University students operated remote control cameras, similar to this one owned by Southern Response, to help EQC complete underfloor inspections.

The Earthquake Commission (EQC) hired engineering students over summer to help clear its backlog of re-inspections.

Almost six years on from the September 2010 earthquake, EQC has thousands of re-inspections and second-time repairs to work through.

Information provided to the Labour Party shows the organisation took on engineering and geology students to help with property inspections.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ Labour's Canterbury spokeswoman Megan Woods says second-time home repairs are a huge problem for the recovery.

Labour's Canterbury spokeswoman Megan Woods said there seemed to be "no end in sight" for the region's earthquake-hit homeowners.

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EQC last year vowed to check more than 2300 underfloor repairs, which were exempt from needing a building consent, after a Government survey revealed shortcomings with the work.

In addition, the Crown's natural disaster insurer has about 5800 second-time repairs on its books because of poor workmanship, missed earthquake damage, failed repair strategies and new damage.

Responding to written questions from Woods, the Minister Responsible for EQC Gerry Brownlee said the three students cost $43,000 over summer, or $14,333 each.

Brownlee said no students were currently employed with EQC.

Woods was concerned EQC did not have adequate resources to handle the number of re-inspections and remedial repairs it had.

"We're coming up to the sixth anniversary . . . and this problem is becoming ridiculous."

An internal update said EQC hired the students to "achieve a higher number of re-inspections per week".

Other EQC documents, released under the Official Information Act earlier this year, showed the organisation was struggling to cope and needed more staff.

An EQC spokesman said the organisation continued to move more staff in the remedial team as the number of first-time repairs decreased.

About 60 staff were in the remedial programme, he said – up from 35 at the start of the year.

"Currently we have no further plans for a similar internship, or to engage engineering students again this summer," he said.

A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment survey into unconsented subfloor repairs found defects, particularly jack and packs, which involves packing material between the floor and foundations to re-level houses.

The students completed underfloor inspections, the spokesman said, which involved operating a remote control camera to take pictures under a home. They did not make engineering assessments and the images they captured were analysed by qualified staff.

Homes needing a second round of earthquake repairs now make up the bulk of EQC's workload. Earlier this year, Brownlee estimated remedial repairs would cost EQC between $60 million and $70m.

EQC said until homeowners stopped lodging remedial requests it could not say when second-time repairs would be completed.

Asked when the Canterbury Home Repair Programme would wind up, the spokesman said: "EQC will continue working with customers until their claims are resolved."

The organisation has 407 staff members based in Christchurch – mostly working on settling building claims, whether by managed repair or cash settlement.