A convicted fraudster, who was construction manager for Christchurch's CTV building, has given evidence to a royal commission via video link from Australia on Wednesday.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission had previously been told that Gerald Shirtcliff had declined to give evidence on the building collapse which killed 115 people in the February 2011 earthquake. But he subsequently changed his mind.
Counsel assisting the commission Mark Zarifeh quizzed Mr Shirtcliff about how closely he oversaw the project when he was construction manager for Williams Construction in 1986.
Mr Shirtcliff contradicted other witnesses who have claimed he had a role in overseeing many details of construction.
He said he had largely relied on other managers.
Mr Zarifeh also asked Mr Shirtcliff about his alias, Mr Fisher.
Mr Shirtcliff said he had used the name Fisher for 40 years and had changed his name by deed poll. He had only used the name Shirtcliff while in New Zealand.
It was because of a personal family matter that he did not wish to disclose.
Mr Shirtcliff was convicted of fraud in 2005 and sentenced to 20 months' jail by Christchurch District Court.
On Tuesday, the head of the CTV building's structural design company, Alan Reay Consulting, changed his position slightly.
Previously in evidence, Dr Alan Reay had claimed he was correct to have had complete faith in one of his staff, David Harding, a structural engineer.
Dr Reay had presented evidence to show he had only spent 3.5 hours on the project compared with Mr Harding's 304 hours, according to the firm's time records.
But on Tuesday Dr Reay acknowledged that in hindsight he should not have relied on Mr Harding.
He had come to this view after listening to the weeks of evidence that revealed shortcomings in joints between columns and floor plates.
"I believed I was right to rely on him but clearly that was the wrong decision."
