The man who oversaw the design of Christchurch's ill-fated CTV building has stepped down from the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ).
Dr Alan Reay resigned from the professional body in a letter sent to the president and the board on February 28, chief executive Andrew Cleland says.
The measure has put yet another spanner in the works for IPENZ, who was investigating work the engineer carried out between 1986 and 1991.
The probe was launched after a complaint from a relative of one the 115 people who died when the CTV building collapsed in the February 2012 quake.
IPENZ does not have jurisdiction to discipline an engineer who is not a member of their institution and the move could force them to abandon the investigation altogether. The group is now taking advice as they prepare to make their next step.
In the meantime, Dr Reay can still work in the industry as a Chartered Professional Engineer and an International Professional Engineer.
Dr Reay tried to block IPENZ's investigation in July last year, filing papers in the High Court at Christchurch. He argued the group had no jurisdiction to investigate his actions before December 2, 2002, when their rules were updated, and asked the court to prevent the probe from going ahead. IPENZ has filed papers in response but a date for a hearing is yet to be set.
Dr Reay has been a member of the professional body, which represents around 15,000 engineers across New Zealand, for 44 years.
A royal commission into the quakes in 2012 found the CTV building's principal designer, David Harding, did not have enough experience for the job and was improperly supervised by his employer, Dr Reay.
As a result, the building was found to have a number of critical design flaws.
3 News
source: newshub archive
