New Zealand

Poor quake repairs worrying - PM

16:49 pm on 3 March 2015

The Prime Minister has admitted that earthquake repairs on some Canterbury homes have failed to meet acceptable standards.

An earthquake-damaged home in the Christchurch suburb of Sumner Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

John Key said the results of a recent Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment investigation were worrying but he remained confident that the bulk of home repairs carried out by the Earthquake Commission were satisfactory.

The ministry inspected the standard of repair work at 14 properties following complaints from homeowners, and found quality and non-compliance issues at all but one of them.

Mr Key said the commission has carried out about 65,000 home repairs, and many homeowners have been pleased with the region's repair programme.

Though he acknowledged that the results of a government investigation into the standard of earthquake repairs at some Canterbury homes were worrying, the Prime Minister said he was still confident the Earthquake Commission's home repair programme was working well.

He added that he could not recall being flooded by people who were unhappy with their repairs.