Commercial building repair and reconstruction
Many high rise and other commercial buildings have been damaged in the Canterbury sequence of earthquakes. During the response phase to the earthquake, rapid building safety evaluations were undertaken by engineers and buildings were assigned a Red, Yellow or Green placard.
This is a rapid assessment only. A green placard will only indicated that no obvious structural damage to the building has been identified. However, it will not address any structural weaknesses that are inherent in the building’s design, construction or modification. Whatever level of placard that has been assigned, owners need to get a detailed engineering evaluation undertaken.
Interim guidance documents
The Department is working with its Engineering Advisory Group to develop guidance for commercial repairs and reconstruction.