25 Sep 2024
An Engineering New Zealand Disciplinary Committee has today upheld a longstanding complaint against Alan Reay. Dr Reay was the sole principal of the firm that designed the failed CTV building.
The complaint was that Dr Reay’s employee who designed the building lacked the necessary experience to design such buildings, and that Dr Reay knew this and failed to provide adequate supervision.
The six-storey CTV building was designed in 1986 and collapsed in the Christchurch Earthquake, claiming 115 lives.
The Disciplinary Committee found Dr Reay’s conduct fell well below the accepted professional standards in 1986 and breached the Code of Ethics at the time.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission of Inquiry established Dr Reay knew the building’s layout could create excessive torsional response [twisting] but that he did not check the design. Dr Reay said it was the design engineer’s responsibility to bring any issues to his attention.
The Disciplinary Committee found “the CTV building was an irregular, highly eccentric, multi-storey building” and heard that “when there was shaking in one direction, the building was much more prone to twisting.” It heard the design engineer had not previously worked on buildings of such scale.
The Disciplinary Committee found that although Dr Reay “considered himself responsible for the projects completed by his company” his oversight of the design engineer was “virtually non-existent”. The Committee found the design engineer “did not have the necessary experience to design or have sole responsibility for the design of the CTV building”. It found Dr Reay’s decision to give the design engineer “responsibility to design the CTV building and take a ‘hands off’ approach was inconsistent with the acceptable standards of the day”.
Disciplinary Committee chair Andrew McMenamin FEngNZ CPEng. Photo: Stuff Limited
Engineering New Zealand Chief Executive Dr Richard Templer welcomed the decision saying, “Nothing can bring back the 115 people whose lives were taken in this tragedy. I hope the Committee’s decision provides closure and relief, and my heart goes out today to the CTV families and the people of Christchurch.”
Templer acknowledged the complaint’s long and fraught history has taken a considerable toll on the CTV families. He said the significance of today’s decision is “accountability”.
“This was always going to be a difficult case for Engineering New Zealand, given its complexity and that nearly 40 years have passed since the building was designed,” he said.
The complaint was first brought to the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ, now known as Engineering New Zealand) in 2012. Dr Reay and his employee were members of IPENZ when the CTV building was designed and the complaint opened. Dr Reay resigned his membership in 2014, at which time IPENZ ceased its investigation. The investigation resumed in 2019 after legal proceedings.
Templer said, “I’m extremely grateful to the Disciplinary and Investigating Committees who have studiously examined the complaint to determine whether Dr Reay’s conduct met the accepted professional standards of the day – and found it did not.”
The Disciplinary Committee ordered Dr Reay be admonished, fined $750 and pay costs of $1,000 – the maximum amounts available under the 1986 Member Rules and Disciplinary Regulations.
The Committee also believed Dr Reay should consider issuing a public apology for his failure to adequately supervise the design engineer.
Notes to reporters
- Engineering New Zealand is New Zealand's professional body for engineers, representing over 23,000 members. We represent – and regulate – our members and is the Registration Authority for Chartered Professional Engineers.
- Andrew McMenamin CPEng FEngNZ chaired the Disciplinary Committee that heard the complaint against Dr Reay. The hearing was on 4-6 December 2023 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
- Disciplinary Committees can make orders under our membership rules and disciplinary regulations as of the date the conduct occurred – in this case, 1986, at which time the maximum fine was $750. The maximum fine that can be imposed is now $10,000 under the membership rules.
- Disciplinary hearings are advised on our website
- Find out how an engineer can help your story and see our spokespeople at Media and Engineering
- For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Lachlan McKenzie on 021 479 885.
