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Structural Advisory Panel

The Structural Advisory Panel, one of four panels providing advice to the Department on building sector issues, is preparing a 'state of play' report on structural engineering in New Zealand.

 The report will examine the following areas.

  • Current state of structural engineering in New Zealand.
  • Research capabilities and outputs.
  • International structural engineering practice.
  • The existing Department Work Programme (including BCA accreditation, Standards reviews, Building Code review, and licensing and certification issues).
  • Current and emerging issues in the sector.
  • Recommendations for future work priorities.

The Panel comprises a number of leading professionals meeting regularly to consider the strategic implications of current behaviour, trends and development in the structural engineering industry.

A first draft of the report has been circulated, with the final report expected later this year.

Andrew King (chair) is a section manager at the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences in Wellington. He has 33 years experience as a structural engineering consultant, research engineer and technical adviser to New Zealand and international standards and building control organisations. He is the Chair of the Joint Australia/New Zealand Earthquake Loadings Standards Committee, New Zealand delegate to the International Association of Earthquake Engineering, a Past President of the New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering, and New Zealand delegate to the Apec Working Group on Harmonisation of Structural Loading Standards.

John Buchan worked in the structural steel, heavy machinery manufacture and construction industries before joining the Christchurch City Council as Building Control Manager in 1995 where he is responsible for technical standards of the building consent process and for Building Act compliance.

Grant Wilkinson is a professional structural engineer and Project Director with Holmes Consulting Group. Grant has over 22 years' experience with the design of many large buildings in New Zealand including the new Christchurch Art Gallery and Christchurch Women's Hospital. He has a special interest in the seismic strengthening of existing buildings.

Peter Smith is a director of Spencer Holmes Ltd and has 37 years' experience as a civil and structural engineer in private practice. He is currently on the management committee of SESOC and the Concrete Society and a member of the University of Canterbury Industry Liaison Group and the Chartered Professional Engineers Council. He has represented IPENZ and the engineering profession on a number of standards committees and advisory bodies. He has contributed to engineering practice through his work with the Association of Consulting Engineers and more recently on the Board of IPENZ where he served a 6-year term.

Stuart George is a Director of Buller George Engineers Limited. His particular specialties include earthquake engineering, structural analysis, structural dynamics, wind motion of high-rise buildings, and computer analysis of structures. Some of Stuart's projects include the Whangarei, North Shore, Waitakere and Tauranga Hospitals, as well as the Prince's Wharf Development, The Lumley Centre, Westcity Shopping Centre and the Majestic Building in Wellington.

Barry John Davidson has had over 30 years of technical engineering experience. He is a Senior Lecturer in structural engineering at the University of Auckland, Engineering Director of Compusoft Engineering Ltd and currently President of SESOC (Structural Engineering Society of New Zealand). He has been actively involved in the analysis and design of most structural forms, including nuclear reactor vessels, concrete arch dams, offshore gas platforms, hyperbolic cooling towers, high-rise buildings and bridges.