Cambridge man fined $3,500 for altering drawings bearing a professional engineer's seal

TORONTO, Jan. 28, 2022 /CNW/ - The Ontario Court of Justice at Kitchener fined a man $3,500 for altering engineering drawings bearing a professional engineer's seal, and by submitting the same to the City of Cambridge for approval, without the knowledge or consent of the professional engineer. 

Kevin Ellerby, of Cambridge, Ontario, applied for a permit with the City of Cambridge to build a structure on his own property. As part of his application, Mr. Ellerby submitted engineering drawings that had been prepared and sealed by a professional engineer for an unrelated project at a different location. Before submitting them to the City, Mr. Ellerby altered these drawings by deleting the address of the original project and replacing it with his own address, without the professional engineer's knowledge or consent. 

On Wednesday, January 19, Mr. Ellerby pled guilty to one count of breaching section 40(2)(c) of the Professional Engineers Act in connection with this conduct, and Her Worship Jennifer Thompson imposed a $3,500 fine.

Ryan Lapensee (Counsel) and Flavia Zaka (Student at Law), both from the Toronto law firm Polley Faith LLP, represented PEO on the matter. PEO would like to thank the City of Cambridge and the engineer for their cooperation in this investigation.

Professional Engineers Ontario administers the Professional Engineers Act to serve and protect the public interest by licensing Ontario's 85,000 individual practitioners and engineering firms. Professional engineers can be identified by the P.Eng. after their names. When retaining the services of an engineer or engineering firm, the public may search the directories of licensed professional engineers and authorized professional engineering companies on the PEO website: www.peo.on.ca. Inquiries regarding unlicensed individuals and unauthorized companies may be made to PEO through its enforcement hotline at 416-840-1444 or 1-800-339-3716 ext 1444 or the e-mail address [email protected].

SOURCE Professional Engineers Ontario

For additional information or interviews: Duff McCutcheon, Manager, Communications, Professional Engineers Ontario, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]