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NZS 3604 Timber-framed buildings is the foremost building Standard in New Zealand for residential buildings. The majority of new and existing residential buildings in our country are of timber construction and 93 per cent have components of NZS 3604 in their design and construction.

View NZS3604 for more information

NZS 3604 provides design solutions which are aligned with the current loadings of Standard NZS 1170 Part 5:2004 Earthquake actions – New Zealand. The Standard provides for building on “good ground”. Land subject to liquefaction is not deemed “good ground” and requires a separate engineering assessment.

We published a revised version of the NZS 3604 Timber-framed buildings Standard in February 2011. The previous version was published in 1999.

Ninety-three per cent of New Zealand timber-framed houses feature elements of NZS 3604 in their design and construction.

During the period between 1999 and 2011 technology and building practices have advanced and changed. Certain parts of the Standard needed to be reviewed and updated to align with these changes.

The scope of the revision to NZS 3604 was a limited technical review – this means the publication was not 'started from scratch'. Instead, content was reviewed by five Standards development working groups, reporting back to a technical committee.

The revised version of NZS 3604 was developed through robust Standards development processes, consistent with the development of international Standards.

The Department of Building and Housing and Standards New Zealand have agreed to consider amendments to NZS 3604 or other documents when information and evidence about liquefaction and lateral spread is clear.

There is currently not enough information and evidence-based research to decide if liquefaction should be addressed in the definition of 'good ground'. Several investigative and research projects have been initiated by the wider sector, including the formation of a Strategic Advisory Group initiated by the Earthquake Commission to focus on the remedial work in Canterbury.

The Department of Building and Housing has worked with other agencies on guidance information about liquefaction for remedial work in Canterbury. This guidance document was published in December 2010 and is available on the Department of Building and Housing website. (www.dbh.govt.nz/guidance-on-repairs-after-earthquake)

It is important that learnings from these events are captured and considered appropriately.

Standards New Zealand hosted a knowledge-sharing forum and brought together a range of stakeholder groups following the September earthquake. We have also participated in discussions with relevant sector groups.

We will bring stakeholders together again to discuss and share knowledge from the February earthquake.

Standards New Zealand will continue to work with stakeholders and experts as we analyse the findings and research from the Canterbury earthquakes, which in turn will further improve the Standards work programme and make living in New Zealand safer.

New Zealand, as a seismically active country, has a wealth of knowledge gained from earthquake events over the more than 70 years since the formation of the then Standards Institution.

Our Standards committees draw on scientific evidence and learnings, experience, judgement, risk assessment, and input from various stakeholders, including experts – local and international – and the public. They also draw on knowledge learned from earthquakes in other countries, and international experts in the field of seismic Standard design. The design Standards are based on the philosophy and principles set out in international Standards (ISO 2394:1998 General principles on reliability for structures).

Our Standards development processes are robust, our building Standards are well respected and are regarded as world-leading.

Standards developed in New Zealand that have been drawn on for the development of international Standards include:

• NZS 4219:2009 Specification for seismic performance of engineering systems in buildings
• NZS 4297:1998 Engineering design of earth buildings
• AS/NZS 4360:2004 Risk management