Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods says it could take 18 months to decide who is liable for the repairs for 660 home-owners caught in legal limbo. They've bought homes where they thought all the earthquake damage had been repaired - and now find more problems have emerged. Ms Woods told us it's not clear who is liable for these repairs - and it could take as long as 18 months to resolve that basic liability issue. EQC's chief executive Sid Miller has already apologised. He tells Susie Ferguson it's an issue he's been aware of in the year he has been with EQC.
A world class centre for music and the arts has opened in Christchurch, after The Music Centre of Christchurch was damaged beyond repair in the 2011 earthquakes.
The Property Council says an ultimatum from the Christchurch City Council to owners of earthquake damaged commercial buildings will add to the stress business people are already under.
Glaziers and window makers in Christchurch say Saturday's earthquake smashed up to 90 percent of their glass supplies, leaving them without materials to repair people's homes.
It could be up to 18 months before 660 Christchurch homeowners know who will pay for earthquake damage repairs with a $1 billion price tag. The bill to fix houses in Christchurch that weren't repaired properly the first time round, or have suffered more damage in aftershocks, is climbing - and the government can't say who's liable. The problem is the homes have new owners who can't claim on theri insurance because the damage pre-dates them owning the home. Earlier Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods told us the previous National government put no plan in place, and the current government is being left to pick up the pieces. Former Christchurch earthquake recovery minister Gerry Brownlee disputes the issue.
There are 1,600 Canterbury homeowners with earthquake claims still open with EQC. About 100 homeowners turned up to a meeting organised by EQC Fix in Christchurch on Monday night - all with stories of home repair hell, botched repairs, or seemingly never-ending arguments with EQC, Southern Response, or their private insurer. They were all tired and wondering why they still had to fight more than nine years on from the first Canterbury Earthquake. Checkpoint video journalist Logan Church travelled to Christchurch to speak to those still fighting for what they believe they are entitled too.
EQC's manager for the Canterbury home repair programme, Reid Stiven, respondes to claims of misleading estimates of damage to household foundations from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
Some Christchurch residents are frustrated at the time it's taking to work out what sort of foundations their homes will require when earthquake repairs are carried out.
Christchurch City Council abandons plan to sell its City Care maintenance bid as part of its plan to raise $600 million to repair infrastructure damaged by earthquakes.
People who've bought houses in Canterbury since the September 2010 earthquake and are still battling with insurance companies over repairs, have been told that if they want to take the matter to court, today is their last chance. Earthquake claims specialist Lisa Taylor from the law firm Anthony Harper joins us.
Canterbury earthquake victims with the most damaged homes could have to wait more than two and half years for their houses to be fixed - but one owner says her problems are nothing compared to the misery of the Pike River mine disaster.
The company that has the main contract for repairing houses in Christchurch, Fletcher Earthquake Recovery, is assuring taxpayers it's doing everything it can to avoid any fraudulent behaviour.
The chief medical officer of health for the region, Dr Alistair Humphrey, says people carrying out repairs on their earthquake-stricken properties need to be wary of asbestos.
The repair of Christchurch's earthquake damaged arts centre has revealed details hidden from view for forty years including a badminton court and the site of an old swimming pool.
Tower Insurance has increased the amount it is willing to pay towards repairing an earthquake-damaged Christchurch home, but is still refusing to pay for a more expensive rebuild.
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.
The Plumbers industry body says some plumbers helping Christchurch quake victims are struggling to stay afloat, because the Earthquake Commission is not paying out fast enough for emergency repairs.
More than ten weeks after being damaged beyond repair by the Christchurch earthquake, there is still no decision about how or when the Grand Chancellor Hotel will be demolished.
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.
A protest is underway outside insurance company Vero's Christchurch's office, with building owners dismayed to be still fighting for earthquake repairs 10 years on.
The protest was organised by the owners of an 11 unit apartment block in New Brighton, who says Vero is purposefully delaying progress to wear them down.
RNZ's reporter Rachel Graham is at the protest and spoke to Meriana Johnsen
As Auckland and Northland brace for more atrocious weather, city leaders are calling for funding to repair the city's broken infrastructure to be along the lines of the help given to Christchurch after the quakes. Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson says that the damage so far is equivalent to the biggest non earthquake event the country has ever had and should be treated accordingly. The Opportunities Party says the "alliance" model established after the earthquakes, was effective and would work for Auckland's rebuild, because it provides a structure that the Central Government can fund directly. ToP leader Raf Manji was a Christchurch councillor after the quakes and closely involved in the rebuild. He tells Kathryn Ryan it is vital to ensure water and transport infrastructure is repaired quickly and efficiently, especially with a view to future extreme weather events - and there is much to learn from the post-quake rebuild.
Shell shocked residents still picking up the pieces in one of the worst earthquake affected parts of Canterbury, say a looming rates rise to pay for repairs will cripple them.
A Christchurch man says EQC misled him about the earthquake damage to his home and deliberately under-scoped the repairs that were needed. David Townshend said his warnings were ignored.
Some 10 years on from the devastating Canterbury quakes, the wait is still not over when it comes to law changes needed to improve the Earthquake Commission.
The government will not get it done until 2021, if it's re-elected. Meanwhile cases of botched quake repairs needing a fix are still flooding into EQC, Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods told Checkpoint.
Christchurch's Blessed Sacrament Cathedral was set to be repaired following the Canterbury earthquakes, but the new Bishop Paul Martin has decided it's too expensive and has decided to rebuild closer to the city centre.
The Earthquake Commission has been forced into an embarrassing admission that the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme have been accidentally emailed to the wrong address.
A project manager for a company doing home repairs in the Christchurch earthquake rebuild says it is highly likely as many as 60-thousand people have been exposed to potentially lethal asbestos fibres.
Despite Government pressure on the Christchurch City Council to sell off some of its assets to help fund its 40% share of the city's earthquake repairs, the council has instead decided to raise rates, and rents.
The Earthquake Commission has admitted its privacy breach was almost 10 times worse than it had said, with the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme being emailed out.
The Earthquake Commission has admitted the details of all 83-thousand clients in its Canterbury Home Repair programme have been accidentally emailed to the wrong place, not just the almost 10 thousand it said on Friday
