A complaint was made to the Institution arising out of the appointment of a member to produce a report on a property that their client was intending to buy. Taking all matters into account the PCC found that the member failed to respond to the client, failed to provide the report which they were commissioned to produce and failed to provide the agreed refund within a reasonable timeframe. The PCC found further that the member owed a duty of care to their client in respect of advising them of the reasonable possibility that they would not be able to provide the agreed and paid for services due to the member’s ill-health.
The PCC, taking into consideration its findings above, decided that the member failed to comply with Article 1 of the Code of Conduct.
The PCC issued a Warning to the member pursuant to Regulation 4.2.2.1(5) in the following terms:
The member’s professional conduct as a Chartered Structural Engineer has resulted in a decision by the PCC that there has been a failure to comply with Article 1 of the Code of Conduct and that any complaint against them which comes before the PCC in the future, resulting from conduct similar to that which gave rise to this complaint, is likely to be dealt with more severely.