Japan Government Simplifies Disaster Damage Assessment Procedure in Hopes of Expediting Recovery Process

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, October 1, 2025

The government has simplified municipal procedures for assessing damage to housing from disasters such as earthquakes.

It has consolidated the previously two-stage survey process into a single step, while introducing new simplified criteria for determining the extent of the damage. The aim to expedite these assessments, which form the basis of disaster victim support, thereby accelerating the rebuilding of victims’ lives.

The extent of damage to homes caused by earthquakes or floods is certified by municipalities either as “zenkai” (completely destroyed), “hankai” (severely damaged) or “ichibu sonkai” (somewhat damaged). An initial survey is conducted to assess damage to the exterior, followed by a secondary survey to inspect the interior if necessary.

After the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in January 2024, many houses initially assessed as somewhat damaged were later reclassified as severely damaged in a secondary survey. The issue was that severe internal damage not visible externally cannot be accurately detected until a secondary survey, which also caused a delay in confirming damage levels.

The Cabinet Office therefore revised its operational guidelines for municipalities in July to “conduct surveys efficiently.” Specifically, municipalities can skip an initial survey and start with a secondary survey at their discretion, enabling them to inspect interiors smoothly.

Even when starting with an initial survey, municipalities can move sequentially onto a secondary survey for each house, instead of waiting for all houses to undergo an initial survey, which is the current practice.

The revised guidelines also include a new standard in which any house that was found in an initial survey to have damage in all three areas — roof, exterior walls and fixtures — are deemed to be severely damaged.

Streamlining these procedures should accelerate the issuance of disaster certificates to victims, which leads to facilitating public support such as relocation to temporary housing and publicly funded demolition of damaged homes.

Along with this revision, the Cabinet Office established a so-called disaster certificate coordinator system, whereby local government officials nationwide who are proficient in issuing such certificates are dispatched to disaster areas to expedite the procedures.