The Invercargill consulting engineer who designed Stadium Southland which collapsed in 2010 during a heavy snowstorm has been expelled from the engineers' institution for incompetence.
Tony Major was the first person expelled from the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (Ipenz) in at least 15 years, Ipenz chief executive Andrew Cleland said yesterday.
Expulsion was the highest level of sanction Ipenz could impose and indicated a ''very serious breach of the standards the profession expects to be upheld'', he said.
Mr Major designed the stadium for the Southland Indoor Leisure Centre Charitable Trust and oversaw its construction in 1999-2000.
Problems with the roof trusses were found soon after it opened and remedial work was carried out.
Trust chairman Acton Smith said yesterday Mr Major's professional indemnity insurer met the cost.
But the remedial work was not enough, and the roof of the main part of the stadium collapsed during the snowstorm in September 2010. About 20 people were in the building but no-one was injured.
A report into the collapse found it was caused by four factors - heavy snowfall, problems with remedial works during construction, construction defects and design problems.
Dr Cleland revealed yesterday Mr Major appeared before an Ipenz disciplinary committee in December and was found to have been negligent and incompetent.
The committee found he had ''failed to protect the health and safety of the public by his casual attitude to his professional engineering activities'' at the time the stadium was built.
It also found he breached the Ipenz code of ethics, and that his ''attitude and competencies remain below the current standards for a professional member''.
The committee's decision was kept out of the public arena because Mr Major appealed.
Dr Cleland said an appeal committee found none of the criteria for an appeal had been satisfied and the appeal was dismissed last week.
Along with expulsion, Mr Major is required to pay all Ipenz costs and expenses for the inquiry and disciplinary process. Dr Cleland said he did not know what the figure was.
Ipenz placed advertisements in two southern newspapers today informing people of the expulsion.
Dr Cleland said expulsion did not stop Mr Major from continuing to design buildings.
But Ipenz wanted people who may have had buildings designed by him, and councils which issued building consents, to know about the decision. Property owners could then choose whether or not to have Mr Major's work checked by another engineer, he said.
A spokesman for Mr Major, who did not want to be named, said last night Mr Major was ''understandably stressed'' about criticism of his professional reputation.
He was very disappointed with the decision and felt it was not a fair reflection on his culpability.
Mr Major believed the roof trusses which formed the central part of the original stadium were reduced in thickness without his knowledge.
When it was apparent remedial work was needed to fix them, he was unable to inspect the trusses after that work was done.
He was assured the work had been done correctly and relied on that assurance, but now accepts he should not have, the spokesman said.
Mr Major intended to continue operating his business and was confident all the other buildings he had designed were designed appropriately.
The indoor stadium trust has spent about $43 million rebuilding and extending the stadium.
Ironically, the man selected to design the new facility was Alan Reay, of Christchurch company Alan Reay Consulting, whose firm designed the CTV building which collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake in 2011, killing 115 people.
Mr Smith said the Alan Reay design had been ''peer reviewed to within an inch of its life'' and he was confident it would withstand snowfalls and earthquakes.
NZI, the insurer of the original stadium, had agreed to pay out more than $20 million, Mr Smith said, although the final figure was not yet known. Most of the money had already been paid.
In 2011, NZI filed a High Court claim for damages of $27.58 million against the Invercargill City Council and Mr Major.
The case has not been before the court yet.
Mr Smith said the Ipenz decision would have no bearing on the figure NZI would eventually pay the trust because the court case and the insurance payout were ''completely unrelated''.
Asked if the Ipenz decision would affect the court case, Mr Major's spokesman said it would not, because the court case was a ''battle between insurers'' rather than a re-examination of Mr Major's work.
No-one from the Invercargill City Council could be contacted for comment yesterday.
