Rattray Street, one of the busiest in Dunedin, remains cordoned off on Thursday after part of a building collapsed.
The wall and roof of the three-story building fell down just before 9am on Wednesday. Sixteen people in a nearby hotel had to be evacuated.
Dunedin City Council says the cause of the collapse is not yet known.
However, chief building control officer, Neil McLeod told Summer Report that lack of maintenance may have been a contributing factor.
He said the onus is on the owner of the building to organise safety checks, not the council.
