INNOVATION March-April 2019

D I S C I P L I N E A N D E N F O R C E M E N T

Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s website contains information on the complaint, investigation, and discipline processes. You can contact us at 604.558.6647 or toll-free at 1.888.430.8035 ext. 6647, or by email at complaints@egbc.ca .

DISCIPLINARY NOTICE: HAMID BEHMANESH, P.ENG., WEST VANCOUVER, BC

As part of the Consent Order, Mr. Behmanesh agreed to the following: 1. From the date of the Consent Order until two years after the date of the Consent Order, Mr. Behmanesh is restricted from providing geotechnical or building envelope engineering services, or from signing or sealing any letters of assurance that include geotechnical engineering and/or building envelope engineering. 2. He will be subject to peer review by a peer reviewer, approved in writing and in advance by the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Registrar. During the period of peer review, Mr. Behmanesh must not sign or seal any reports, drawings, plans, or calculations unless they have been peer reviewed. 3. The peer review will commence on March 1, 2019, and will continue for a period of 12 months. 4. The peer reviewer will report on the performance of Mr. Behmanesh, in writing to the association, every six months during the peer review period. 5. At the conclusion of the 12-month peer review period, the peer reviewer will provide a written opinion to the association’s Discipline Committee about whether Mr. Behmanesh requires additional peer review. If so, the peer review will continue for a period of an additional six months. 6. All costs of the peer review process, including the fees of the peer reviewer, shall be paid by Mr. Behmanesh. 7. Within 18 months of February 21, 2019, Mr. Behmanesh must successfully complete the Professional Engineering and Geoscience Practice in BC Online Seminar, the Professional Practice Examination, and the E11 National Building Code (NBC) Part 4 – Structural Design course provided by the Structural Engineers Association of British Columbia. 8. He will pay a fine of $3,000 to the association. 9. He will pay $3,000 towards the association’s legal and investigation costs within 30 days of February 21, 2019. 10. If he fails to comply with any of the terms of the Consent Order, his membership in the association will be suspended until every default has been remedied. The full text of the Consent Order can be found in the Disciplinary Notices section of our website, at egbc.ca/discipline-notices .

Engineers and Geoscientists BC issued a Notice of Inquiry to Hamid Behmanesh, P.Eng., in November 2018 regarding engineering services he provided for multiple projects in the Districts of North Vancouver and West Vancouver. Instead of proceeding to a disciplinary inquiry, Mr. Behmanesh agreed to a Consent Order dated February 21, 2019. In the Consent Order, Mr. Behmanesh admitted that he: 1. failed to ensure that, before November 2015, independent reviews of his designs of single-family residential structures were conducted by members or licensees that had appropriate experience in designing structures of a similar type and scale; or, that he failed to retain the documentation of the independent reviews if they were completed; 2. demonstrated unprofessional conduct, incompetence, or negligence when, in the course of carrying out designs of single family residential structures prior to November 2015, he took responsibility for geotechnical engineering and building envelope engineering when he was not qualified to do so; 3. demonstrated unprofessional conduct, incompetence, or negligence in or around 2016 when, after he had advised the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Practice Review Committee that he was no longer practicing geotechnical engineering or building envelope engineering, he signed and sealed three Letters of Assurance while carrying out designs of single family residential structures, which effectively misrepresented that he is qualified by training or experience in geotechnical engineering and/or building envelope engineering; 4. demonstrated unprofessional conduct, incompetence, or negligence in or around 2016 when he either failed to ensure the completion of documented independent reviews of his structural designs by members or licensees having appropriate experience, and who were not involved in preparing the designs, or failed to retain the documentation; and 5. demonstrated unprofessional conduct, incompetence, or negligence when, between 2014 and 2016, he completed drawings and calculations for multiple projects that contained errors and lacked details and coordination. In doing so, Mr. Behmanesh admitted that he violated sections 14(b)(1), 14(b)(2), and 14(b)(4) of the association’s bylaws and that items 2, 3 and 5 above violate Principles 1, 2 and 3 of the association’s Code of Ethics.

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