Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery

28 January 2013 Media Statement

EQC hits $1 billion and 30,000 managed home repairs

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says the Earthquake Commission’s Fletcher EQR-managed Canterbury Home Repair Programme has passed the billion dollar mark and is well on the way to completing 31,000 jobs.

“Every major work programme takes a period of months to ramp up to full capacity, with sourcing of contractors, training, securing of supply chains and in this case the logistics of evaluating the damage to so many homes,” Mr Brownlee says.

“In recent months we’ve seen big increases in the volume and value of repair work.

“Billing fluctuated between $55 million and $66 million a month between July and November 2012.

“December saw $72 million worth of repair work done for a cumulative total since the scheme began of $1.003 billion.”

Mr Brownlee says forecasting by Fletcher EQR shows the scheme at full capacity over the next 18 months.

“With 30,748 full scope repairs completed, we’re more than a third of the way through the homes that sustained up to $100,000 of damage from the earthquakes.

“In addition more than 47,000 emergency repairs have been completed and 18,000 heating units have been installed.

“A large number of repairs to date have been for less than $50,000 damage, and with the scheme at full capacity we’ll now see a concerted attack on the over $50,000 work.”

EQC has now paid out $4.16 billion for all Canterbury earthquake related claims to date, including $3.8 billion for building exposures, $380 million for contents, and $25.9 million for land exposures.

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