Guidance for risk-based building consenting

This document outlines the Risk Based Building Consents.
Shows how Building Consent Authority avoids liability by limiting inspections.
Shows the obligations of the owner.
Explains the different Building Consents.
An interesting statement from the Government is also included.
It is surprising as the Government decided to exclude specifically all the mandatory written contracts when implementing the legislation change of the Building Act. Therefore all our guarantees.

“The Government as a whole is concerned to ensure the Canterbury rebuild work is undertaken to a high quality and the people impacted are not exposed to safety risks or building work where normal quality considerations are compromised. Potential repetitional risk on the PMOs will also help create an incentive to ensure the work is code compliant.”

Yeah right!

GuidanceForRiskBasedBuildingConsenting.pdf

A request to Council.

Empowered-Chch-Web-Email
Thank you for the Hazard Forum on the weekend.
A very much needed discussion and vital for the future of our city.
The communities certainly appreciate the increased transparency.
My concerns as mentioned are the following.
Residents have no access to information about the actual damage of their own land that was fully insured.
The critical informations that are missing are the following.
  1. Subsidence, Elevation before and after the earthquakes. In centimeters.
  2. Lateral spreading quantified in direction and centimeters
  3. Changes in Groundwater. Due to changes in groundwater some land has lost the bearing capacity. Original foundations are designed for a particular land strength and wet sand versus dry sand can loose up to 50% of bearing capacity. This generates subsidence risk and increased Liquefaction vulnerability that has to be recognized and communicated.
  4. Liquefaction vulnerability. This is what caused most of the damage in canterbury. Information about vulnerability before and after the earthquake should be made available to the public.
  5. Flood risk before and after the earthquakes.
  6. 1/100 year Mike Flood map produced by DHI for EQC and Council should be made available to the public. (This is not private information for EQC)
I have extensively tried to get information about who determines the Land Categories. EQC points at Council and CERA.
CERA point at Council, Council points at MBIE. MBIE does not answer. I am referring to category 8 and 9. Liquefaction and Flooding.
I have also asked what impact do hazards identified of the LIM of a property have on land claim settlement, to no avail.
I do not find it excusable that the stakeholder that has the most at stake is denied access to these information.
The residents are slammed with up to 30% reduction in land value without any explanation.
For example TC3 in my street has dropped about 30% and that excludes devaluation from the 2007 value.
While TC1 in the same street maintains its 2007 value.
It is stated by Quotable Value that this  devaluation is not earthquake related.
That simply does not add up as the most affected land value is in the worst affected land damage area.
Worst affected sections are now rated  at less than 100k. No section is available at that price.
The worst affected get the worst treatment and their equity drastically removed while all had full insurance.
I have had correspondence with CERA on some of the land information issues and have had professional input from Adrian Cowie Professional Surveyor on this.
I attach the correspondence FYI.
I think this is a perfect opportunity to work together and display the “duty of care” that the public is entitled to.
Where there is a will there is a way.
Recommendations from the Royal Commission
“Section 4: Soils and foundations

The soils in the Christchurch CBD, being highly variable both horizontally and vertically across short distances, pose challenges for the design of structures and their foundations to withstand the potential impact of future large earthquakes. The Royal Commission considers that there must be greater focus on geotechnical investigations to reduce the risk of unsatisfactory foundation performance.

Tonkin and Taylor, for the Christchurch City Council (CCC), evaluated the nature and variability of subsurface conditions in the Christchurch CBD and adjacent commercial areas to the south and north-east. This will be held in a database available to the public. This information will be of assistance in assessing the potential need for land improvement, in the selection of appropriate foundation types, and in the planning of detailed investigation of foundation soils.

We make detailed recommendations in respect of site investigations, ground improvement and foundations design. Some recommendations are of particular relevance in the Christchurch CBD but many are of wider application.

– See more at: http://canterbury.royalcommission.govt.nz/Final-Report—Summary-and-Recommendations#sthash.43x9gQIi.dpuf


I trust this email explains some of the vital issues that are key components for the recovery progress.
Residents do not like to be kept in the dark for years, that contributes to social unrest.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Best regards,
Hugo Kristinsson
Empowered Christchurch
Www.empoweredchristchurch.co.nz

 

Questions and answers from CERA

 Questions asked 17 February via email to CERA.

  1. Who is liable for the land damage underneath the property.
  2. Who is liable for the land remediation required for foundations up to the standard of the Building Code. AS/NZS 1170.5
  3. Why are residents denied access to the Orbit Database which contains all the details of their land damage? 
  4. Where can residents look up information about their land damage including land settlement?
  5. CERA published this statement. Undersigned by the Government “Home owners should note the fact that most insurance policies in place at the time of the earthquakes will cover the cost of building consent requirements to raise finished floor levels to meet standards set in the Building Act.
    Insurers will continue to work productively with the Council, EQC and other agencies to provide best outcomes for policy holders.

    Pg 17
    http://cera.govt.nz/sites/cera.govt.nz/files/common/tc3-residential-rebuild-booklet-A4-20121204.pdf
    It is the groundwater that is the main problem in the Eastern Suburbs. If Houses are not raised they are at total loss.
    See attached photos.
    What is CERA and other agencies doing to ensure the best outcome for these policy holders as stated?
  6. Where no and remediation is possible such as for Category 8 and Category 9 land, why is the land and property not categorized as total loss.
    It is known that subsidence/settlement takes place down to 20 m despite what is on the surface (Eastern suburbs). Many properties have groundwater at less than a meter.
    No remediation can address this where there is lateral spreading.

Answers received 14 March.

  1. Who is liable for the land damage underneath the property.
    Information is available at: http://www.eqc.govt.nz/what-we-do/land. Please refer to EQC for more information.
  2. Who is liable for the land remediation required for foundations up to the standard of the Building Code. AS/NZS 1170.5
    Information is available at: http://www.eqc.govt.nz/what-we-do/land. Please refer to EQC for more information.
  3. Why are residents denied access to the Orbit Database which contains all the details of their land damage? 
    The Orbit Database does not contain details of land damage. It is a settlement database that has legal documents and insurance information related to red zoned properties. Residents are not denied access to this information. They can request a copy of what is on the database in relation to their own property.
  4. Where can residents look up information about their land damage including land settlement?
    Information is available at: http://www.eqc.govt.nz/canterbury-earthquakes/progress-updates/canterbury-faqs Please refer to EQC for more information.
  5. What is CERA and other agencies doing to ensure the best outcome for these policy holders as stated?
    EQC has agreed a joint approach to talk to flood prone communities which will include CERA and other agencies. Information is available at:http://www.eqc.govt.nz/canterbury-earthquakes/land-claims/flat-land/increased-risk-of-flooding. Please refer to EQC for more information
  6. Where no and remediation is possible such as for Category 8 and Category 9 land, why is the land and property not categorized as total loss.
    Information is available at: http://www.eqc.govt.nz/canterbury-earthquakes/progress-updates/canterbury-faqs Please refer to EQC for more information.These answers resulted in further questions regarding answer no 3.
    Who do residents call to get the detailed land damage, settlement information for their property from the Orbit database?
    Answer received.
    My apologies, I should have been clearer … Orbit contains “settlement” information in relation to settlement of an Agreement for Sale and Purchase of properties in the Residential Red Zone between the owner (or former owner once they have settled) and the Crown.

    It does not include settlement information in relation to land damage (i.e. how much the land has settled vertically). 

Conclusion:
I have seen land displacement information on the Orbit Geotechnical database.
There is no intention to give residents information about their own land damage, nor land settlement information.
To settle a land claim without claimant having information about the subsidence is unjust in my opinion.

We are looking at options for the residents to get access to these vital information.
Watch this space.

Answers by EQC Feb 2013, what is the progress now and why are the delays.

These questions were asked in December 2012, following answers received from Richard Braddell 1 Feb 2013.
It does not sound like they are making much progress.
As of February 2014 2630 claims are still held in apportionment.
____________

1.       Are there 2770 TC3 claims held in apportionment? (Oct 2012)

All claims for building damage have to be apportioned. There are currently about 2000 TC3 properties where apportionment is required before the claim can be determined as over- or under-cap. In all there have been approximately 28,000 properties with claims in TC3 and 14,000 have been handed to private insurers.

 

2.       Is the value of these claims on average 150.000, total of over 4bn?

No. The 2000 claims awaiting apportionment all have a damage value of over $80,000, but it is not immediately apparent that damage from any one event is over $100,000 +GST. That is why they need apportionment before a private insurer will accept them, if over cap.

 

3.       Is it true that EQC claimed this damage from re-insurers last year based on best estimate?

No. We claim on the basis of proved the loss from an event. EQC pays the first $1.5 billion of an event and we draw down from the reinsurers as we prove the loss and settle for the balance of claims from that event.

 

4.       Is EQC investing these moneys in Government Stock earning interest?

No, EQC is using reinsurance payouts to settle claims and repair houses. You may be confusing these pay-outs with the funds in the Natural Disaster Fund (which is also being drawn down for repairs and claims settlement) some of which were invested in Government bonds.

 

5.       Did the Government free EQC from interest payments on the overdue payments?

EQC has never had a liability for interest on pay-outs from natural disaster damage.

 

6.       Are these 2770 TC3 claims in apportionment considered the worst affected in Christchurch?

By definition, the worst affected buildings in Christchurch have been settled by EQC as over-cap, and passed to private insurers for resolution. Properties awaiting apportionment before the claim can be determined as over- or under-cap, are those with damage over $80,000 but where it is not immediately apparent that damage from any one event is over $100,000 +GST.

 

7.       Is it true that the cost of drilling will take most of these claims over-cap?

No. The actual cost of drilling varies as a proportion of the individual properties’ claims values.

Drilling was dependent on whether there was damage to foundations and the majority of properties in TC3 did not require drilling.  The geotechnical investigations in Technical Category 3 (TC3) were undertaken in order to understand local soil conditions before the foundations of approximately 10,500 homes can be repaired or replaced.

Until drilling data is analysed, it’s not possible to say what these foundation repair costs will be. While it’s likely that TC3 foundations will cost more than conventional foundations, the cost must take damage from one event over the $100,000 +GST cap for the claim to be accepted by a private insurer.

 

8.       Is it true that the 10% increase in building cost will take most of these claims over-cap?

One of the reasons EQC established the Canterbury Home Repair Programme with Fletcher EQR was to reduce the impact of cost increases in the repair trades by setting ‘rate ceilings’ which reflect normal market costs for building and finishing trades. This has been successful in keeping costs increases to a minimum – in many trades, costs have decreased since 2010.

The reported 10% increase in costs affects predominantly new builds, which EQC is not involved in.

 

9.       What information is missing to finish these apportionments / settlements?

This varies form case to case, but due to the frequency of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, the key missing information is usually evidence of damage between earthquakes which helps fix the costs to one event or another. EQC is using a range of tools to manually replicate this information.

 

10.   Is it fair to say that both EQC and the Government are financially benefitting from the suffering of the worst affected Christchurch residents?

No. EQC has an estimated liability of $12.5 billion of which $1 billion is likely to be met by the taxpayer. Figures for the total cost to the government can be obtained from Treasury, it is substantially more than for EQC alone.