MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release: 27 March 2011

EQC full assessment teams visiting worst hit homes

The Earthquake Commission (EQC) is this week turning its focus to full assessments of homes worst hit by the 22 February earthquake in Christchurch, starting in the worst hit areas.

“Our priority is now moving to visiting properties with EQC claims identified as having severe structural damage during our rapid assessments,” EQC spokesman Bryan Dunne said today.

Under the EQC rapid assessment process, teams have been visiting all houses in metropolitan Christchurch, Lyttelton, and affected areas of Selwyn and Waimakariri for an initial assessment of damage to identify emergency repairs and priorities for full assessments.

“Those rapid checks, which are still ongoing, are giving us a good picture of the extent and nature of damage to houses. Now we are increasing the number of assessors out doing the full assessments.

“By the end of this week there will be 660 assessors working across Christchurch,” Mr Dunne said.

Properties will be visited for full assessments according to the level of damage identified in the initial inspection during the rapid assessments. The indicative timeframe is:

* Houses with severe structural damage will be revisited for a full EQC assessment by mid-July. Those assessed as needing repairs of more than $100,000 + GST will then be passed on to the homeowner’s insurance company for follow-up.

• Houses assessed as likely to have minor structural damage will be revisited for a full EQC assessment between mid-July and mid-September.

• Houses assessed as likely to have no structural damage will be revisited for a full EQC assessment between mid-September and mid-December.

At the same time EQC is still working on rapid assessments in areas that have not yet been completed, including the Christchurch CBD.

Our partner Fletcher Construction is progressing the work of emergency repairs. It has just over 3,000 urgent repair projects completed or underway since the February 22 earthquake.

The priority during the current emergency phase is to make homes habitable pending full repair later. This can mean boarding up windows, removing unstable chimneys, repairing damaged roofs, fixing doors or fixing plumbing systems.

People who have not lodged a claim for any new or worsened damage should do so by contacting EQC on 0800 DAMAGE (0800 326 243) or online at www.eqc.govt.nz.

Residents have until Monday 23 May to lodge a claim for any damage caused by the 22 February earthquake.

“We’d also like to remind people whose properties were damaged in the 26 December aftershock to lodge a claim if they haven’t already. The deadline for claims from the 26 December aftershock is midnight tomorrow - Monday 28 March,” Mr Dunne said.

Fletcher Construction is also helping to manage repairs to deal with winter heating needs resulting from earthquake damage. Homes needing winter heating are being indentified through claims received from EQC and from direct contact with homeowners.

Homeowners in this situation should contact EQC via 0800 DAMAGE or email heating@eqr.co.nz. Once claim information has been lodged it will be used to identify priority case and assign those to contractors for urgent treatment.

ENDS

• EQC website: www.eqc.govt.nz
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/earthquakecommission
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/eqcnz

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