Te Awamutu Museum and an adjacent district council staff building have been closed because they are an earthquake risk. Photo / Supplied
Te Awamutu Museum and an adjacent district council staff building have been closed because they are an earthquake risk. Photo / Supplied
Waipā District Council evacuated and closed the Te Awamutu Museum and an adjacent staff building last Friday after receiving a report they are an earthquake risk.
Chief executive Garry Dyet made the evacuation call based on a seismic assessment showing the building is at 20 per cent of the National Building Standard, with a grade D building rating. In the event of an earthquake, grade D buildings represent a risk to occupants 10 to 25 times more than that expected for a new building.
Dyet said the seismic risk issues were discovered when the council was looking at doing work to replace the roof and windows.
"The issue was identified then and on the basis of health and safety, I made the call to evacuate the building; I was simply not prepared to put any staff member or any member of the public at risk."
About 78 staff across the council's service delivery and community services team work in the building, but not all at the same time.
"Our staff are used to being very agile – Covid made sure of that," Dyet said. "We will be able to house staff elsewhere and some will work from home for a short time while we work this through. Except for museum staff, I don't think it will cause too much disruption."
Waipa District Council chief executive Garry Dyet. Photo / Supplied
Dyet said the museum is closed until further notice.
"Right now, our priority is working alongside mana whenua, the Office of Kingi Tuheitia and the Te Awamutu Museum Trust Board to ensure all the taonga in the museum are taken care of. Along with staff, that is my absolute priority and we will work through this carefully and meticulously.
"It is inconvenient and disappointing. But our focus now is working through the next steps to see what kind of remedial work is required."
The council's main building across the road in Roche St in Te Awamutu is not affected and is open as usual.
Next step for earthquake-prone buildings in Hamilton
Meanwhile, the next step in managing earthquake-prone buildings (EPB) in Hamilton started this month, with the introduction of notices for some of the city's buildings displaying their EPB rating.
The notices are new to Hamilton but have been in place in other areas of New Zealand over recent years. They are part of a nationwide process led by MBIE, starting with regions that have a higher likelihood of moderate earthquakes. As a medium-risk area, Hamilton must identify and placard EPBs this year.
Council building control manager Cory Lang says it's important people understand the notices don't mean the building is unsafe or that people should stop using them.
Hamilton City Council is introducing notices for some of the city's buildings displaying their EPB rating. Photo / Supplied
"The latest guidance from MBIE has been clear that a low seismic rating in itself doesn't stop the building from continuing to be used. The assessments and notices are part of a process to identify what work is needed on buildings and allow time for building owners to decide how to approach it.
Owners of buildings in Hamilton have between 12 and a half and 25 years to do the work. The rating is determined by a building's weakest element so if one area has a low rating, this is the score that will be applied to the entire building until it is removed or repaired.
Buildings are regarded as earthquake-prone if they are assessed as being less than one-third of the strength required for a new build in the same location in a moderate earthquake.
For further information on the national system and Hamilton's role, go to hamilton.govt.nz/epb or contact the Building Control team at Building@hcc.govt.nz.
