Factors affecting motivation for improved seismic retrofit implementation

Abstract

Earthquake is one of world’s greatest disasters, claiming many lives and causing extensive damage to lives, properties and the economy. Seismic retrofitting of existing vulnerable buildings is one of the means of reducing hazards during an earthquake, thus it is an important activity in any earthquakeprone region. The field of hazards mitigation, most especially seismic retrofits faces a series of issues and challenges relating to implementation. Some of these challenges are lack of knowledge of available systems, cost of strengthening, regulatory constraints, perception of earthquake occurrence and risks. Although technologies have been developed to reduce or eliminate the risks associated with earthquake prone buildings (EPBs), retrofitting to maximum permissible strength is not always undertaken because many factors interact to influence retrofit decisions. The New Zealand Building Act (2004) also seeks to reduce the level of earthquake risk to the communities over time. However the implementations of retrofitting techniques has experienced a slow progress and in some cases were never carried out by building owners. It is possible that building owners are not always motivated to strengthen their earthquake prone buildings. This research aims to identify how owners of EPBs can be motivated to adopt high seismic standards during seismic rehabilitation. This study identified various factors affecting owners of EPBs motivation for improved seismic retrofits implementation in New Zealand. Through semi-structured interviews, factors identified were categorized into three major factors namely economic and social factors and regulatory requirements. Suggestions on the importance and influence of these factors were evaluated and discussed.