Engineers call for more building-plan checks in wake of Moncton engineer's suspension

An engineering professor says there's a need for more independent reviews of building plans, particularly from single-person firms, to help catch potential mistakes.

Taylor Steele, a University of New Brunswick assistant professor specializing in structural engineering, made the comments after CBC News reported new details of allegations against suspended Moncton structural engineer Hélène Thériault last week.

"I think this is the most serious situation that I've heard of recently, especially in New Brunswick," Steele said of the allegations against Thériault.

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

Thériault was suspended on May 10 by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick, which regulates the engineering profession in the province.

The association cited "allegations of serious deficiencies in the design of multiple buildings, both constructed and under construction."

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

Both Steele and Richardson say significant trust is placed in the work of an engineer, municipal authorities generally rely on building plans as submitted, and inspections during construction are largely to ensure those plans are being followed.

WATCH | UNB professor outlines how building plans get approved: 

"One of the things that might be a misconception with the public is that the municipal authority reviews in detail the design decisions and calculations behind the proposed design, and that's rarely the case," Steele said.

"I would say in general, the municipal planners and those responsible for permitting, for example, generally just make sure that if there's something not clear on the drawings that it's something that gets reviewed by the engineer and detailed out."

The cities of Moncton and Dieppe, and the Southeast Regional Service Commission, declined interview requests regarding their approvals and inspection processes. The commission provides land-use planning for several municipalities like Riverview and Shediac.

A spokesperson for the City of Dieppe said in an emailed statement that the municipality requires developers to provide structural plans that have been stamped and approved by an engineer in good standing with the provincial engineers' association.

Spokesperson Julie Albert said the city also requires a structural engineer to provide a report about construction to show the work has followed the submitted designs.

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

Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the City of Moncton, said in an email that the city doesn't have a structural engineer on staff.

Richardson said in his almost four decades of experience, municipalities typically don't have the staff or resources to check a set of drawings to determine if the concrete is thick enough and if there's enough reinforcing steel, a reference to the alleged deficiencies with some of Thériault's designs.

"There's really not any other checking other than what happened in-house with the original design engineer," Richardson said.

The engineers' association said Thériault was the only engineer registered at her firm, Match Engineering, at the time of her suspension.

Steele said in his experience as an engineer before becoming a professor, there are more chances for peer reviews to catch potential errors in plans at companies that have more than one engineer.

"Someone who's running their own company, they don't have employees. They're doing the design work, the analysis work by themselves, and are ultimately taking responsibility for that work," Steele said.

"They don't have a requirement for internal peer review because they have no internal peers to perform such a review. And what that means, generally speaking, is that the individual needs to be twice or three times as diligent."

Though he doesn't want too much additional burden placed on owners or sole proprietors, Steele said he believes some level of independent review should happen. He suggested that whether a review is required could be determined by the type of project or its dollar value.

WATCH | Structural engineer says reviews can reduce risks:

Richardson also hopes to see more reviews done.

"If the air conditioning is not working, that's one thing," he said.  "But if there's a structural failure, it would be catastrophic, right? And so, yeah, I would like to see more people looking at drawings."

A spokesperson for the engineers' association did not respond to a request for comment on whether more reviews are needed.

The Construction Association of New Brunswick-Moncton Northeast declined to comment for this story.