This paper is an edited version of a submission made to the Lower Hutt City Council Town Planning Hearings Committee in August 1986. The submission was made in support of an objection by the Lower Hutt City Council to a proposed ordinance which prohibited building adjacent to the section of the Wellington fault in Lower Hutt City. The inadequacies of the proposed ordinance are examined and the issues analysed with particular reference to the protection of life and property, and the risks involved. Earthquake risks are further analysed and the risk of damage due to shaking compared with those due to fault movement. Comparisons of earthquake risk with other risks accepted by the community are made. The conclusion drawn is that the additional risk of earthquake damage in a potential fault zone is sufficient to warrant constraints to development, but not so large, in the context of overall risks, to justify prohibition of all development in a fault zone. Comment and recommendation is made as to appropriate constraints to building development in such zones.