SANTIAGO BOLIVAR
PE No. 53326
Complaint Nos. 2017023531, 2018013938
In Case No. 2017023531, licensee was charged with violating Section 471.033(1)(g), Florida Statutes; negligence in the practice of engineering. Licensee signed, dated, and sealed engineering design documents for the remodeling of a residence. The documents included Electrical and Mechanical (HVAC and Plumbing) documents. The Electrical Engineering design documents contained material deficiencies. Those deficiencies include, but are not limited to, the drawings contain no electrical riser diagram and no short circuit values and no voltage drop calculations for the feeders and customer-owners service conductors, no surge protective devices are shown and there is no explanation on the electrical drawings for this deviation, the locations of the utility meter, the main disconnecting means for the dwelling, and the electrical panels are not shown on the drawings, the spacing of receptacles is inadequate, etc. The Mechanical (HVAC) Engineering design documents contained material deficiencies. Those deficiencies include, but are not limited to, the drawing contains no equipment schedules for the HVAC systems that are existing or are to be installed, no make-up air or combustion air calculations, and no duct system, etc. The Mechanical (Plumbing) Engineering design documents contained material deficiencies. Those deficiencies include, but are not limited to, there is no equipment schedule to specify all plumbing fixtures and water heaters, no potable water isometric diagram with pipe sizes is shown, no sanitary waste isometric diagram is shown, the total flow waste fixture units are not shown, no storm water riser diagrams are shown, no area drainage calculations are shown, etc.
In Case No. 2018013938, licensee was charged with violating Section 471.033(1)(g), Florida Statutes; negligence in the practice of engineering and Section 471.033(1)(k), Florida Statutes, and Rule 61G15-19.001(6)(o), Florida Administrative Code, by violating and failing to comply with the terms of a Final Order entered by the Board. Licensee, as part of a previous Final Order, was required to submit a list of all projects completed in those time periods, provide the documents for the projects chosen, and provide payment for the project reviews. The project reviews were to occur at six and 18 months from the date the Final Order was filed. For these project reviews, a total of 4 projects were reviewed. Licensee failed to include a project which was completed in his list of completed projects for his six month project review. Licensee failed to pay the FEMC Consultant the fee agreed to in the Final Order for the project review. The projects were a new garage, a night club, a family company and a residence. Licensee acted as the Electrical and Mechanical (Plumbing and HVAC) Engineer of Record for the new garage and the night club projects, and the Electrical Engineer of Record for the family company and residence. The new garage project contained Electrical and Mechanical (HVAC and Plumbing) Engineering material deficiencies. The electrical deficiencies include, but are not limited to, no short circuit values, no voltage drop calculations for the feeders and customer-owner service, fault current interrupting capacity is not addressed, no surge protection devices, no electrical circuitry for lighting, receptacle or equipment, etc. The mechanical (HVAC) deficiencies include, but are not limited to, no exhaust vent for the clothes drier is shown and specifies only one of two mini split A/C units, conflicting specifications, inadequate information for the AHJ to determine compliance with codes and ordinances, no equipment static pressure, cooling coil requirements based on sensible heat, latent heat and total heat gains, etc. The mechanical (Plumbing) deficiencies include, but are not limited to, no potable water isometric diagrams are shown, total water fixture units are not shown, and total flow waste fixture units are not shown. The night club project contained Electrical and Mechanical (HVAC and Plumbing) Engineering material deficiencies. The electrical deficiencies include, but are not limited to, the drawings contain no short circuit values and no voltage drop calculations for the feeders and customer-owned service conductors, the electrical riser diagram contains many omissions, errors and discrepancies, no surge protection devices are shown, the drawings show no circuitry for outlets, equipment, lighting, or devices, no load calculations, etc. The mechanical (HVAC and PLUMBING) deficiencies include, but are not limited to, the drawings contain no energy calculations and no combustion air calculations, do not contain m cooling coil requirements based on sensible heat, latent heat and total heat gains, nor outside and inside design dry and wet bulb conditions, no condensate discharging piping layouts, no plumbing equipment schedules, total water fixture units are not shown, total flow waste fixture units are not shown, etc. The family company project contained an Electrical Engineering deficiency. The deficiency was that no load computations are shown on the drawings to conclude that the addition of lighting fixtures in the bathroom did not cause the electrical service to the existing electrical panel to be exceeded. For the residence project, the Electrical Engineering design contained deficiencies which included an error in specifying a non-code-compliant breaker and wire and an error in the load computations.
Ruling: This case was presented to the full Board upon a Settlement Stipulation. The Board imposed an Administrative Fine of $2,000, Administrative Costs of $5,000, a Reprimand, Appearance before the Board, a six month Suspension, successful completion of the Intermediate Engineering Professionalism and Ethics course, the Board’s Study Guide and project review at the conclusion of the suspension at six and 18 months. Final Order was issued on 4/15/19.
Violation: Sections 471.033(1)(g) and 471.033(1)(k), Florida Statutes, and Rule 61G15-19.001(6)(o), Florida Administrative Code