6 Jul 2021
Engineering New Zealand has upheld a complaint by Tauranga City Council against engineer Bruce Cameron relating to residential property developments in the Tauranga area between 2015 and 2016. Most of the services Mr Cameron provided were to do with residential retaining walls, foundation designs and construction monitoring.
An Engineering New Zealand Disciplinary Committee ordered Mr Cameron be removed from the Chartered Professional Engineers register on 25 June 2019 with no option for reinstatement for two years. He was also ordered to pay $19,000 towards the costs of the investigation.
The Disciplinary Committee’s decision was issued in 2019 but has not been published until now due to appeals by Mr Cameron. Mr Cameron’s appeal to the Chartered Professional Engineers Council in 2019 was dismissed and his appeal to the District Court was withdrawn in late June 2021.
The Disciplinary Committee said the engineering services provided by Mr Cameron did not meet the standard expected of a Chartered Professional Engineer.
“We find that Mr Cameron has not acted as a reasonable Chartered Professional Engineer and breached his professional obligations to act competently and behave appropriately.”
The Committee said his departures from what could be expected of a reasonable engineer were “serious” and breaches “at the upper end of the scale”.
The Committee said Mr Cameron frequently was uncooperative responding to Tauranga City Council’s requests for further information during the building consent process. It also noted that the Council “raised numerous concerns about the standard of Mr Cameron’s work” including inadequate designs and calculation errors.
“While some examples may seem relatively minor, others are much more concerning. Taken together, they demonstrate an overwhelming lack of rigour and attention to quality practice that is of significant concern to us.
“Instead of reflecting on his practice and improving, Mr Cameron continued to operate with the same lack of care, often repeating the same errors previously identified by the Council.
“The scale of Mr Cameron’s misconduct, his apparent lack of insight into his actions and his unwillingness to change throughout this process deeply concerns us.”
The Disciplinary Committee also said it is not acceptable for engineers to be “rude or obstructive in the manner that Mr Cameron has been” in dealing with building consenting authorities.
The two-year removal period ordered by the Disciplinary Committee has now expired, meaning Mr Cameron is entitled to re-apply for registration. Mr Cameron is not currently registered as a Chartered Professional Engineer.
Read the high level expert review
Notes to reporters
Engineering New Zealand is New Zealand's professional body for engineers, with more than 22,000 members. We represent – and regulate – our members. We also act as the Registration Authority for Chartered Professional Engineers. Previously known as IPENZ, on 1 October 2017 we introduced a new, more inclusive membership pathway and changed our name to better reflect what we do.
For more information, contact Lachlan McKenzie on 021 479 885
