Update on Kāpiti's potentially earthquake-prone buildings

A national system for managing earthquake-prone buildings in New Zealand came into effect in 2017. Councils were tasked with determining which buildings in their districts are potentially earthquake prone using a set methodology.

What is earthquake prone?

A building, or part of a building, is considered earthquake prone if it will have its ultimate capacity exceeded in a moderate earthquake, and if it were to collapse, would be likely to cause harm to people or property. Earthquake-prone buildings aren’t automatically classified as dangerous buildings under the Building Act 2004, but must have a special notice on the outside of the building to alert visitors to the risk.

What we’ve done

We completed our assessments in November 2018 and identified 28 building as potentially of concern. The owners of these buildings had 12 months to provide evidence to the contrary, before a formal notice was issued under the Building Act.

In April 2021, 22 buildings in Kāpiti remain on the earthquake-prone building register, none of which are priority buildings requiring urgent immediate action. Owners of these buildings have 15 years (until 2033/34) to provide further seismic assessment evidence or undertake remediation work.

Council buildings affected

We’ve identified Ōtaki Museum, Waikanae Beach Hall, Marine Parade Beach Pavilion, Paekākāriki Memorial Hall, and Ōtaki Memorial Hall as earthquake-prone buildings. In 2018, Council agreed to remediate higher use buildings within eight years, before the Ōtaki Museum and Marine Parade Beach Pavilion.

See Register of earthquake-prone buildings for a national list of buildings affected.