Wellington City Council has confirmed there are about 150 buildings in the capital with the same design flaw as the Education Ministry's head office.
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The ministry has closed Matauranga House in Bowen Street and sent 1000 staff home after a new engineering assessment put the building at just 25 percent of new building standards, due to its precast concrete floors.
The ministry said the building was previously assessed as meeting 90 to 100 percent of the standards following strengthening.
That has changed because of new guidelines for seismic assessment.
A council spokesperson said approximately 150 other buildings have the same type of floors.
However, the council does not have the power to require owners to assess them to check if they are vulnerable.
The spokesperson said in most cases, updated engineering assessments were done for insurance, a tenancy agreement or as a condition of sale.
The Ministry of Education intends having its headquarters emptied out by the close of business on Monday.