy silt, and many houses have been deemed unfit to live in.
Kaiapoi, Pines Beach and Kairaki, in the Waimakariri district, have also been hit hard, with nearly 400 homes there categorised as unsafe.
At an extraordinary meeting yesterday Christchurch City Council pushed through a new policy for earthquake-prone buildings, meaning they will have to reach a much higher standard of structural strength.
"Rubberneckers" are causing concerns in Christchurch's northern district.
"They are just driving everyone crazy," Waimakariri mayor Ron Keating said yesterday.
"They just drive out of Christchurch. They just came off the motorway and last Sunday they were chocka. It's macabre, and they were bumper to bumper and unfortunately we weren't ready for it," he told NZPA.
police and army may have to control all four entries into the town this weekend, "just to let people get on with their lives", he said.
Waimakariri District Council estimates the cost of repairs to its region could range from $67m to $120m, to replace community buildings, utilities, road and footpath repairs.
Chief executive Jim Palmer said repairing parks and buildings alone, including the library, was likely to cost about $7.6m, to be met by insurers, the council and government funding.
Repair of roads -- which cannot be insured -- could cost $25m-$35m but the Government had signalled it would meet up to 90 percent of that.
Fire crews from around the country are being deployed in Christchurch this weekend to relieve tired staff and increase resources at the front line, Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy said.
While most schools will reopen on Monday, the students of some may end up at other schools such is the scope of the damage at some schools.
Gerry Brownlee, the minister responsible for co-ordinating the Government's recovery response to the Canterbury earthquake, yesterday announced the first stage of streamlined measures to deal with the large volume of claims arising from the earthquake.
They included payment from early next week of claims for property and contents damage or loss where there has been no structural damage to the building.
Donations for quake victims had reached $11 million by last night.
