Rotorua buildings no longer considered an earthquake risk

Rotorua property owners are expected to save about $107 million as more than two dozen buildings are no longer considered earthquake-prone.

A law change newly passed by Parliament will reduce the number of buildings in the city deemed a risk from 66 to 40 – a drop of nearly 40%.

The estimated cost of complying with earthquake-prone building requirements in Rotorua would drop from $160m to $53m. .

The reduction is larger than forecast for Tauranga ($38m), Taupō ($36m) and Whanganui ($24m), but smaller than savings expected in larger centres including Hamilton ($276m), Christchurch ($932m) and Wellington ($1 billion).

Under the reforms, only unreinforced masonry buildings and certain multi-storey concrete buildings in medium and high seismic zones will be eligible to be classified as earthquake-prone. Rotorua remains classified as a medium seismic zone.

Rex Merrick is among Rotorua property owners waiting to learn what the reforms might mean.

Merrick owns the former Advocate Print building on Fenton St, although the printing and graphic design business moved to Fairy Springs in August.

His building has an earthquake rating of "not determined". This means the council has not reached a formal determination on its seismic rating but is treating it as earthquake-prone.

He said engineers were unable to find the original building plans and instead worked from what they believed was a worst-case scenario.

Merrick said the earthquake-prone classification had complicated efforts to sell the building. Removing it from the register would make it "much easier".

He said many nearby property owners appeared to be in a similar position.

The building is one of eight priority buildings identified in a Rotorua search of the earthquake-prone building register. Priority buildings face shorter timeframes for being upgraded because of their use or location.

The list includes three Fenton St locations – a structure at the Rotorua Racing Club, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and a private residence.

It also features a Pukuatua St commercial property; a building associated with the Prince's Gate Hotel complex; Amazing Place Preschool in Mangakakahi; and a holiday park building in Ngongotahā.

Rotorua Racing chief executive Damien Radesic said the organisation had received "no communication" about how the changes could affect a racecourse building on the register.

Radesic hoped it could be removed from the register and criticised the legislation that put it there.

"All it did was add cost to people's business because we all panicked about having to get things up to a certain standard," he said.

"Some of us have spent tens of thousands of dollars earthquake-strengthening buildings."

A spokesperson for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church confirmed a building at the address was on the register.

Rotorua Family Holiday Park co-owner Dianne McCarthy said she was still waiting to find out how the changes might affect the one building on the property listed on the register.

She said the remediation work was not a major project, but was still a cost the business would rather avoid.

Prince's Gate Hotel representatives said they had not received any information about how the reforms might affect the property and declined further comment.

The Christian Education Trust, which oversees Amazing Place Preschool through Bethlehem Early Learning Centres, declined to comment.

It is not clear if any of the eight priority buildings are part of the 26 identified to be removed from the register.

Rotorua Lakes Council destination development manager Jean-Paul Gaston said: "Existing earthquake-prone buildings may be eligible for reassessment under the Government's new methodology once it is introduced, which could change their status."

Gaston said the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was developing the framework in which owners could seek "reassessment or reclassification" of a building classified as earthquake-prone.

The council did not identify which Rotorua buildings may be removed from the register, including whether it included potential heritage or high-profile structures.

Last October, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell expressed hope that the then-proposed reforms might create a pathway towards reopening the city's historic Blue Baths. The baths have been closed since January 2021 after being identified as earthquake-prone.

The Government says the changes will reduce national compliance costs by about $8.2 billion and delist around half of the buildings classified as earthquake-prone.

Building and Construction Minister Simon Watts said the previous system had imposed disproportionate expectations in relation to the risks posed by a building.

Meeting the requirements had been a "significant challenge" for many communities, particularly smaller towns.