Alan Reay accepts responsibility for his CTV role

Mr Reay had previously apologised to bereaved families for a building that he said did not meet his professional standards.

The man whose company designed the CTV building has accepted responsibility for his role in its failings at the inquiry into the collapsed structure.

Principal of Christchurch consultancy firm Alan Reay Consultants Ltd which designed the central city building, told the inquest he made a mistake in trusting his engineer David Harding who headed the project.

"This situation arose because of the trust I placed in what I understood to be a competent and appropriately experienced engineer. However, I reiterate, that based on information I had at the time from many different sources I had no reason to doubt Mr Harding's competence for the job," Newstalk ZB reported him saying.

Mr Reay believed the structure of the building was acceptable at the time but now realised the design put too much pressure on the concrete beam column joints, Radio New Zealand reported.

Mr Reay had previously apologised to bereaved families for a building that he said did not meet his professional standards.

Engineering experts have concluded the six-storey office block's design and construction was not up to 1980s building code standards and found the lack of concrete reinforcement was a major cause of the collapse.