BY JOHN C. PISTORINO, PE, SI
The Board has received complaints about engineering reports that were allegedly erroneous or not in compliance with the General Responsibility Rules.
The complaints have come from other engineers, building officials, and property owners. Most of the complaints concern damage to buildings during severe weather, such as hurricanes.
Investigations conducted by retained Board consultants and reviewed by the Board’s prosecuting attorney have mostly been inconclusive since most of the existing Responsibility Rules have to do with design standards for new projects.
The Board’s prosecuting attorney has stated that it is difficult to find probable cause against an engineer, even when a complaint may be valid, without having Responsibility Rules in place that address reports and standards for Existing Damaged Buildings.
The subject of damage to buildings is widespread, as it can pertain to multiple building components exposed to a specific event. Exterior building components may include roofing, wall cladding, windows and doors, and water intrusion and flooding.
Individual components require unique expertise and specific criteria that cannot be addressed in a single General Responsibility Rule. For that reason, the Board has begun developing individual rules for particular components, in addition to General Responsibility Rules for conducting damage evaluations.
Guides from ASTM or the American Society of Civil Engineers are available for the assessment of existing buildings and can be used. However, the criteria for the individual components still will require Responsibility Rules that address specific technical requirements. Deficiencies in reports that have been the subject of complaints are being addressed in the proposed rules.
If you have comments related to the proposed rules, please email them to Board@fbpe.org.
John C. Pistorino, PE, is a practicing structural and civil engineer with PE license no. 11007, obtained in 1970. He has been president of Pistorino and Alam Consulting Engineers Inc. since 1986. He holds Special Inspector license no. 202.