Earthquake Update - 3.30pm 5 September 2010

Christchurch City Council Media Advisory

Christchurch Earthquake - 3.30pm 5 September 2010.

The Building Evaluation team have assessed about half of the cordoned-off area of the central city. The road cordons will be lifted as soon as Police and Civil Defence are satisfied that the area is safe.

The immediate priority is to move the cordon from Montreal Street to Durham Street. At this stage good progress is being made, and they are hoping to have that area reopened by the end of the day.

The next priority area will be the cordon area north of the Cathedral Square. The team is continuing with the process of evaluation as quickly as possible.

The buildings which have been assessed have colour-coded notices placed on them to show their status following the earthquake.

Commercial buildings in the city are being given a safety status of either Green, Yellow or Red - with Red meaning no occupation and Green having no restriction on occupancy

The assessment teams are advising owners also to engage a structural engineer if they have any doubts on the building.

If a second assessment is wanted, building owners are advised to call Council Call Centre and leave details including building number, name and contact details.

The status notices are as follows:

GREEN: Building inspected and no restriction on occupancy based on the inspection. You may still want to get the building checked by a structural engineer.

YELLOW: Restricted Use - no entry except on essential business. The advice for the owners of these buildings is to get the building checked by structural engineers. Entry only for essential purposes like damage assessment, making safe or as indicated on the check boxes.

RED: Do not enter or occupy - building is seriously damaged and unsafe based on our inspection. This is not a demolition order. The advice for the owners of these buildings is to get the building checked by structural engineers and not to enter or allow entry to the building.

Council assessment teams can undertake a second assessment, accessing the building internally - but this will take 48 hours based on our present numbers of engineers available.

Building owners are advised to engage their own structural engineers to clear their building more quickly as suitable for use.

ENDS