Engineer Found To Have Breached Building Consent Process

A Disciplinary Committee has upheld a complaint raised by
Tasman District Council about Steven King-Turner, Chartered
Professional Engineer and Chartered Member of Engineering
New Zealand.

Mr King-Turner issued a producer
statement 4 for construction review (PS4), certifying
construction work completed complies with the Building Code,
before building consent had been obtained. The Council
became aware of this while processing the building consent
application to

authorise the work.

Mr
King-Turner was found to have failed to enquire whether
building consent had been granted before issuing the
PS4.

He was also censured and ordered to pay a fine
and contribute 50 percent of all investigation costs,
totalling $8,837.50.

The Disciplinary Committee said
construction should not occur without consent, and is “a
behaviour which should be deterred, given engineers play a
vital role in maintaining the building consent
process”.

“A reasonable engineer should have
checked whether building consent had been applied for and
granted before issuing a PS4.”

The Disciplinary
Committee said Mr King-Turner’s actions showed “a lack
of care” but the departure from expected standards was
“at the lower end of the scale”. Further, no
wide-ranging competency issues were identified.

The
Committee also commended Mr King-Turner for taking steps to
prevent the omission from recurring in his own practice and
that of his firm.

Engineering New Zealand expects
engineers to play their part in ensuring building consent
process are followed, as part of their professional
obligations and their commitment to the Code of Ethical
Conduct. We have published an article
for members about the pitfalls of not doing so
and the implications for clients, consenting authorities and
engineers.

Read
the
decision

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