The annex of Te Hononga civic offices might need to be raised to a higher standard of seismic strengthening. Photo: Supplied
Up to 400 Christchurch City Council staff have been evacuated from part of its civic offices due to concerns about earthquake strength.
Council chief executive Mary Richardson said engineers were assessing the annex on the Worcester Boulevard side of Te Hononga civic offices.
It might need to be raised to a higher standard of seismic strengthening.
Wednesday's council meeting has been cancelled, as the chamber cannot be used and future meetings would be held at the Fendalton Service Centre while the engineering assessment was carried out.
Richardson said staff had been relocated elsewhere in the office or to other council buildings, and even Mayor Phil Mauger had to relocate his working space from the annex into another area of the mayoral office.
"We are taking a precautionary approach, as safety is paramount. As a result, staff will be relocated to other parts of the main Te Hononga building or to other Council facilities until we receive the report," Richardson said.
"Once we have the engineers findings, staff will either return back to their desks or we will start work on strengthening the annex's connection to the main building.
"I want to thank staff, elected members and visitors to our civic offices for their patience and understanding. We want to minimise disruption as much as possible.
"We're in a period of uncertainty and people may have questions that we may not be able to answer until we have all the details while we wait for the outcome of the report."
The engineers' assessment was expected to take three weeks.
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