"We are looking at all factors and those involved with the management and decision-making around the property being occupied when the earthquake struck," Detective Inspector Darryl Sweeney told the Herald.
The investigation is part of a wider probe into 24 sites where fatalities occurred.
The Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) charged the agent with misconduct earlier this year. It alleges he failed to tell the building's tenants it was unsafe to occupy despite their raising repeated concerns about its structural integrity and their personal safety.
The agent appealed the REAA's decision to lay a charge against him. But a finding issued this week by the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal found a case to answer and the matter is now scheduled for a formal hearing.
The tribunal decision says the building owners contacted the agent after the September 2010 earthquake for assistance. He put them in touch with an engineering firm, who inspected the building and provided a report stating it was "Not Safe" to occupy.
A September 2010 agency report reiterated the building was structurally unsafe and recommended advising the occupants their premises were untenantable.
On October 6, 2010, the engineers warned the agent: "The external walls appear to be moving out from the building on three elevations" and urgent work was needed to check stability. A man who rented the building emailed the agent several times about safety concerns.
On October 8, 2010 the agent wrote back saying it could be some time before the building could be legally tenanted. The email "did not refer to the premises as being structurally unsafe to occupy or to the concerns about the external walls", the decision says.
A November 2010 email from the tenant said he was nervous bringing clients into the building "when you still haven't confirmed whether the building has been deemed safe or not".
A January email asked about an assessment of the building upstairs. "With all these aftershocks it drops a lot of dust and debris". Another email asked: "Is there quite abit [sic] of damage up there? And if so how safe are we downstairs mate :)"
However, the agent's lawyer, Philip Rzepecky, said his client was being unfairly singled out.
"He worked diligently to have the building inspected by qualified engineers, and to advise the owners of the repair work recommended by those engineers. There were many others involved, all working in the midst of a huge natural disaster."
Mr Rzepecky said the agent was never paid for assisting the owners, who decided to defer repairs a month before the killer quake "in full knowledge" of the engineers' recommendations and that their tenants were still working in an unsafe building.
He added there was no evidence that the agent had acted dishonestly and there remained significant doubt whether his client was aware of the actual level of danger.
The agent has now appealed the decision to the High Court.
Under investigation
• Property manager accused of failing to tell Christchurch tenants their building was structurally unsafe.
• The building had been weakened by the September 2010 earthquake and a man was subsequently killed by falling masonry.
• The licensed real estate agent is now facing a misconduct charge and is also under police investigation.
