INNOVATION May-June 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

DISCIPLINARYNOTICE: DESMOND HO, P.ENG., RICHMOND, BC On November 12, 2014, Engineers and Geoscientists BC issued a Notice of Inquiry to Desmond Ho, P.Eng., alleging that he contravened the Engineers and Geoscientists Act by failing to provide information, records, and/or documents requested by the association’s Practice Review Committee. The association had requested documents from Mr. Ho several times between July 2013 to May 2014. In February 2015, Mr. Ho and the association entered into a Consent Order in which Mr. Ho admitted to the allegations, agreed to a reprimand, and agreed to provide the Practice Review Committee with the information, records, documents, or other items that it requested. Mr. Ho subsequently did not provide the requested information to the Practice Review Committee as agreed in the February 2015 Consent Order. In September 2018, the association asked the Discipline Committee to impose further disciplinary

action, as Mr. Ho’s failure to produce the requested documents contravened the Consent Order. On March 11, 2019, a panel of the Discipline Committee issued their Determination on Mr. Ho’s alleged contravention of the Consent Order. Through the Determination, the Discipline Committee suspended Mr. Ho’s membership for 12 months beginning March 11, 2019. The Determination also stated that if Mr. Ho provided the requested information to the Practice Review Committee within his suspension period, he may apply to the Discipline Committee for a reconsideration of the sanction. The full text of the Determination can be found in the Disciplinary Notices section of our website, at egbc.ca/Discipline-Notices. 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 . First, every file in your organization should have a unique filename. This will prevent you from saving over an important record by using the same filename, or opening multiple files with the same name to find the one you are looking for. Every file name should identify the files content and where that file should be stored. Consider elements to include in your file naming conventions, such as the following: • The file’s project number, project name or other affiliation like a department, discipline, client, type of work or other label • Senders and receivers • Types of documents (e.g., letters, reports, proposals, contracts, change orders, etc.) • Dates • Unique descriptors • Revision numbers, if applicable • Others tags that are relevant to your business. Only include file naming elements that will help users more easily search and retrieve documents when they need them. If your firm will be preparing drawings and conventions have not been established, investigate industry standards for drawing file naming conventions and consider implementing them instead of reinventing the wheel.

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WHAT ARE FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS? MARG LATHAM, P.ENG., CMC

File naming conventions are a way of labelling electronic files using standard components in a set order to assist with identifying, finding and retrieving files. Most organizations of any size already have file naming conventions, but what if you are in an organization that has yet to develop them, and you are tasked to create file naming conventions from scratch? Where do you begin? What do you consider? How do you convince others to use them? Begin by establishing why you are creating file naming conventions. How will they improve your business? You may already have the answer. Using file naming conventions will make it easier for people across offices, divisions and projects to find documents when they need them. Transferring people or work will be more efficient. Properly named files are more likely to be filed in their intended directory. When people leave, it will be easier to locate files that they created and filed. Answering the “why” will help sell this change or the required change in behaviour to people in your organization. File naming conventions are not just for larger organizations. If you are a sole practitioner, standard file naming conventions will help your files be more orderly and make it easier to find them. You won’t have to ask yourself, “What did I name that file last year?”

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