Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission Interim Report

The Commission's Terms of Reference specify that we must provide an Interim Report by 11 October 2011 containing recommendations that inform early decision-making on rebuilding and repair work that forms part of the recovery from the Canterbury earthquakes.

The timing has, of necessity, meant that the Commission has not been able to produce a lengthy list of recommendations. However, this report does make some recommendations which reflect our view that urgent action is required in respect of some aspects of current building design practice, both in Christchurch and elsewhere, to make some buildings’ elements (particularly stairs and floors in multi-storey buildings) more resilient.

The Commission is also of the view that immediate action is necessary to strengthen parts of unreinforced masonry buildings that could fail, causing injury or loss of life, in earthquakes that are less severe than the Canterbury earthquakes were. We have made recommendations accordingly.

Other issues must await the final report, including the lessons to be learned from the catastrophic failures of the CTV and PGC buildings.

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Download the Interim Report (PDF version) 64 pages, 1.53 mb

Download the Interim Report (WORD version) 64 pages, 6 mb