Christchurch earthquake: Four months to check homes

More than 3000 repair jobs have been done, but many more homes are waiting for checks. Photo / Sarah Ivey

It will take nearly four months to complete full assessments of Christchurch homes severely damaged in the 6.3 earthquake on February 22, the Earthquake Commission says.

Assessors had been making rapid assessments of homes with severe structural damage to allow urgent repairs to begin, EQC spokesman Bryan Dunne said yesterday.

"Those rapid checks, which are still ongoing, are giving us a good picture of the extent and nature of damage to houses."

More than 3000 urgent repairs were being done, focusing on making the houses habitable, he said.

These included boarding up windows, removing unstable chimneys, repairing damaged roofs, fixing doors or fixing plumbing systems.

Anyone with winter heating needs was also being given priority and should contact EQC, Mr Dunne said.

EQC was increasing its number of assessors this week to 650 up from 350, and full assessments were the priority. It aimed to have these completed by mid-July, he said.

Houses found to need repairs totalling more than $100,000 would be referred to the homeowner's insurance company for follow-up.

Houses with minor structural damage would be assessed from mid-July to mid-September, and houses likely to have no structural damage from mid-September to mid-December.

Meanwhile, the deadline for claims from the Boxing Day aftershock was midnight tomorrow, Mr Dunne said.

People had until May 23 to lodge a claim for the February 22 earth-quake.