THE DISCIPLINE FILE
Date: November 10, 2017
Case No.: 17-014-RDO
IN THE MATTER OF THE ENGINEERING AND GEOSCIENCE PROFESSIONS ACT, AND IN THE MATTER OF THE CONDUCT OF [PROFESSIONAL MEMBER A], P.ENG.
The Investigative Committee of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) has conducted an investigation into the conduct of [Professional Member A], P.Eng. (the “Member”). The investigation has been conducted with respect to a complaint initiated by [Complainant B], who submitted a letter of complaint dated December 16, 2015. A. BACKGROUND The Complainant lodged a complaint against the Mem- ber regarding structural work that was completed on [Facility C]. [Facility C] is a two-storey building with a building area of 454.1 sq. m. It was constructed with insulated concrete foundation (ICF) walls and was completed with wooden engineered roof and floor trusses. The con- struction began in late 2013 and had been stopped at the framing stage in February 2015 as a result of a dispute between the Builder and Owner. The Owner’s lawyer retained an engineer in May of 2015 to prepare a report for the purposes of potential litigation. The Owner retained a second contractor to complete [Facility C]. The Complainant was retained by the second contractor to rectify any structural deficien- cies that were identified, and according to the Complain- ant the report prepared for the Owner’s lawyer was the driver for his involvement. The Complaint was made on December 16, 2015. The Owner has since commenced legal proceedings. In his complaint of December 16, 2015, the Com- plainant alleged that the Member had signed off the Alberta Building Code’s Structural Schedule C-2 for the shell and floor structure, allowing occupancy when half of the roof structure and part of the floor structure was unsafe and in a state of imminent collapse. The Com- plainant later acknowledged that his initial assessment was overstated in terms of the bearing issues he had identified.
B. THE COMPLAINT The Investigative Committee appointed an Investigative Panel to conduct an investigation into whether the Member engaged in unprofessional conduct and/or unskilled practice arising from the field inspection conducted by the Member with respect to the structural components of [Facility C]. A Notice of Investigation was sent to the Member on February 23, 2016, particularizing the items the Investigative Panel intended to consider, including: a. Whether the Member failed to identify that the roof trusses installed were bearing less than the minimum required 4 inches on the ICF exterior north wall. b. Whether the Member failed to identify that floor joists, supporting the 2nd floor, were only bearing on a supporting beam by ¾-inch. c. Whether the Member failed to identify that the Simpson H2.5AZ uplift anchors were also not installed as required by the truss drawings. C. AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS 1. The Member has been a member of APEGA since 1967 and has had no prior findings of unprofessional conduct or unskilled practice since he has been a Member. 2. The Member has a master’s degree in electrical engineering. His background and experience were primarily in the electrical field and not in the structural discipline of the residential or commercial construction field, although in recent years he has been involved in residential and small office building construction. 3. The Member was the Registered Professional of Record for the structural components of [Facility C]. As such, he was responsible for the field review with respect to the Alberta Building Code’s Structural Schedule C-2 requirements.
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