The royal commission into the Canterbury earthquakes will focus on The Press building where one person was killed and another lost both legs.
Double amputee Stacey Herbert is one of 10 people expected to testify at the hearing today.
Naomi Magee, who was one of several people who spent hours trapped in the building after the February quake, will also give evidence.
Ms Magee has publicly said the building felt unsafe and questioned why it was given the all-clear after the September 2010 quake.
Others to give evidence include The Press general manager Andrew Boyle, the building's owner and structural engineers.
Fairfax Media employee Adrienne Lindsay, 54, died when the 102-year-old building on Cathedral Square partly collapsed.
The royal commission, which started in October 2011, has been hearing evidence about buildings that failed in the February 22 earthquake, which killed 182 people.
NZN