Engineers call for more inspections of construction plans after Moncton engineer suspended

An engineering professor says there is a need for more independent reviews of building plans, especially by sole proprietorships, to help spot potential errors.

Taylor Steele, an assistant professor of structural engineering at the University of New Brunswick, made the comment after CBC News last week reported new details about allegations against suspended Moncton structural engineer Hélène Thériault.

“I think this is the most serious situation I’ve heard of recently, especially in New Brunswick,” Steele said of the allegations against Thériault.

Steele and Halifax structural engineer John Richardson, who has reviewed some of the buildings allegedly designed by Thériault, spoke to CBC News about how building plans are approved by municipalities and reviewed during construction. Both said more engineers should be reviewing building plans.

On May 10, the New Brunswick Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists, which regulates the engineering profession in the province, suspended Thériault from membership.

The association cited “allegations of serious deficiencies in the design of many buildings, both those already constructed and those under construction.”

James Boudreau, a lawyer representing Thériault and her company Match Engineering, declined to comment on the allegations, citing ongoing lawsuits related to her work and disciplinary proceedings.

Both Steele and Richardson say there is a great deal of trust in the engineer’s work, with city officials typically relying on submitted building plans and inspections during construction primarily aimed at ensuring those plans are followed.

SEE | UNB professor explains how construction plans are approved:

“One of the things that the public might misunderstand is that city officials thoroughly review the design decisions and calculations that underlie a proposed project, and that rarely happens,” Steele said.

“I would say that generally speaking, city planners and permitting officers, for example, generally just make sure that if something is unclear on the drawings, that it’s something that an engineer will look at and explain in detail.”

The cities of Moncton and Dieppe and the Southeast Regional Service Commission declined requests for interviews about their approval and inspection processes. The commission provides land-use planning for several municipalities, such as Riverview and Shediac.

A spokesperson for the city of Dieppe said in an emailed statement that city officials require developers to provide construction plans stamped and approved by an engineer in good standing with the provincial engineering association.

Spokeswoman Julie Albert said the city also requires the structural engineer to submit a construction report that shows the work was done according to submitted designs.

The statement did not address whether the city itself verifies the assumptions or calculations used in the plans, or whether the plans are accurate during construction.

Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokeswoman for the City of Moncton, said in an email that the city does not employ a structural engineer.

Richardson said that in his nearly four decades of experience, municipalities typically do not have the personnel or resources to review a set of drawings to determine if the concrete is thick enough and if there is enough reinforcing steel, referring to alleged deficiencies in some of Thériault’s designs.

“There are really no checks done other than what was done internally with the original design engineer,” Richardson said.

The engineering association said that at the time of her suspension, Thériault was the only female engineer registered with her company, Match Engineering.

Steele, based on his own experience as an engineer before becoming a professor, found that in companies with more than one engineer, the chances of catching potential errors in plans are greater when the plans include expert reviews.

“Someone who runs their own company doesn’t have employees. They do the design work, the analysis themselves and ultimately take responsibility for it,” Steele said.

“They don’t have a requirement for internal peer review because they don’t have internal peers to do the review. And that means, generally speaking, the person has to be twice or three times as diligent.”

While he doesn’t want landlords or sole proprietors to be overburdened, Steele said he believes there should be some level of independent review. He suggested that whether a review is required could be determined by the type of project or its dollar value.

WATCH | Structural engineer says inspections can reduce risk:

Richardson also hopes for more reviews.

“If the air conditioning doesn’t work, that’s one thing,” he said. “But if there’s a structural failure, that would be catastrophic, right? And yes, I’d like to see more people looking at the drawings.”

A spokesman for the engineering association did not respond to a request for comment on whether further reviews were needed.

The New Brunswick-Moncton Northeast Building Association declined to comment on the matter.