Flooding in Auckland in 2023. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
Auckland Council is looking at ways to make houses more resistant to floods.
It has put out a tender to get research done into ways that would specifically work in New Zealand.
"The scope of the research is focused on residential properties," the tender said.
Property flood resistance (PFR) was a growing market here and overseas. In the UK, for instance, it involved advice to homeowners on how to fit flood proof doors and windows and other measures to help waterproof a house up to half-a-metre or so high.
The deadly Mauao Mt Maunganui landslide has focused new attention on the threat of slips, which claim more lives in New Zealand than any other natural hazard.
Auckland Council said many approaches overseas were not directly applicable here and it aimed to develop a comprehensive understanding of what measures could work.
"PFR is not just about products or approaches, it is a system of people, regulations, behaviours, risks, and tools that must work together. If they do not work together to enhance the whole system, there is a risk of maladaptation," it said in a statement.
Its project included the Natural Hazard Commission Toka Tū Ake and Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ).
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The Geotechnical Society was updating its advice to home owners about landslide hazards, noting New Zealand had won international attention "as being a country where landslide risk management practices are good".
It had four lots of work going on into landslides, including on the advice to homeowners, updated landslide risk management and a slope stability project that "has attracted international interest".
The advice work would help non-specialists assess if there was a risk at any site, chair Emilia Stocks said in a statement.
"This work is intended to help people identify if they might be at risk, gives practical steps to reduce the risk, and simple advice about what to do if a landslide does occur."
New Zealand would host the first international workshop on landslide risk assessment and education in Queenstown in April.
"We were selected to host this event on behalf of four international societies in part because New Zealand is recognised as being a country where landslide risk management practices are good."
Also, the existing guidelines on landslide risk management were "generally recognised as being among global best practice" but needed an update as they were hard to read and focused mostly on housing, she said.
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