Older unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings have been found to perform poorly in historical Australian earthquakes. Where these building are present in pedestrian precincts, they represent a significant risk to people and communities. Some towns and cities have a significant proportion of this type of building within business districts and Perth CBD is an example having 48% by number of URM construction ranging from pre-Federation to early-to-mid twentieth century in age. Further, these buildings are often of significant heritage value providing a sense of place to residents and contribute to visitor related business revenue. These factors all come to play in the town of York which is also in an area of elevated earthquake hazard. There is a need for information inform strategies and decision making around reducing the risk they represent. This project has had a focus on York and was designed as a three-year collaboration between researchers, industry and local stakeholders to improve the understanding of the vulnerability of older unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. The building types considered are of the types found in York and other larger communities and the project has included methods of retrofit that can enhance the resilience of these buildings to earthquake hazard. It has further included the promotion of expertise with building design professionals and in the construction industry to undertake this work through a demonstration projects. Specifically, the project has been a collaboration between the Shire of York, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, the University of Adelaide and Geoscience Australia. While not a direct project partner, the Department of Planning Lands and Heritage (DPLH) has also been a key stakeholder that has sought to facilitate the application for grant funding for the mitigation activity to be studied as part of this project.

Damaging earthquakes are less frequent in Australia when compared to weather related events, but when they occur close to communities they can cause significant damage and injury. This community risk to life, property, social fabric, valued community heritage and the local economy is significant and is gaining recognition. Some state and local governments are seeking to raise awareness of earthquake risk with property owners and are targeting grants schemes to promote cost shared investment in retrofit activity. Where property owners do take the initiative to address structural deficiencies they need the assistance of design professionals and a skilled construction industry to undertake retrofit with due address of heritage considerations. If you work in either domain, this document will assist you. This document is aimed to be a resource for you when discussing retrofit needs and options with clients and translating their retrofit objectives to detailed design, documentation and implementation. The primary focus is the most vulnerable building construction type in Australia, older unreinforced masonry, but the principles are informative to address other high risk building types. The objective is cost-effective retrofit measures with minimised disruption to occupants that can address a significant portion of the earthquake risk to the building owner and the community more broadly. It presents information that explains the nature of earthquake hazard in Australia, the risk it presents and the vulnerability factors that contribute to it. It further describes the common failure modes that can be highlighted to clients and a range of measures that can be employed to preclude these. It also links to other resources that can be drawn upon in developing tailored design solutions that the construction industry can readily implement.

While damaging earthquakes are less frequent in Australia when compared to other weather related events, when they do occur close to communities they can cause major damage and injury. This community risk to life, property, social fabric and the local economy is significant. The risk also presents associated challenges for government agencies with a role in emergency response, health care and community recovery both in the short and longer term. For some communities recovery to pre-event conditions may never be fully realised due to the destruction of heritage value that may be central to local business activity. Resources for building resilience to earthquakes need to be prioritised against those needed for other hazards. What are the benefits of earthquake retrofit of high risk buildings to communities and what exemplars of risk management driven from government exist? What resources exist for a business case to be articulated for limited resources and for motivating investment by property owners to reduce their individual risk? This document seeks provide useful answer these questions. It presents information that explains the nature of earthquake hazard in Australia, the risk it presents and vulnerability factors behind it. It also provides information on the effectiveness of retrofit in reducing the impact of earthquakes, emergency management logistics and recovery needs. It further provides links to resources that can be used to advance local programs for building community resilience. The primary focus is the most vulnerable building construction type, unreinforced masonry, but the principles are informative to the address of other high risk building types in communities.

This document is aimed to be a resource for you when discussing retrofit needs and options with clients and translating their retrofit objectives to detailed design, documentation and implementation. The primary focus is the most vulnerable building construction type in Australia, older unreinforced masonry, but the principles are also informative to address other high risk building types. The objective is cost-effective retrofit measures with minimised disruption to occupants that can address a significant portion of the earthquake risk to the building owner and the community more broadly. It presents information that explains the nature of wind hazard in Western Australia, the risk it presents and the vulnerability factors that contribute to it. It further describes the common failure modes that can be highlighted to clients and a range of measures that can be employed to preclude these. It also links to other resources that can be drawn upon in developing tailored design solutions that the construction industry can readily implement.

Even though the Australian continent sits within a major tectonic plate, it is affected by earthquakes. Each year, more than 100 earthquakes measuring 3.0 or more on the Richter scale are felt across Australia, with the majority affecting Western Australia—more than X since 1900. Many of these earthquakes are focused around York. Despite the prevalence of earthquakes in the region, the risks have not consistently been recognised during building design and construction. This means many buildings - particularly older masonry buildings - are susceptible to damage from earthquakes.

Damaging earthquakes are less frequent in Australia when compared to other weather-related events, but when they do occur close to a community they can cause major damage and injury. This risk to property and life exists for building owners, particularly if the building is of vulnerable construction. The good news is that your building can be retrofitted to improve its earthquake resilience within a sensible budget without compromising its heritage value. This document seeks to show you how. It explains the nature of earthquake risk and provides resources for building owners on how the risk can be reduced for the most vulnerable building construction type: unreinforced masonry.