Christchurch Earthquake - Sites to Visit and things to know...

The latest Govt reports on affected suburbs can be found here...and to determine if your house specficially is affected, you can check here...

A list of affected suburbs as released so far is shown here on an easily understood and interactive map on the Rebuild Christchurch website, and the second link takes you to Landcheck.org.nz which will tell you whether your home, specifically is covered.

Temporary Buildings

If you need temporary housing you can go here.

The Government has just announced it has released a tender for temporary housing supply but this will take time to be delivered on.

EQC Coverage

Property Insured

• Dwellings (self-contained premises used as a home, including apartments)

• Most personal property but excluding some types (e.g. motor vehicles and art);

• The land immediately around the dwelling, main accessways, and retaining walls, within certain limits.

Types of natural disasters covered:

• Earthquake, natural landslip, volcanic eruption, hydrothermal activity, tsunami;

• In the case of residential land, a storm or flood;

• Fire caused by any of these.

Extent of Cover

Dwellings are insured up to a maximum of $100,000 plus goods and services tax (GST) and personal effects are insured up to $20,000 + GST. EQC pays the value of damaged land at the time of the earthquake or natural disaster, or the repair cost, whichever is lower. Dwellings are covered on a replacement value basis.

Personal property is insured on the same basis as the household insurance policy covering the same property.  Some retaining walls are covered, but on an indemnity basis.

The September 4 earthquake generated more than 100,000 claims to EQC.

The Earthquake Commission Canterbury page for latest updates is here...

For Donations:

This page on the Stuff website lists an assortment of options for donating cash...

Civil Defense

The Civil Defense website lists updates here...

For Builders:

Fletcher Construction is the agent for EQC to manage the residential rebuild arising from earthquake damage to houses in the range from $10,000 to $100,000. The project is known as EQR. Claims below the threshold will be settled by way of lump sum payment to the homeowner, and claims in excess of $100,000, by the homeowner's insurer.

Accreditation

Contractors wishing to work on the EQC claims will be required to become accredited as part of an assurance programme to ensure that homeowners have trades people who are experienced, competent and reliable working on their homes.

Master Builders’ and Certified Builders’ accreditation programmes are sufficient for EQR purposes, however, builders who are members of these organisations will still need to complete the accreditation and capability assessment forms.

Builders and tradespeople who are not members of these organisations will need to go through the accreditation process. The contractor will be responsible for the work it performs, and for that of its subcontractors, as in any normal contracting arrangement. The contractor will be the responsible party under the Health and Safety Act and, accordingly, will be responsible for H&S requirements on each household site. Fletcher or an independent expert will provide oversight from time to time as agent for EQC and the contractor will be expected to comply with its obligations to provide a safe work site.

Materials

Contractors will use only accredited suppliers and merchants for their building materials and supplies. These suppliers and merchants will have been accredited through Fletcher procedures, so that the supplies are provided to NZ standards, with appropriate warranties, and to a maximum price acceptable to EQC. 

Overall intentions

The project management team works on the following guidelines:use existing industry practices and structurelocal hire first, while identified resource pinch points will need to be sourced from elsewhereaccreditation for assurance and competence a systemised approach, with good work practices equitable, fair and transparent dealings, and prompt decisions homeowner empathy and satisfaction.

It is hoped that contractors and tradespeople will see themselves as a valuable part of the overall team, helping homeowners recover their asset value.

Rollout

With the ongoing aftershocks, ground repair issues and resource determination, it is not possible to detail the rollout programme at this point, but Fletcher realises that this would assist contractors and trades people. It will try, therefore, to provide as much notice as possible with respect to its plans. On Friday 29th October it was announced that the first hub would be established in Halswell and work on establishment would start immediately. The next hubs will be in Kaiapoi and Rolleston.

As the homeowner you are responsible for ensuring that any work done on your property complies with the law and is of a good standard. This is for your protection, and also to protect anybody else who may buy your property in the future. If the repair or demolition work is not urgent, you will be required to go through normal building consent and resource consent processes. However, if the building work is a result of the earthquake damage, the consents will be processed within the Building Recovery Office by way of a streamlined process.

For more information go here...

Building work that does not require a consent

• A lot of repairs to buildings can be done straightaway without a building consent.
• Work you can do without the need for a building consent is covered here

Building Recovery Office contact details:

• Phone the Council main number on (03) 941 8999 and ask to be put through to the Building Recovery Team
• Email the Building Recovery Office
• Ground Floor, Christchurch City Council Civic Offices, 53 Hereford Street
• The Christchurch City Council has received an influx of requests for building evaluations. so properties which pose an immediate danger to people or other property receive priority. Property owners will need to seek independent building advice for matters not posing immediate danger.
• For more information go here...

Sourced from EQC, Christchurch City Council and EQR websites