B.C. tower engineer fined, fired for incompetence

June 10, 2022

The chief engineer on an 11-storey residential high-rise in Langford, B.C., that had to be evacuated after it was deemed structurally unsafe, has been fined $25,000 and stripped of his licence.
Brian McClure was also ordered to pay $32,000 in legal and investigation costs.
Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC), the regulatory and licensing group for these professions, said McClure admitted to unprofessional conduct and incompetence in designing the former Danbrook One building, and demonstrated a “serious breach of trust” to the profession and to people’s confidence in their homes.
The 90-unit rental building was evacuated just days before Christmas 2019.
McClure admitted in a consent order to EGBC that the structural design drawings were deficient and certain aspects of the seismic design and gravity load resisting system did not comply with the building code.
The building has since been repaired and renamed by new owners.
“The public deserves to have confidence that their homes are being designed to rigorous standards, and this case represents a serious breach of that trust,” said EGBC CEO Heidi Yang in a statement. “As a result, the individual involved can no longer practise professional engineering in British Columbia.”