By Annabelle Tukia
It's been an emotional final day at the Royal Commission investigating the collapse of the CTV building, with a tearful submission from a bereaved daughter and a roll call of the 115 dead from the families' lawyer.
The tension between the two men responsible for the design of the CTV building has been highlighted at the closing day of the royal commission into the building's collapse.
One-hundred-and-fifteen people were killed when the six-storey office block collapsed during the February 22 earthquake, and structural design defects have been singled out as the cause.
The final submissions on the CTV building avoided the technical jargon that have shaped this inquiry. Families' lawyer Marcus Elliott closed by reminding the commissioners of the people who lost their lives in the building.
Marwa Alkaisi also spoke - her mother, a doctor, is another victim.
“All my family want to know is why did that building fail that day taking away our beautiful mother when no other buildings did?” asks Ms Marwa.
Earlier, lawyer Michael Kirkland defended designer David Harding, saying he joined Alan Reay's engineering firm to gain experience in the design of multi-storey buildings.
But Mr Kirkland says Mr Harding was thrust into the job with no guidance from his boss.
“Clearly Mr Harding did not have the experience to carry out this work on a standalone basis, clearly Dr Reay knew that,” says Mr Kirkland.
Mr Kirkland described the tension that existed between Mr Reay and Mr Harding at the time the CTV building was designed.
“Mr Harding was badly let down by Dr Reay, who displayed intellectual arrogance,” he says.
This phase of the royal commission is now over, and the commissioners expect to have a report released on the failure of the CTV building by the end of the year.
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