THE DISCIPLINE FILE
Case No.: 17-009-FH continued
informed of a tall wall design that was apparently stamped by [Professional Engineer A] and dated April 28, 2017. The Investigation Panel was concerned about the manner in which [Professional Engineer A’s] stamp was applied, as it did not appear to be a wet-stamp application but rather an electronic screen capture. On June 11, 2017, [Professional Engineer A] forwarded an email he received from Mr. Jhinjar to the Investigative Committee in which Mr. Jhinjar apologized for using a screen capture of [Professional Engineer A's] stamp on two tall wall designs. On June 27, 2017, Mr. Jhinjar was notified by the Investigative Committee that it had imposed an interim suspension of Mr. Jhinjar’s registration and S&M Project Services Inc.’s permit under Section 55 of the Act. Mr. Jhinjar was also informed that the matter would be referred to the Discipline Committee for a formal hearing. The agreed facts for Charge 1 confirmed that the tall wall designs relevant to Charge 1 evidence a consistent pattern of errors, indicating a lack of sufficient understanding of structural engineering to practise that discipline in a skilled manner. To the extent the tall wall designs lacked proper, or any, connection details, the failure to supply such details was a breach of the Alberta Building Code , Division B, Part 4 (Structural Design). When asked by the Hearing Panel whether Mr. Jhinjar had taken steps to ensure that all of the designs he conducted since he started his venture were safe for occupancy, Mr. Jhinjar explained that he went and saw the builders who he had done designs for and got emails back from the builders confirming the fact that there were no issues. The agreed facts for Charge 2 confirmed that Mr. Jhinjar provided engineering services in tall wall design on or about April 28, 2017, before the conclusion of any APEGA discipline proceedings, contrary to the undertaking he signed and in breach of the undertaking. Mr. Jhinjar acknowledged that the drawings of tall wall details were prepared and issued by Mr. Jhinjar and not [Professional Engineer A] on April 28, 2017. The agreed facts for Charge 3 confirmed that drawings of tall wall details prepared and stamped by S&M Project Services Inc. were not completed or stamped by [Professional Engineer A]. Mr. Jhinjar acknowledged that he prepared and issued the drawings and that he applied a reproduction of [Professional Engineer A’s] stamp to these drawings without the knowledge, consent, or involvement of [Professional Engineer A]. Mr. Jhinjar acknowledged that he improperly
particularly the design of tall walls. A tall wall is any wall over 3.6 metres in height, under Part 9 of the Alberta Building Code. In the fall of 2016, another professional member was approached by a client of Mr. Jhinjar’s, requesting a compliance letter for an as-built tall wall designed by Mr. Jhinjar. Upon reviewing the drawings, the member was concerned about the height of the proposed wall and felt that the drawings did not provide the proper connection details. The member then lodged a complaint with APEGA on November 15, 2016, regarding the conduct of Mr. Jhinjar and S&M Project Services Inc. As part of the investigation, the Investigation Panel asked Mr. Jhinjar to provide 12 or more tall wall designs. Mr. Jhinjar provided a response. Upon the Investigation Panel’s review of Mr. Jhinjar’s response, the Investigation Panel noted that the subject of the original complaint and 11 of the other examples contained deficiencies, including: a. Columns on the tall walls failed a structure check due to deflection, referring to the maximum allowed bending of a column in relation to the exterior finish of the house (i.e., brick, stucco, vinyl siding); and b. Missing key elements, including connection details to the roof and concrete ladder set, the header-to- column connection, and sill plates. Following the Investigation Panel’s review and in lieu of an interim suspension, Mr. Jhinjar executed a voluntary undertaking on behalf of himself and S&M Project Services Inc. to cease to personally provide engineering services in tall wall design until the conclusion of the APEGA discipline proceedings against him. However, the undertaking permitted S&M Project Services Inc. to hire a qualified professional to act as its Responsible Member on appropriate notice to APEGA. S&M Project Services Inc. hired [Professional Engineer A] as the Responsible Member to provide tall wall designs. On March 6, 2017, the Investigation Panel informed Mr. Jhinjar that it was expanding the scope of its investigation and requested that he provide six additional examples of tall wall designs for each of the years 2012 to 2015 for its review. Mr. Jhinjar supplied the examples on March 13, 2017. The Investigation Panel noted deficiencies. On May 29, 2017, the Investigation Panel was
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