The Government has announced major changes to New Zealand’s earthquake-prone building system, in a move expected to save building owners billions of dollars while easing pressure on communities.

Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said the current system had placed an “overwhelming financial burden” on owners, with strengthening work often costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

“Many buildings have been left empty and derelict, making them more dangerous in an earthquake. Cities and regions are losing the businesses, churches, town halls and classrooms that are central to their local economies and community spirit,” Penk said.

The new system will:

• Remove the New Building Standard (NBS) rating, which Penk said was “too broad and inconsistent.” Under the old system, even a small defect could see an entire building classified as earthquake-prone.

• Focus only on buildings that pose a genuine risk to human life in medium and high seismic zones, such as concrete buildings over three storeys and unreinforced masonry.

• Exclude Auckland, Northland and the Chatham Islands from the regime altogether, due to their low seismic risk.

• Remove requirements for owners to upgrade fire safety and disability access at the same time as seismic strengthening, which Penk said had added significantly to costs.

• Allow councils to grant up to 15-year extensions on remediation deadlines.

Small towns with fewer than 10,000 residents will also be exempt from some requirements. Owners of unreinforced masonry buildings under three storeys will no longer need to carry out full strengthening, although they must secure building façades before being removed from the earthquake-prone register.

Penk said the reset would save more than $8.2 billion in remediation and demolition costs. “Protecting human life must remain our top priority, but the review confirmed the need for a fairer balance between costs and the real risks buildings pose,” he said.

Property Council welcomes reset

Property Council New Zealand chief executive Leonie Freeman called the announcement a “long-awaited reset.”

She said the rigid NBS percentage system had been confusing and damaging, with minor changes having major consequences.

“The difference between 66 percent and 67 percent NBS could mean whether a building was occupied or left vacant. The system became fixated on numbers that didn’t reflect real safety,” Freeman said.

She added the old regime was especially tough on regional towns, where remediation often did not stack up. “Many owners faced bills in the millions, with no clear pathway forward. Instead of strengthening, buildings were abandoned, becoming derelict and putting communities at greater risk.”

Freeman said the new system would bring stability and focus resources where they were most needed. “It’s smarter, it’s fairer, and it focuses on genuine life-safety risks.”

ACT claims victory

ACT leader David Seymour also welcomed the overhaul, saying it vindicated his party’s opposition to the 2016 law.

“ACT was right then, and we’re right now. Nine years and billions of wasted dollars later, reason and logic are back,” Seymour said.

He argued the previous rules diverted resources away from higher-priority safety issues and left provincial towns with empty buildings and huge bills.

“Exempting most low-risk buildings balances risk and cost. It restores rationality and shows real empathy because real empathy needs efficiency,” Seymour said.

He said fixing what he called an “expensive mistake” would save New Zealanders $8 billion and give building owners confidence to invest in new developments.