More than 100 people died when the CTV building collapsed in 2011. Photo: USAR / AFP
A man who lost his wife when the CTV building collapsed in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake says the government's new rules are prioritising building owners over potential victims.
Under the new earthquake safety criteria announced today, 55 percent of the buildings that were previously considered earthquake prone will be marked as safe.
The government says the changes will save building owners more than $8.2 billion across New Zealand.
Under the new rules a building like the CTV building - where 115 people died in 2011 - would not automatically be deemed earthquake prone.
Maan Alkaisi. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
Professor Maan Alkaisi, whose wife died in that building, told Checkpoint the changes appeared to be about taking care of building owners, rather than the victims of any earthquakes.
"We know we are in high risk areas like Christchurch or Wellington, so who will take care of victims when something happens?"
He said his main concern was over who will decide which buildings are low risk
"Because from our experience, the CTV Building was green-stickered, so a low-risk building. So what exactly what they will inspect and so forth, because the devil is in the details. We would like to know about the inspection procedures, who is going to do them, what exactly they are going to test and things like that.
"We've been campaigning for over 15 years for accountability, for justice and to improve building standards and practices, so we were campaigning for a system to improve public safety, and cost should not be the only factor.
"Human safety and lives should be put first, or at least have a priority in these decisions."
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has argued that the new rules for earthquake safety will save lives in the long run.
He told Checkpoint that the previous rules were too costly and led many buildings to be abandoned, rather than strengthened.
Penk said that when it came to cases like the CTV Building, the government was retaining the "identify at any time" pathway.
"Which is to say that buildings that are objectively able to be demonstrated as unsafe or continue to be captured by the regime, for example if they are structurally unsound or engineered in a faulty manner, as we know sadly was the case with the CTV building. So we're retaining that mechanism while removing the blunt instrument approach that would capture a number of buildings that are currently safe."
But Alkaisi said he could not see how the new regulations will lower the risk, "it will definitely increase the risk to human lives."
He said the government needed to talk to the families of victims and learn what they have experienced so these factors could be considered.
Alkaisi said he received an email from Penk today about the changes, and saying that the victims families will have an opportunity to raise any concerns about these changes, "which I appreciated, and I will take this opportunity".
"Previous governments, whether National or Labour, have consulted me, at least to look into what the victims think about these changes, so I was hoping we would be more engaged with this."
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