In the immediate aftermath of the 16 May Loafers Lodge fire, Mayor Tory Whanau asked Wellington City Council’s Building Consents and Compliance (BCC) team to urgently identify any similar buildings providing residential accommodation across Wellington City.

City Council Chief Planning Officer Liam Hodgetts says now the building owners have had adequate time to inform their tenants and residents prior to the list being made public, the Council is able to release it.

Council staff compiled the attached list of 25 buildings based on criteria that:

· included multi-level buildings over two stories

· provided commercial short/long term residential options similar to that of Loafers Lodge

· included boarding houses, backpackers and some residential hotels/motels.

The list was compiled based on a cross-Council desktop review and may not be exhaustive.

Of the 25 buildings identified, 21 had current Building Warrants of Fitness (BWoFs), one has not historically had a BWoF, and three did not have current BWoFs – the Council issued ‘Notices to Fix’ to these three building owners.

Mr Hodgetts says it is important to note that the buildings are not on the list because of an identified safety risk for tenants and residents, and that any suggestion of this would be misleading. “We urge people to act respectfully and responsibly with this information. We are carrying out on-site audits of 24 of the buildings and we will also arrange a proactive meeting with owners of the building that has not historically had a BWoF to ensure they are aware of any obligations to maintain such essential safety features as clear exits."

“With 16 of the building audits completed so far, staff have reported no significant problems and have been pleased with the high levels of cooperation from the building owners, their agents, and experts. We can also report that one of the three buildings that did not have a current BWoF is now compliant.”

Mr Hodgetts says the Loafers Lodge fire was a terrible tragedy. “Our thoughts remain with those who lost their lives, those who were injured and whanau who lost loved ones.”

He says the City Council is exploring ways it can gain a better understanding of the extent and location of this type of residential accommodation across the city.

“We aim to work with agency partners to develop a city-wide approach to gather more information on these buildings. This would allow a partnership approach in identifying and resolving issues as well as assisting in prioritising the highest-risk properties for on-site audits and in achieving MBIE’s recommended 20-33% of building stock receiving a BWoF audit each year.”

List of buildings for inspection:

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