Earthquake Assessment

Comprehensive Seismic Assessments

If you own an earthquake-prone building, you are required to undergo seismic strengthening work to increase the %NBA rating.

Our comprehensive seismic assessments are set by the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering with a thorough process to evaluate your building.

We treat these as high priority. A thorough process is conducted to evaluate your building based on a comprehensive seismic assessment set by the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering. These are driven by banks, purchasers and tenants (particularly government departments).

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An Initial Seismic Assessment (ISA) includes an IEP (Initial Evaluation Procedure).
The IEP is a generic process governed by the date of construction of the building.
The earlier the construction, the worse it gets, the %NBS is likely lessened.
It is probable that the IEP for a building constructed prior to 1976 will be less then 33%NBS and a written report may not be worth completing unless required as proof to satisfy bankers/insurers etc.
There are also issues depending on what the construction actually is and its condition.
If the client wants to keep the building and prove its worth if constructed prior to 1976 or thereabouts, they will need to do a DSA (Detailed Seismic Assessment) and determine if strengthening is required.
A DSA usually means we design the building again using known elements and determine those that need strengthening.
To make it more complicated the government only require buildings to meet 33% of the current codes of practice of 33%NBS (New Building Standard) to be acceptable. Banks usually require 67%NBS.

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