Much has been written about the poor performance of existing buildings in the Canterbury earthquakes, and in particular the poor performance of seismic improvements to the parapets of unreinforced masonry buildings. This proposal seeks to identify and report on exemplar retrofits that survived the Canterbury earthquakes in a manner that has confirmed their structural suitability. The project will also report on the economic viability of each retrofit in terms of improvements in property value and other relevant factors, and will consider the social acceptability of the retrofit where appropriate, in terms of factors such as architectural appeal, heritage preservation, and community appreciation. Candidate buildings will be limited to the Christchurch commercial building stock, with the hope that exemplars with a variety of different structural forms, construction materials and building functions may be identified.