NZ Moves to Ease Earthquake Building Rules, Cutting Costs and Reviving Towns

“Building a better future for New Zealand starts with putting the right settings in place for our cities and regions to thrive,” said Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk.

Legislation aimed at significantly reducing the financial burden on building owners while maintaining public safety has passed its first reading in New Zealand’s Parliament, marking a major shift in how earthquake risk is managed across the country.

The Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill seeks to refocus the earthquake-prone building system on life safety and proportional risk, addressing long-standing concerns that the current framework has imposed unsustainable costs on owners and contributed to the decline of town centres and heritage areas.

“Building a better future for New Zealand starts with putting the right settings in place for our cities and regions to thrive,” said Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. He noted that the existing system has left many owners facing strengthening bills running into the millions of dollars, often making repairs, sales, or even demolition financially unviable.

Ending reliance on %NBS ratings

A central reform in the bill is the removal of New Building Standard (%NBS) ratings from the earthquake-prone building regime. These ratings have been widely criticised for being overly broad and inconsistently applied, often assessing an entire building based on its weakest element. In practice, this has led to conflicting engineering assessments, uncertainty for owners, and escalating compliance costs.

According to the government, the removal of %NBS ratings will provide greater clarity and fairness, while still prioritising buildings that pose the greatest risk to human life.

Narrowing the scope to highest-risk buildings

Under the proposed changes, the system will focus only on buildings in medium- and high-risk seismic zones that present the most serious life safety concerns. These include:

• Concrete buildings of three storeys or more

• Buildings constructed with unreinforced masonry

By contrast, Auckland, Northland, and the Chatham Islands—areas assessed as having lower seismic risk—will be removed entirely from the earthquake-prone building system. Building owners in these regions will no longer be required to undertake earthquake remediation, allowing resources to be redirected toward more pressing local risks such as flooding and coastal erosion.

Relief for small towns and heritage main streets

The bill also addresses the disproportionate impact of the current system on small and rural towns, many of which have historic unreinforced masonry buildings lining their main streets. Despite lower life safety risks—due to smaller populations and lower building occupancy—these communities have faced widespread earthquake-prone notices.

Under the new framework:

• Unreinforced masonry buildings under three storeys in towns with fewer than 10,000 residents will no longer require remediation or warning notices.

• Owners wishing to remove their buildings from the earthquake-prone register will still need to carry out façade securing, ensuring basic safety while avoiding full structural upgrades.

Minister Penk said the changes have been welcomed by rural communities, many of whom feared losing buildings central to local identity and economic activity. The reforms are expected to save provincial New Zealand around $1.2 billion.

Greater flexibility for required remediation

For building owners who are still required to carry out strengthening work, the bill introduces greater flexibility. Territorial authorities will be able to grant remediation deadline extensions of up to 15 years, allowing owners to plan upgrades more realistically, secure financing, and avoid forced closures.

Overall, the government estimates the reforms will save more than $8.2 billion nationwide in remediation and demolition costs, while maintaining appropriate safety standards.

Next steps

The bill will now move to the Select Committee stage, where public submissions will be invited. Minister Penk said he looks forward to hearing from building owners, engineers, councils, and community groups as the legislation is refined.

“We know the safety and affordability of our buildings matter deeply to New Zealanders,” he said. “This more practical approach will keep people safe, preserve heritage, and breathe life back into communities by keeping shops, apartments, and community spaces open.”