In its latest update, the Earthquake Commission says it will have to manage repairs to 50-thousand homes moderately or seriously damaged by the Canterbury earthquake four weeks ago.
A building with temporary sheet metal weatherproofing on the roof, replacing the fallen brickwork. Scaffolding has also been erected next to the building so that repairs can be made.
A photograph of a member of the Diabetes Centre team standing in the entrance way to the Diabetes Centre. In the background, a carpenter is working on building repairs.
A digger scraping damaged tarseal from River Road in Richmond. A portaloo sits on the side of the road. The photographer comments, "Road repairs. River Rd, Richmond, looking west".
A message in a bottle, hidden under the floor of a Christchurch home for over fifty years, has been discovered during earthquake repairs and its writer's been tracked down.
Caption reads: "We all wish we could stay here. We want them to repair our homes, but they say they won't and you know nothing will change their minds."
EQC CEO Sid Miller says the agency is currently defending 316 legal cases over the Christchurch earthquakes, and is considering legal action against Fletcher's for its project management of the repairs.
A poster created by Empowered Christchurch to advertise their submission to the CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan on social media.The poster reads, "Submission. CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan. 5. In your opinion, is there a better way to report on these recovery issues? We believe that, as regards residential recovery, monitoring should extend to code compliance certificates. According to figures published in 2014, only factions of repairs/rebuilds are completed with the issue of a code compliance certificate. To conclude the work to the required standard, someone must pay for the code compliance. Leaving things as they are could have serious negative consequences for the recovery and for the city as a whole. We suggest an investigation of number of outstanding code compliance certificates and that responsible parties are made to address this outstanding work. We need a city that is driven by the people that live in it, and enabled by a bureaucracy that accepts and mitigates risks, rather than transferring them to the most vulnerable residents."
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The south-west corner of Lichfield and Manchester Streets with the site of Reuben Blades Hairdressing School".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Durham Street Methodist Church after the excavators had dug through the ruins to find the bodies of the three workers buried when the church collapsed on February 22".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Durham Street Methodist Church after the excavators had dug through the ruins to find the bodies of the three workers buried when the church collapsed on February 22".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "About the largest piece of the roof beams with its steel brace, lying on the footpath - Durham Street Methodist Church".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The site of the CTV Building on Madras Street where 118 people died. All that remains is the elevator shaft and stairwell to the right".
A digger clearing building rubble from demolished buildings on the corner of London Street in Lyttelton. Fabric hearts have been attached to the fence in front.
A sign on the wire fencing in front of the Ground Culinary Centre on the corner of London and Canterbury Streets. The sign reads, "Ground has moved to Dublin Street at the Four Ships/Top Club & takeaway food in caravan outside Portico". The background, the original store can be seen, damaged severely after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A view looking west along Tuam Street from Colombo Street. To the left, rubble from a demolished building can be seen".
A video of interpretive dances related to the building of a shed, featuring Matt Grant and Elizabeth Guthrey. This video was made as a follow-on to 'Beneath the Layers: Wood salvaging'.
A time-lapse video of New Regent Street, taken from The Press building, which accidentally captured the collapse of the Copthorne Hotel. A cloud of dust from the collapsing building can be seen in the top of the video. The hotel collapsed while it was being demolished.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Durham Street Methodist Church after the excavators had dug through the ruins to find the bodies of the three workers buried when the church collapsed on February 22".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Durham Street Methodist Church after the excavators had dug through the ruins to find the bodies of the three workers buried when the church collapsed on February 22".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "High Street with the remains of the Hotel Grand Chancellor and the Holiday Inn and Westpac building (both under demolition). Manchester Street on the left".
Demolition along Kilmore Street. A digger can be seen as well as a construction worker with a high hat and high-visibility vest. The rubble has been separated into different piles.
The former mayor of Christchurch, Gary Moore, speaking to a woman at the Rally for the Cathedral in Cranmer Square. The rally protested the proposed demolition of the ChristChurch Cathedral.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A concrete-block wall from a building on the corner of Colombo and Gloucester Streets which has fallen in an interesting pattern during demolition".
Graffiti on a damaged building. The photographer comments, "They should have painted four leaf clover, if they wanted this tagging to survive the demolition of the earthquake damaged Ozone in Christchurch
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This house was so badly damaged it has already been removed, ahead of the mass demolition programme. 22 Jean Batten Place, Horseshoe Lake, Burwood".
The Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 had a significant impact on landlords and tenants of commercial buildings in the city of Christchurch. The devastation wrought on the city was so severe that in an unprecedented response to this disaster a cordon was erected around the central business district for nearly two and half years while demolition, repairs and rebuilding took place. Despite the destruction, not all buildings were damaged. Many could have been occupied and used immediately if they had not been within the cordoned area. Others had only minor damage but repairs to them could not be commenced, let alone completed, owing to restrictions on access caused by the cordon. Tenants were faced with a major problem in that they could not access their buildings and it was likely to be a long time before they would be allowed access again. The other problem was uncertainty about the legal position as neither the standard form leases in use, nor any statute, provided for issues arising from an inaccessible building. The parties were therefore uncertain about their legal rights and obligations in this situation. Landlords and tenants were unsure whether tenants were required to pay rent for a building that could not be accessed or whether they could terminate their leases on the basis that the building was inaccessible. This thesis looks at whether the common law doctrine of frustration could apply to leases in these circumstances, where the lease had made no provision. It analyses the history of the doctrine and how it applies to a lease, the standard form leases in use at the time of the earthquakes and the unexpected and extraordinary nature of the earthquakes. It then reports on the findings of the qualitative empirical research undertaken to look at the experiences of landlords and tenants after the earthquakes. It is argued that the circumstances of landlords and tenants met the test for the doctrine of frustration. Therefore, the doctrine could have applied to leases to enable the parties to terminate them. It concludes with a suggestion for reform in the form of a new Act to govern the special relationship between commercial landlords and tenants, similar to legislation already in place covering other types of relationships like those in residential tenancies and employment. Such legislation could provide dispute resolution services to enable landlords and tenants to have access to justice to determine their legal rights at all times, and in particular, in times of crisis.
A photograph of a lamp post on the Mandeville Bridge in Kaiapoi. The lamp post has an intricate metal sign attached to it, which includes the name of the bridge.
A photograph of St John's Anglican Church in Hororata. The spire of the church, which partially collapsed in the 4 September earthquake, has been boarded up in order to protect the building from rain. This photograph was modelled off an image taken by BeckerFraserPhotos in October 2010.
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The Octagon Live Restaurant, viewed from Manchester Street".