City Hall last week announced it would be contacting building owners whose properties were deemed to be potentially earthquake-prone.
They have five weeks to provide evidence their building has either been strengthened to at least 34% of the new building standard or that it’s outside the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) profiling categories.
The council this week told Mountain Scene its own offices are not on the list.
In 2015, the Gorge Rd building was determined to just meet minimum standards, at 35% of the building code.
Council communications adviser Rebecca Pitts says it’s now at 53% because the council commissioned a new report last year, to factor in the latest guidance from MBIE.
In 2015, then-planning and development boss Marc Bretherton said the building was "not fit for purpose and, given its construction, there have been serious concerns expressed as to how the building would perform in an earthquake’’.
The council would not reveal which buildings are on the list as it wanted to give owners time to supply evidence first.
Council building services manager Chris English said damaging earthquakes in Kaikoura and Christchurch prompted the assessment, with "public safety is paramount’’.
"We’ve now completed a high-level assessment of all building stock within the district and identified a list of potentially vulnerable buildings.’’
But the number of potentially earthquake-prone buildings was "comparably small’’ compared to other cities and towns.
