The council and the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, coincidentally, had already planned a one-day workshop in November, where earthquake strengthening will be one of several topics discussed.
Council heritage policy planner Glen Hazelton yesterday said there had been concern too few might be interested in the subject to make the workshop worthwhile.
But that was definitely not the case now.
"It's mostly been building owners fearful parts of their building might fall through the roof," he said of the type of calls he was getting.
People were encouraged to attend the meeting to get information, and Mr Hazelton also recommended they "contact appropriately qualified structural engineers to assess the property, identify potential risk and investigate solutions for securing items or managing the risk to people and property".
The free workshop would feature advice from representatives of firms involved in heritage work.
They would discuss a range of issues, including earthquake strengthening, fire safety, the role of heritage architects and principles of conservation repair.
Heritage features could usually be secured and risks mitigated without affecting the heritage fabric of the building, Mr Hazelton said.
He also reminded heritage building owners the council's heritage fund, jointly administered by the trust, closed on October 1.
The fund, set up in 1995 to support the protection and conservation of the city's built heritage, had provided more than $200,000 for the preservation of heritage buildings in the past year.
