CTV worker uncomfortable in 'building that creaked'

Andrew Bishop. Photo / Supplied

Andrew "Bish" Bishop was uncomfortable working in the Canterbury Television building.

After the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Canterbury last September, and the Boxing Day aftershock that followed, the CTV cameraman told his mother, Karen Bishop, about how the six-storey building "creaked and groaned".

But love of his job made the 33-year-old keep turning up every day - including February 22 when the worst quake of all hit and the building collapsed, killing him and 15 of his colleagues.

"It was his passion, I guess, that cost him his life," Karen Bishop told the Herald.

As the royal commission prepares to begin its inquiry into the failure of buildings such as the CTV building, Mrs Bishop wants changes that will stop other mothers suffering her experience.

"Parents aren't supposed to bury their kids. It's the most horrific thing a parent can face."

In the next fortnight, the commission - chaired by High Court judge Justice Mark Cooper - will meet for the first time, set up offices and appoint staff.

Expressions of interest will be sought for the inquiry hearings to be held in Christchurch. A report is due no later than April next year.

The commission will not apportion blame, but will look into what caused the failure of the CTV and Pyne Gould Corporation buildings and other structures, and the implications for building standards in central business districts across New Zealand.

The CTV building owner, Madras Equities, says the building was inspected and passed safe for occupation after the September quake, but superficial damage was being repaired at the time of the building's collapse.

Lionel Hunter, a director of Madras Equities, recently told the Herald he would have "pushed it over myself" if he had known anything was wrong with it.

Mrs Bishop said she wanted the inquiry to produce safer building practices and codes "for a starter".

"If that [CTV] building was supposed to be earthquake-safe ... it wasn't."

Mrs Bishop has been back at work for only two weeks since her son's death, and still has "really bad moments".

"We've been to hell and back." But she was "absolutely stoked" to see CTV up and running again after so much loss.

"I must admit I was quite teary when I saw the first programme."