Reay inquiry to be reopened

CHRISTCHURCH: Engineering New Zealand says it will reopen an investigation into complaints made against Alan Reay, following a High Court ruling yesterday.

The complaint against Mr Reay, the engineer responsible for the Canterbury Television (CTV) Building, was made by Michael Stannard, who was then the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s chief engineer.

The High Court has found Engineering New Zealand has jurisdiction to investigate, hear and determine the complaint.

The CTV Building collapsed in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, killing 115 people.

Engineering New Zealand later began investigating Mr Reay, but halted its investigation when he resigned his membership in February 2014.

While Mr Reay’s resignation meant the institution would not be able to expel him, the court concluded there might be ‘‘valuable lessons to be learnt from an assessment of his professional responsibilities in relation to the collapse of the CTV Building that could only be resolved through a disciplinary process’’.

Engineering New Zealand said it would reopen an investigation into the complaints against Mr Reay.

Chief executive Susan FreemanGreene said her thoughts yesterday were with those who lost loved ones in the CTV Building tragedy.

‘‘We stopped our investigation in 2014 because Dr Reay had resigned as a member. We appreciate the court’s direction that our decision was wrong.’’ — RNZ