Hotel Grand Chancellor Building Hearing

The Commission will conduct a public hearing from 17-18 January 2012 in which we will consider all issues relevant to the failure of the Hotel Grand Chancellor building in the earthquake of 22 February 2011.

The Commission will consider:

• Whether the building as originally designed and constructed complied with earthquake-risk and other legal and best-practice requirements both when it was designed and constructed and on or before 4 September 2010.
• Whether any alterations to, and maintenance of, the building complied with earthquake-risk and other legal and best-practice requirements both when they were carried out and on or before 4 September 2010.
• Why the building failed on 22 February 2011.
• Whether there were any particular features of the building that contributed to its failure.
• The nature of the land associated with the building and how it was affected by the Canterbury earthquakes.
• Whether the building had been identified as earthquake-prone on or before 4 September 2010.
• Whether the building was subject to required or voluntary measures to make it less susceptible to earthquake-risk and the compliance standards they had achieved.
• The performance of the building and any damage sustained in the earthquake of 4 September 2010 and the aftershocks down to 22 February 2011.
• The nature and effectiveness of any inspections of the building or other actions taken in respect of it following the 4 September earthquake down to 22 February 2011.
• The results of the technical investigation carried out by the Department of Building and Housing into the building.
• Any other issues relevant to the building under the Commission's Terms of Reference.

Status

This hearing was completed on 15 March 2012.

Timetable

Please note this timetable is subject to change and that evidence received in other forms (other than witnesses at hearings) is still considered by the Commissioners.  

Date	Time	Presenter	Role/Organisation
17 January 2012	9.30am	Opening Statement by Mark Zarifeh	Counsel Assisting the Commission
	9.45am	Adam Thornton	Structural Engineer, Dunning Thornton Consultants (author of the report on the Hotel Grand Chancellor prepared for the DBH)
	3.45pm	Professor Stefano Pampanin	Associate Professor at the College of Engineering, University of Canterbury (member of the expert panel appointed by the DBH)
	5pm		ADJOURNMENT
18 January	9.30am	William Holmes	Structural Engineer, Rutherford & Chekene, San Francisco (engaged by the Commission to peer review the DBH reports)
	10am	Thornton, Pampanin and Holmes - expert panel discussion
	10.40am	BREAK
	11.30am	Gary Haverland	Structural Engineer, Structex
	12.05pm	Thornton, Pampanin and Holmes - expert panel discussion
	12.50pm	LUNCH
	1.30pm	John Hare	Structural Engineer, Holmes Consulting Group
	1.50pm	Steve McCarthy	Environmental Policy and Approvals Manager, Christchurch City Council
	2.35pm	BREAK
	2.55pm	Steve Martin	General Manager, Hotel Grand Chancellor (by video link)
	3.15pm	ADJOURNED until the final witness
15 March	12.35pm	Andrew Lind	Structural engineer, Powell Fenwick
	1.05pm	HEARING COMPLETE

• Watch the hearings videos
• Read the hearings transcripts

Counsel Appearing

• Mark Zarifeh, Counsel Assisting the Commission
• Helen Smith and Katie Benson of Duncan Cotterill for Structex
• John Hannan of DLA Phillips Fox for Holmes Consulting Group
• Duncan Laing Simpson Grierson for Christchurch City Council    
• Nadine Daines, inhouse counsel for Christchurch City Council 

 

Submissions

No submissions were received about the Hotel Grand Chancellor building

Related Reports

Department of Building and Housing technical investigation reports

Department of Building and Housing technical investigation reports: peer review by William Holmes