Christchurch City Council now has the tools to move construction in the city centre along, six years after the February 2011 quake.

Councillors today decided to take action against derelict sites in the CBD - claiming they're holding up the city's regeneration.

Councillor Jamie Gough said there's a time and a place to bring out these kind of disincentives, and some may say they're already overdue.

"Six years on I don't think anyone will disagree that we're probably at that point, and some would probably argue that we possibly should have brought out those sticks a little bit earlier."

The framework decided upon today will allow council to first engage with owners, then add 'pressure' and as a last resort hand out fines.