A few simple building rules could have saved billions of dollars and kept thousands of people in their own homes after the Canterbury earthquake, Far North Mayor Wayne Brown says.
The problems showed the complicated building codes of recent years were no help, because they were ignored or not understood.
The excellent performance of old timber-framed, iron-roofed homes – built in the decades after a swarm of earthquakes in 1859-70, long before modern building codes – proved his point, he said.
Building practices exposed by Christchurch quake – Local News – Northland Northern Advocate.