2 May 2022
Christchurch engineer Mike Wilton was fined and ordered to undergo supervised professional development after providing a consulting report containing misleading statements and which misused another engineer’s signature.
Mr Wilton was asked to prepare a report about driveway repairs for a property his client had sold. Those repairs were the subject of a hearing at the Disputes Tribunal. Mr Wilton knew his report would be used as evidence at the hearing.
Mr Wilton’s report implied he had carried out a physical inspection of the driveway, when he had not. The report also concluded his client was not at fault for the condition of the driveway, even though Mr Wilton was not in a position to confirm this.
That same report included the name and signature of a second engineer, represented as having reviewed the report. That engineer had no knowledge of the report and had not consented to the use of their name and signature.
Mr Wilton accepted he made a mistake in misusing the engineer’s name and signature for professional purposes, but he had no explanation for how the mistake happened or why he did not inform anyone when he realised what he had done.
The Disciplinary Committee expressed concern that Mr Wilton “lacks insight into the severity of his actions”. It ordered him to undertake professional development in office management and professional ethics.
“We wish to emphasise the educative aspect to our orders while acknowledging that Mr Wilton’s actions fell very far short of what would reasonably be expected of a Chartered Member of Engineering New Zealand.”
Mr Wilton was fined $3,500, which the Disciplinary Committee noted was “at the higher end of the scale to reflect the seriousness of Mr Wilton’s conduct”. He was also ordered to pay $6,430 in costs, which was half of Engineering New Zealand’s total costs into conducting the inquiry.
Notes to reporters
Engineering New Zealand is New Zealand's professional body for engineers, with some 20,000 members. We represent – and regulate – our members. We also act as the Registration Authority for Chartered Professional Engineers.
Disciplinary Committees can make orders only as given in the Chartered Professional Engineers Act 2002 and Chartered Professional Engineers of New Zealand Rules (No 2) 2002. The maximum fine that can be imposed is $5,000 under the Member Rules that applied to Mr Wilton.
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Lachlan McKenzie on 021 479 885.
