The CTV building was deemed safe to occupy by council inspectors the day after the September 4, 2010 earthquake despite them not even going inside the building.
A Christchurch City Council worker this morning told the royal commission of inquiry hearing into the building's collapse on February 22, 2011 that he had no experience in carrying out post-earthquake assessments.
Peter Van der Zee, a building consent officer, was tasked with carrying out a "visual" inspection only of the building after the magnitude-7.1 quake that sparked the Canterbury earthquake sequence.
He was briefed by council bosses and Civil Defence to conduct rapid assessments of the buildings, and told to look for "obvious damage" and any "immediate dangers to the public".
Mr Van der Zee said he had only a "vague recollection" of inspecting the six-storey CTV building as a member of a four-person team.
Since it was a 'level 1' assessment only, he only looked at the exterior of the building and did not go inside.
He told the hearing that he did not see any obvious damage or hazards to the outside of the building, and so gave it a green placard, which meant it was safe to occupy.
In questioning from counsel assisting the commission Mark Zarifeh, he thought the morning briefing before the inspections was "sufficient" to do the job.
He also believed that even if he had been trained in post-earthquake assessments, that it would not have been "much of an assistance".
Day four of the hearing will concentrate on evidence from council building inspectors who carried out the rapid assessments after September 2010.
Workers inside the six-storey Christchurch office block, which came down in the February 22, 2011 quake killing 115 people, have told the royal commission hearing into its collapse this week that they felt unsafe in it after September.
The hearing, which opened on Monday, has already heard some harrowing testimonials from survivors and witnesses.
The royal commission hearing into why the building failed so catastrophically, causing such a significant loss of life, is due to last eight weeks.
