Consistent seismic assessment of existing buildings

Consistent seismic assessment of existing buildings

11 October 2017

Leading practitioners from the engineering profession will host four Training Seminars during October, to promote increased consistency of seismic assessments of existing buildings throughout New Zealand.

Dave McGuigan, Acting Chief Engineer for MBIE says, “Despite the huge impact on us as a nation, the heightened seismic activity over the last several years has had an important upside. We have become more strategic in how we approach our preparedness for earthquakes and the life safety hazard buildings pose.”

“A new national system for managing earthquake-prone buildings in New Zealand came into effect on 1 July 2017. It categorises New Zealand into three seismic risk areas and sets time frames for identifying and taking action to strengthen or remove earthquake-prone buildings.”

“Because the risk of earthquakes varies around New Zealand the timeframes for action vary, but we need a consistent approach to how existing buildings are seismically assessed – and this is where the one-day seminars come in. They are a part of a wider training programme that will help us embed the new system. The seminars will cover the use of Technical Guidelines for Engineering Assessments that are part of the methodology to identify which buildings are earthquake-prone.”

“There has been substantial co-operation between MBIE and technical societies such as the Structural Engineering Society (SESOC), New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE), and the New Zealand Geotechnical Society (NZGS), and EQC to develop the technical guidance. MBIE is delighted to support this approach to improve the consistency of assessments.” says Mr McGuigan.

The one-day seminars will be held in:

• Wellington, 11 October

• Christchurch, 18 October

• Auckland, 26 October; and

• Hamilton 27 October.

More information: http://www.eq-assess.org.nz/training/

[ENDS]

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