Inland Revenue sends staff home after Wellington office deemed unsafe

The Asteron building.
The Asteron building. Photo credit: Google Maps

Inland Revenue (IR) has closed its Wellington office after a seismic assessment deemed the building less safe than previously thought.

Seven floors of the Asteron building on Featherston St are occupied by IR, with almost 1000 staff members, all of whom will now work from home until a plan is put in place to bring the entire building up to code. 

The discovery was made after IR decided to renew its lease and conducted a new seismic assessment as part of this.

This put the building "at a lower level than previously assessed".

"No decisions on the long-term use of the building or IR's future Wellington accommodation have been made and IR has no other comments to make on the issue," said a spokesperson.