An Australian company developing piles that act as ''shock absorbers'' for houses during earthquakes hopes to test the new technology in Christchurch.

The Blade Pile Group, a subsidiary of the Gold Coast- based Trilink Group, is working with structural and geo-science engineers to develop the technology.

It hopes to be able to test it in earthquake-prone Christchurch and plans to team with Cavalier Homes to build a house that will be used to test the performance of the new system.

Once proven, the piles would be offered to needy Christchurch people building new homes, with the company hoping to be able to launch the Earthquake Blade Pile worldwide within the next few months.

Trilink Group chief executive Kym Plotkin said the technology would be a world first for homes, but the company did not want to profit from Canterbury's disaster.

"It is our objective to save property and, more importantly, to save lives with a system that will actually be no more expensive to use than many standard pile-based foundations, " he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News