Where to start
An engineering assessment of your building needs to be carried out by a suitably qualified engineer. This means that they need to be a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng), with experience in assessing existing buildings.
Your engineer will be able to advise you on what the assessment needs to include and, if your building is less than 34% NBS, will be able to advise you on possible strengthening options.
We suggest you prepare a brief for the engineering assessment. The brief is a document that outlines the scope of work and will help the engineer provide as accurate an estimate of time and cost for undertaking the engineering assessment as possible. We suggest getting two or three proposals before you decide on the engineering firm you want to go with. You can use the example brief and questions below as a starting point in this process.
Example brief for engaging an engineer to do a seismic assessment of your building (55KB RTF)
Questions to ask
When engaging an engineer, there are some general questions that can be asked in combination with the brief above.
- Is the engineer registered as a Chartered Professional Engineer?
- What experience does the engineer have in assessing buildings similar to the one you own?
- Has the engineer attended training on the MBIE EPB Methodology, which provides the framework for engineering assessments for EPB purposes?
- Has the engineer given appropriate consideration to whether your building is structurally connected to any neighbouring buildings?
- Based on the assessments and data that you have provided to them, does the engineer recommend undertaking a basic ISA (Initial Seismic Assessment) or a more indepth DSA (Detailed Seismic Assessment)?
Need help?
Email: buildingresilience@wcc.govt.nz
Phone: 04 499 4444