Building plans signed off by the Christchurch City Council show one of its own structural engineers was involved in the design of a new multistorey building that is unstable. The eight-storey office building at 230 High Street is off-limits as it is too weak and might 'rupture' in an earthquake. But the council insists the planning documents are wrong and its engineer had only a minor role. Phil Pennington reports.
Twelve years after the CTV building collapsed during the Christchurch earthquake, families of the victims killed inside have told an engineering disciplinary hearing they want justice and accountability. 115 people died when the six-storey building came down in February 2011. A complaint against an engineer whose firm designed the building is being heard by an Engineering New Zealand disciplinary committee. Dr Alan Reay lost a High Court bid to stop the hearing. Anna Sargent reports.
The Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission is calling for changes to building standards as a matter of urgency.
A Christchurch MP is working with a group trying to prevent historic buildings damaged in last month's earthquake from being torn down unnecessarily.
Insurance cover has been cancelled for Christchurch's historic Arts Centre and its Catholic Cathedral which were both badly damaged in the February earthquake.
A victim's family and engineers are seeking answers from the Christchurch City Council on why the earthquake-devastated CTV building was allowed to be built.
Business owners have told the Christchurch City Council they are haemorrhaging thousands of dollars a week, while it decides whether or not to demolish their buildings following last month's earthquake.
The collapsed PGC and CTV buildings in the Christchurch CBD were both"green stickered"by city council inspectors following the earthquake in September last year.
A property developer says he rejected an approach from a company who went on to build a substandard multistorey building in Christchurch's central mall. The building at 230 High Street is in limbo, having finally been ruled substandard with numerous design weaknesses that are an earthquake risk. Phil Pennington reports.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard the earthquake resilience of stairways in the Forsyth Barr building was compromised when they were installed.
A woman who was in Christchurch's CTV building when it collapsed during the February's earthquake says it felt like being in a falling lift.
The first details surrounding the deaths of 18 people in the PGC building collapse in February's earthquake have been revealed at an inquest in Christchurch.
Surviors of the collapsed Pyne Gould building in Christchurch where 18 people died in February's earthquake have today relived their experiences on that day.
The Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority says today's aftershocks have caused up to 50 additional buildings in the city's redzone to collapse or partially collapse.
The Insurance Council is mounting a legal challenge against the Christchurch City Council over its rules regarding earthquake-prone buildings.
The Government has appointed the panel of experts that will investigate why so many buildings collapsed during Christchurch's February earthquake.
The Christchurch City Council says it needs Government money to help repair its earthquake damaged heritage and character buildings.
The Royal Commission into the Canterbury Earthquakes continues today with the focus on the Pyne Gould Corporation building, where 18 people were killed.
The country's building regulator admits it needs a major overhaul after years scrambling just to react to leaky homes and the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes.
About two hundred of those who lost loved ones in collapsed buildings in Christchurch's 2011 earthquake, heard an apology from the city's mayor, Lianne Dalziel yesterday. A royal commission in to faulty buildings found serious errors by engineers and the Christchurch City Council 185 people died during the earthquake on the 22nd of February, 2011. David Selway who lost his sister Susan Selway in the CTV Building, said it was good to hear a heartfelt apology from the mayor for the role her council played in signing off the building as safe.
A property manager has been questioned at the Royal Commission investigating the Canterbury earthquakes about why he didn't tell tenants the building they worked in was unsafe.
An American engineer has told the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission he was shocked at the failure of builders to properly fix the floors of the PGC building to its walls.
The owner of a building that collapsed in last February's Christchurch earthquake - killing four people - has faced questioning about why he did not get recommended strengthening work done.
The Christchurch City Council has faced tough questioning at the Royal Commission into the Canterbury earthquakes over its role in ensuring buildings are earthquake strengthened.
Four years ago Christchurch City Council vowed to get tough on the owners of 30 central city buildings left derelict since the 2011 earthquake.
A wander through central Christchurch shows many of the buildings, nicknamed the dirty 30, still look unchanged.
There are boarded up windows, tarps covering gaping holes, and containers keeping bricks from falling on passers by.
But council says progress is finally being made on most Rachel Graham has more.
A Christchurch businessman has told the Earthquake Royal Commission the city council was a nightmare to deal with when he was trying to strengthen his building before the September quake.
The man whose firm designed the CTV building has apologised for the first time to the families of the 115 people killed when the building collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake.
A structural engineer who ordered a building green stickered though he'd failed to do another thorough check on it has defended his inspections at the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission says it will not re-open its inquiry into the CTV building collapse, despite fresh allegations against the building's construction manager.
The family of a young man who died while protecting his sister during February's earthquake in Christchurch says the building they were in wasn't safe.
