A Christchurch Hospital building has been deemed a "high-life safety risk" in the event of another earthquake but work to make it safe has been put on hold, the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) says.
The Ministry of Health found the Riverside building was earthquake prone, with a seismic rating of less than 34 per cent, Stuff reports.
It was given a "D" grade under the New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineers scoring system.
"Grade D buildings represent a risk to occupants 10-25 times greater than those expected for a new building, indicating a medium to high risk exposure relative to a new building if a large earthquake occurs," outlined the report.
A building is deemed "earthquake prone", under the New Zealand Building Act, if its ultimate strength would fail in moderate earthquake and if it is likely to collapse causing injury, death or damage to other property.
Riverside Central is part of a block of three buildings housing a large variety of clinical units, services, surgical specialties and eight medical wards, including paediatric units, reports Stuff.
The December report by Holmes Consulting was an update of a 2013 structural review, which considered new engineering assessment guidelines and the Earthquake-prone Buildings Amendment Act 2016, which came into force in July 2017.
The most critical structural weakenss was the supporting structure for a plant room on the top floor, which contains large water tanks.
Holmes Consulting recommended emptying the water tanks or transferring them to the ground floor, and bracing "unrestrained perimeter wall panels" to improve the building's rating above 34 per cent of the building standard.
Work to make the building safe was "subject to the master planning process being completed", CDHB construction and property programme director Brad Cabell said.
The Riverside Central water tanks will be moved when replacement tanks in the hospital's new acute services building are completed next year.
A 2012 Christchurch Hospital redevelopment plan proposed demolishing the Riverside building when it was damaged by the earthquake.
CDHB member Aaron Keown said the board had been very concerned about the safety of the building since the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, but he was not sure if the Government took the issue seriously.
"Do the ministers – as in the finance minister and the health minister – know about the state of that building? Because if there is a critical collapse of that building and if people are going to be held accountable, I want them standing in the docks with us."
Keown said board members had been assured the ministry and health minister knew about the building's safety risks.
A spokeswoman for the CDHB said management teams were notified about the report last month "with a view to them relaying it to their teams". However, no "general staff communications" had taken place.
SHARE ME