Ontario contractor fined $5,000 for unauthorized use of professional engineer’s seal
September 25, 2017
By
CCE
Dole Contracting Inc. of Woodbridge, Ontario, was convicted of breaching the Professional Engineers Act by the Ontario Court of Justice.
The Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) have issued a release stating that on September 15, Dole Contracting Inc. of Woodbridge, Ontario, was convicted of breaching the Professional Engineers Act by the Ontario Court of Justice and fined $5,000 for use of a professional engineer’s seal.
Dole was retained as the contractor for a building retrofit in Toronto in April 2015, and was working under the supervision of the project architect.
As part of the project, Dole was responsible for the demolition of a non-loadbearing cinder block partition wall. Dole was required to install temporary shoring, for which a professional engineer was needed to prepare drawings and review its installation. The partition wall was demolished without temporary shoring or the involvement of a professional engineer.
A Dole employee submitted two letters to the project architect stating the temporary shoring had been installed and had been reviewed by a professional engineer. These letters bore a professional engineer’s seal without the affected professional engineer’s knowledge or consent.
Dole was convicted of two offences relating to use of the seal.
Nick Hambleton, associate counsel, regulatory compliance, represented PEO in this matter.
Verifying licensure
To check whether an individual is licensed or a firm holds a Certificate of Authorization (C of A), search the directories of practitioners (licence and C of A holders) at www.peo.on.ca. To report unlicensed individuals and unauthorized companies, contact PEO’s enforcement hotline at 416-840-1444 or 1-800-339-3716, ext 1444, or email enforcement@peo.on.ca.
