The design firm boss behind Christchurch's CTV building knew its design was flawed in 1990 but chose not to launch a detailed inspection, a hearing was told today.
Dr Alan Reay was giving evidence for the fifth time on the final day of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission hearing into the CTV building collapse, in which 115 people died on February 22 last year.
An inspection carried out in 1990 by Holmes Consulting Group for a prospective buyer of the building found critical structural weaknesses in tying the concrete floors to the walls.
Drag bars were installed to beef up the six-storey building's strength, and the report found the rest of the building "generally complies with current design loading and materials codes".
The drag bars, however, were later found not to have complied with the building code.
Today, Dr Reay was asked whether being informed of the "fundamental error" in 1990 should have caused "alarm bells to ring" for him.
"Not in the context in which I learned about it, and that context included the Holmes report," he said.
Asked by counsel assisting the commission, Mark Zarifeh if he should have reviewed the rest of the building, given it was designed by his engineer David Harding, he replied: "No, not in the context of what I knew at that time."
Even with hindsight, and with the knowledge gleaned from the royal commission, he claimed he would "make the same decision today".
"I'm excluding the fact there's been a collapse," Dr Reay said.
"But in terms of a report that says the rest of the building is compliant and the fact I was unaware of any issues with Mr Harding's work, it would tend to lead one to the same conclusion."
Dr Reay said the Holmes report was "a key factor" in not probing further.
He had asked Mr Harding if any site instructions were given to the builder, Williams Construction at the time, but he could not recall any, he said.
Before the retrofit work was done, the building was sold and Dr Reay and his engineer Geoff Banks felt it was their professional duty to inform the new owners that the work needed doing.
After almost 12 months where nothing happened, and the building lay unoccupied, the work was finally completed in October 1991 before new tenants moved in.
The eight-week long CTV Building hearing concluded today.
The royal commission will sit again from September 3 to 13 to look at how Christchurch buildings were assessed after the earthquakes.
They will also investigate the roles, responsibilities, and training of engineers and organisation of the engineering profession before they will compile a final report due to be completed by November 12.
