Abstract:
Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings remain New Zealand's most earthquake-prone structures. As part of an effort to develop retrofit solutions for upgrading the seismic performance of these structures, research into characterising the national building stock of URM buildings has been conducted. This research classifies New Zealand URM buildings into typologies, based on their general structural configuration. Seven typologies are presented, and their relative prevalence, age and locations are identified. Based on these classifications, seismic vulnerability assessments will need to be conducted on a regional and national basis. An estimate of the population and distribution, as well as the construction date, of existing URM structures in New Zealand is also presented. Effort is being developed to further improve the quality of data, in conjunction with exercises currently being conducted by local territorial authorities. The preponderance of these structures were constructed between 1920 and 1930.