Changes to timeframes and priorities should give Wanganui building owners some breathing space for earthquake strengthening their properties.
This follows submissions made to the Government select committee that has been hearing submissions on the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill.
While the original draft legislation adopted a "one-size-fits-all" approach, the amendment divides the country into three seismic zones of high, medium and low risk.
Wanganui has been included in the medium-risk zone, which means buildings must be assessed within a 10-year period, with the owners then given 25 years to comply with the building regulations.
But the submission from the Wanganui District Council takes it a step further, asking for more of a "risk-based" approach.
Leighton Toy, the council's deputy property manager, said the bill's amendment would require engineering assessments to identify where only part of a building is earthquake-prone.
"However, there is no correlation between part of a building which may be earthquake-prone and the associated risk to life," Mr Toy said.
"Council's submission recommends more work be completed ... on the development of a risk-based approach which provides greater flexibility to either shorten, extend or exempt parts of buildings based on the level of risk to life posed," he said. Once the bill was adopted by the Government, the council would review its 2009 earthquake-prone buildings policy.
The council's submission is the result of meetings led by the Wanganui earthquake prone buildings taskforce and involving councillors, council staff and the community.
Mr Toy said while the council supported many of the changes included in the latest version of the bill, "we believe there is room for improvement through regulations to develop tools which will provide communities such as Wanganui with a better ability to manage risk".