Eighty Wellington buildings are required to undertake detailed engineering assessments after the magnitude 7.8 quake on November 14.
The measure was recommended to the Wellington City Council by experts who had been investigating the Statistics House building, which was seriously damaged in the quake.
City recovery manager Mike Mendonca said: "We are conducting a targeted assessment to form a complete picture of the current state of the city's buildings.
"Some buildings may have incomplete records due to previous works or repairs, and we want to make sure our planning is based on the most up-to-date information."
The required assessments will be more detailed than the visual inspections undertaken of most buildings, and are likely to require lifting of carpet tiles, celling panels, or wall linings to gain access.
Mr Mendonca said that based on the assessment of the Stats NZ building, engineers have given the council a list of criteria for buildings that need further attention.
Most of the properties on the list are reinforced-concrete buildings of up to 15 storeys, built in the past four decades, and many of them are on softer reclaimed land or on ridgelines.
Mr Mendonca said if tenants are worried to see their building on the list they should speak to their building owner, but stressed that the council has "no evidence at this point that there is any need to evacuate any of these buildings".
He said the council does not expect to find any unsafe buildings that they are not already aware of.
The Government recently passed urgent quake legislation that has given councils the emergency powers to order inspections.
Previously it was not an obligation for building owners to undertake assessments, it was a voluntary measure.
Building owners have until February 10 to comply with their inspection notice and the emergency legislation gives the council the option to take action if they do not comply. Mr Mendonca said "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it".
Full list of buildings that have been given notice (subject to change):
2 Aitken Street Defence House
84 Boulcott Street Grand Annexe
80 Boulcott Street Housing New Zealand
49 Boulcott Street 49 Boulcott Street
53 Boulcott Street City Link House
47 Boulcott Street Boulcott Hall (Victoria University)
59 Boulcott Street Quantum Apartments
33 Bowen Street Ministry of Education - Tower Block
1 Bowen Street Bowen House
10 Brandon Street Deloitte Tower
101 Courtney place Saatchi and Saatchi House
36 Customhouse Quay Craigs Investment Partners House OR Barclays House
10 Customhouse Quay Maritime Towers
95 Customhouse Quay Todd Building
163 Featherston Street IBM Building
110 Featherston Street 110 Featherston
55 Featherston Street Asteron Centre
154 Featherston Street Wellington Chambers
4 Gilmer Terrace Wilson Carpark adjacent to Plimmer Tower
2 Gilmer Terrace Plimmer Tower l
8 Gilmer Terrace HP House
2 Grey Street Intercontinental Hotel
29 Harris Street Civic Centre Library and Basement Carpark
12 Hawkestone Street Inland Revenue
24 Hawkestone Street Kingsgate Hotel
11 Hunter Street Lumley House
2 Hunter Street ASB Regional and Business Centre
23 Kate Sheppard Environment House
160 Lambton Quay Lambton House / Vodafone
342 Lambton Quay AA Centre / AMI Plaza
190 Lambton Quay
256 Lambton Quay
169 Lambton Quay David Jones Tower
13 Manners Street Nokia House
17 Manners Street Department of Conservation
50 Manners Street Old BNZ Trust Building
107 Manners Street 107 Manners Street / behind Capital Liquor
74 Manners Street Tall building above Cotton On
24 Marion Street Marion Square Carpark
40 Mercer Street Cnr Mercer Street and Willis Street / Royal NZ Plunket Society
42 Molesworth Street Kate Sheppard Apartments
48 Mulgrave Street Revera House
166 Oriental Parade 166 Oriental Parade
370 Oriental Parade The Capital Apartments
61 Taranaki Street Outwide House
79 Taranaki Street Sharp Building
135 Taranaki Street Marickian Apartments
138 The Terrace Colenso House
113 The Terrace PriceWaterhouseCoopers Tower
3 The Terrace The Treasury
89 The Terrace Challenge House
44 The Terrace
22 The Terrace Qual IT House
101 The Terrace ASB Building
111 The Terrace Equinox House
80 The Terrace 80 The Terrace
141 The Terrace Fujitsu Tower
125 The Terrace
80 The Terrace ex AXA Centre / NZ Fire Service
204 Thorndon Quay Defence Careers
135 Victoria Street Eagle Technology House
86 Victoria Street Technology One House
65 Victoria Street Wellington Central Library
1 Victoria Street Southpac House
170 Wakefield Street Amora Hotel
101 Wakefield Street Council Administration Building
142 Wakefield Street ex Regional Council Building
142 Wakefield Street Marshall House
234 Wakefield Street Master Builders House
110 Wakefield Street West Plaza Hotel
148 Wakefield Street James Smith Carpark
60 Waterloo Quay BNZ Harbour Quay
26 Willeston Street Colonial House
22 Willeston Street Willeston Tower
5 Willeston Street EMC House
1 Willeston Street Pencarrow House
16 Willis Street Grand Arcade
143 Willis Street Mid City Centre
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