EGBC Discipline? Engineers and Geoscientists, Act Promptly

If you are facing a disciplinary action by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of British Columbia (the “EGBC”), you need to act promptly. The disciplinary procedures can be complex and intimidating, and they engage your legal rights from the very beginning. An adverse disciplinary decision can result in severe career and reputational harm, and such decisions are incredibly difficult to overturn once made.

In this article, you will find some essential information that you should know when undergoing the testing process of defending against a complaint filed with the EGBC. As you read on, please bear in mind that our strongest recommendation is that you engage legal advice as early as possible, even when the likelihood of being disciplined may seemingly be small.

The EGBC’s Disciplinary Powers

The Regulatory Purview of the EGBC

The EGBC’s disciplinary orders have legally binding effects on its registrants because of the BC Professional Governance Act (The “Act”), under which the EGBC is the regulatory body for the profession of engineers and geoscientists in the province.

Apart from registrant engineers and geoscientists, firms and trainees registered with the EGBC are also under its regulatory purview.

The Legal Consequences of EGBC Discipline:

The Act confers the EGBC with broad regulatory discretion and disciplinary powers. Upon a finding of disciplinable conduct, the EGBC may order one or more of the following against the respondent registrant:

• A reprimand
• A penalty not more than $100,000 against an individual respondent ($2,000 in the case of a trainee or $250,000 in the case of a firm);
• Imposition of conditions on the respondent’s registration.
• Cancellation or suspension of the respondent’s registration, and conditions may be imposed on the reinstatement of the registration; and
• Requiring the respondent to complete remedial programs or satisfy an EGBC committee that they are competent to practice (These can be a part of the conditions imposed on registration or reinstatement of registration).

Additionally, the respondent registrant might also be ordered to pay certain costs associated with the disciplinary process.

An EGBC disciplinary order has legally binding financial and career consequences for a registrant, potentially putting their ability to practice on the line. Even seemingly lesser disciplinary measures, such as compulsory remedial programs, can be highly onerous and disruptive to their regular professional activities. Moreover, non-compliance with a disciplinary order may lead to further legal liabilities, including further discipline, court enforcement of debts or injunctions against the respondent registrants.

The Reputational Effects of EGBC Discipline:

Furthermore, under the Act, its accompanying Professional Governance General Regulation and the Bylaws of Engineers and Geoscientists BC (the “Bylaws“), final EGBC disciplinary orders, without anonymization, must be published on the EGBC website within 30days of disposition and remain indefinitely accessible. Anonymization or temporary withholding of the publication is exceptional and only for protecting the privacy of a person other than the respondent or a respondent suffering from certain mental or physical conditions. Disciplinary orders may further be shared with the media or legal databases at the EGBC’s discretion. Hence, being disciplined by the EGBC can result in profound, widespread and irrecoverable reputational damage regardless of its seeming gravity.

Consider Legal Representation:

Given the legally binding and career-threatening effects of EGBC discipline, you should consider legal representation as a means to minimize unnecessary risks if you are under the EGBC’s disciplinary scrutiny.

The next section of this article is about the key aspects of responding to and defending against regulatory actions. As you read on, please keep in mind that Taylor Janis offers tailored legal services to engineers and geoscientists in all areas of BC, and if you are concerned about potential discipline, please do not hesitate to contact us at our Vancouver or Kamloops office.

Strategically Defending Your Case

Know the Rules

The first step in defending against a regulatory action is to sort through the complex set of rules and understand what may attract discipline. Under the Act and the Bylaws, the following types of conduct are disciplinable (collectively, they will be referred to as “disciplinable conduct” in the rest of this article for conciseness).

• Professional misconduct;
  • This includes contravention of the Act, its accompanying regulations or the Bylaws.
  • This also includes failure to meet the technical standards and the broader ethical and professionalism requirements for engineers or geoscientists. Guidance on these can be found in the EGBC Code of Ethics and the technical standards published by the EGBC.
• Conduct unbecoming a registrant; and
  • Broadly put, this means conduct that undermines the reputation, standards, and principles of the profession or the EGBC, and conduct that undermines the safety, health and welfare of the public.
  • This means a registrant’s conduct in their personal life may potentially attract discipline.
• Incompetent performance of duties undertaken while engaged in the regulated practice.

Moreover, a registrant has to act within the boundaries of all laws at all times, and the EGBC may have to take into account other sources of law when making a disciplinary decision. For example, the practice of an engineer or geoscientist often involves communication and reaching agreements with clients, and when a dispute arises, laws governing contract and business practices may be considered by the EGBC in adjudicating a matter.

Hence, preparing sound legal defences, which is a major component in strategically defending against an EGBC regulatory action, often requires extensive legal expertise and research.

Support the Facts with Evidence

Ultimately, a disciplinary decision by the EGBC can only be made on facts that can be substantiated with evidence, and this presents two challenges which should ideally be tackled with legal representation when defending a case:

• The perspectives of the complainant/ the EGBC and the respondent registrant often diverge, and the alleged facts are often intensely disputed. Under these circumstances, the relative strength of the registrant’s evidence becomes crucial. And thus, skillful organization and presentation of evidence by your counsel can be instrumental in preparing a strong factual defence.
• EGBC proceedings are governed by specific admissibility rules of evidence, and pieces of evidence are not equal in terms of their relevance and probative value. Your counsel can highlight the relative relevance, reliability, and materiality of each piece of evidence to enhance the chance of a favourable outcome.

Advocacy

Considering the complexity of applicable rules and the challenges in substantiating a factual position with evidence, the benefits of retaining legal representation when undergoing EGBC disciplinary proceedings are eminently clear.

Moreover, a lawyer as your advocate can highlight legal and factual factors that might be otherwise under-considered, and correctly apply legal precedents and principles to the present case, thus assisting the decision makers in focusing on key issues.

This can be crucial in strategically defending a case, especially when complex or principled analysis is engaged. For example, the EGBC Code of Ethics requires an engineer or geoscientist to “hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public, including the protection of the environment”. When a major public infrastructure project inevitably impacts the environment, an engineer or geoscientist should engage both the generally accepted standards as well as their best professional judgments. Whether their decisions are appropriate and competent should be adjudicated by taking into consideration the entire circumstances and all countervailing public interests. Your lawyer as your advocate can assist the decision makers in this process to enhance the chance of a favourable outcome.

The EGBC’s Disciplinary Procedures 

The disciplinary process of the EGBC involves a sequence of intricate procedures, with each stage escalating the complexity, stress, disruptive effects, and the potential for severe consequences. Below is some essential information about the procedures involved.

Complaint/ Audit / Practice Review

Disciplinary actions normally arise as a result of complaints, audits or practice reviews. Below are a few things that are worth knowing about these procedures:

• Complaints:
  • Any person can file a complaint with the EGBC if they have a concern about a registrant’s conduct, competence or compliance with regulatory standards.
  • The Registrar of EGBC can only close a complaint if it is trivial, frivolous, vexatious or made in bad faith, or if the alleged matter is clearly not disciplinable or outside of the EGBC’s jurisdiction. Otherwise, they must authorize a practice review or refer the complaint for an investigation in accordance with the Bylaws.
• Audit & practice reviews:
  • Aside from the routine audit programs, the EGBC may commence a practice review if it obtains information indicating a registrant might have committed disciplinable conduct.
  • A practice review arising out of such concerns can be highly disruptive to a registrant’s practice, as they have a duty to cooperate when required to answer questions, attend interviews, provide access to information and records, or facilitate office and site visits.
  • Under certain circumstances, during or after a practice review, a registrant’s registration may be suspended or have certain restrictions or conditions placed thereupon.

The key takeaway here is, a complaint does not necessarily come from a client, and a disciplinary action does not necessarily arise out of a complaint.

Investigations

Unresolved matters will be referred to the EGBC Investigation Committee, which must authorize an investigation unless the matter is more appropriately resolved through other proceedings, or is rejected on grounds similar to those on which the Registrar would close a complaint. During an investigation, a registrant may be required to:

• Answer questions;
• Provide explanations;
• Produce files, documents, records or other evidence in the registrant’s possession or control;
• Appear before the EGBC board or the Investigation Committee to be questioned and recorded under oath, during which the registrant has a right to legal counsel under the Bylaws; and/or
• Facilitate and cooperate with an investigator’s request to access the registrant’s
  • premises or sites for practice,
  • equipment or materials used for their practice, and
  • personnel working under their supervision or on behalf of them.

Aside from the above, under certain circumstances, the Investigation Committee may:

• Apply for a court order to expand the investigatory power to search and seize evidence from other premises;
• Summarily suspend or cancel a registrant’s registration if satisfied that the registrant has committed an indictable offence which also gives rise to concerns about disciplinable conduct; and/or
• Suspend or cancel the registrant’s registration, or impose limits or conditions on their practice when doing so is deemed necessary to protect the public.

Hence, the EGBC’s investigatory measures can be highly disruptive to a registrant’s practice and even personal life.

Discipline Hearings

The final stage of an EGBC disciplinary process is a discipline hearing, which is a quasi-judicial procedure that is often intensely intimidating and stressful to navigate for a registrant. As the decision is considered final with limited scope for judicial review, it can irreversibly damage a registrant’s career. If a hearing becomes the next step, the stress and risks would elevate greatly, because:

• Pre-hearing procedures are complex and with various deadlines to keep track of. For example, pre-hearing conferences may be necessary, and disclosure of evidence, lists of witnesses and will-say statements need to be done by their respective deadlines prior to a hearing.
• A hearing is an adversarial procedure, where both the legal and factual issues can be intensely contentious:
  • The parties (the EGBC vs. the registrant) both have a right to counsel.
  • A decision will be made based on the relative strength of the parties’ submissions, meaning extensive preparation and strong advocacy are often essential for achieving a favourable outcome.
• The procedures have profound reputational implications:
  • Hearing Citations are put on public notice, and a hearing is presumptively open to the public; therefore, secondary reputational harm can occur even before the hearing reaches a verdict, especially if a respondent registrant is underprepared.
• The respondent registrant may be ordered to testify:
  • The respondent may be subjected to examination (intensely scrutinized with questions), and a failure to cooperate as a witness may make them liable to be committed for contempt.
• The decision made by the Discipline Committee should be considered final, as the registrant cannot internally appeal it within the EGBC.
  • A petition for judicial review at court is the only legal venue for remedies after receiving a hearing decision, but a judicial review is not a rehearing of the alleged facts, and is based on the records of the hearing and limited to issues of procedural or substantive fairness.

Given its intensity, high consequences and quasi-judicial nature, it is eminently clear that you should exercise your statutory right to be represented by counsel at a Discipline Committee hearing.

Alternative Resolutions

There may be alternative ways available to a registrant to resolve a matter without going through the entire hearing process. For example:

• The EGBC may request the registrant under investigation to consent to a reprimand or to undertake to perform/refrain from taking certain actions (known as reprimand or remedial action by consent).
• Before the commencement of a Discipline Committee hearing, the registrant can also agree to a consent order, which requires them to admit to some or all of the allegations and agree to the disciplinary measures proposed by the EGBC.

If an alternative resolution is reached, then the complaint is resolved without the need for a hearing decision. However, you should obtain legal advice before agreeing to an alternative resolution. There are a few reasons for this:

• An alternative resolution has legally binding effects, so you should only agree to what is reasonable based on careful analysis of the applicable legal rules and the factual circumstances.
• These can also be seen as a form of admission to the alleged facts, which will substantially foreclose the possibility of seeking future judicial remedies on grounds of unreasonable fact findings.
• You should consider the potential reputational damage: A consent order is a form of disciplinary order and will be subject to the same publication rules and policies.

Hence, although alternative resolutions might have some advantages in the right circumstances, they are strategic decisions that should not be made hastily without obtaining legal advice first.

Navigate the Procedures with Legal Advice

The stress of an EGBC disciplinary process elevates as the complexity, disruptive effects, and potential risks increase through its various stages. Moreover, throughout the entire process, you have a duty to cooperate, yet you need to remain vigilant not to jeopardize your own case. Hence, Taylor Janis strongly recommends that you engage legal representation as early as possible, as your lawyer can leverage their legal and practical experiences to assist you through the procedural complexity and avoid legal pitfalls.

Another reason for early engagement with legal representation is that your rights are immediately engaged when a disciplinary process commences. Please read on if you would like to know more about how to safeguard your rights.

Your Rights when Undergoing EGBC Disciplinary Process

When undergoing the disciplinary process of EGBC, your administrative law and common law rights are always engaged, and some of these rights even have constitutional gravity.

The Rights Are Ultimately About Fairness

Respondents’ rights when being subjected to EGBC regulatory actions can be a complex legal topic, but to summarize it, courts have put the rights into three categories:

• The right to procedural fairness:
  • Fundamentally, this means a respondent is entitled to due process to know the case against them and make a full answer and defence.
  • The right to procedural fairness can be infringed when procedures are not correctly chosen pursuant to the Act or the EGBC Bylaws, or when they are correctly chosen but conducted unfairly given the circumstances.
• The right to unbiased decision makers:
  • The legal threshold is that the decision maker should not raise a reasonable apprehension of bias to a reasonably informed bystander who has observed the entire decision-making process.
• The right to substantive fairness:
  • The legal venue to challenge the substantive fairness of an EGBC disciplinary decision is to apply for a judicial review at the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
  • Following the landmark decision Vavilov, the judicial review standard to overturn a decision because of substantive unfairness is that the decision must be “unreasonable,” which puts the onus on a petitioner to prove the decision’s logical incoherence embedded within its reasoning or when assessed against the factual and legal contexts.

Safeguarding Your Rights with Early Legal Representation

Your rights when undergoing the EGBC disciplinary process, if infringed upon, can critically affect the fairness of the outcome. Concerns with infringements can be addressed during the process or after the fact through judicial review. However, the most preferable approach to safeguarding your rights is to have legal counsel engaged throughout the entire process. This is because:

• Spotting infringements of rights often requires an intimate analysis of all the surrounding circumstances. This is because rights can be abstract and nuanced, and rights-related issues are often embedded within the processes and reasoning.
• Concerns about rights should ideally be addressed as they arise, as once it is made, it is a monumental task to overturn a decision through judicial review.
  • The review standards have high legal and evidentiary thresholds, and the courts are, at common law, required to pay a certain degree of deference to the regulatory decision maker out of respect for legislative intent.
  • Furthermore, a petition to the court does not automatically put a halt to the enforcement of a disciplinary order, and when a petition is successful, the remedy might be that a matter is sent back to the EGBC to be reheard.
• Your counsel can assist the decision makers in making fair decisions. Your counsel represents your interests only, but they also play a role in the decision-making process by highlighting factors and flagging concerns that might otherwise be overlooked by the decision makers, assisting them in making a fairer decision.

Hence, you should consider obtaining early legal representation and having your counsel safeguard your rights every step of the way throughout an EGBC disciplinary process.

The Importance of Legal Representation

Facing potential EGBC discipline can be intimidating, as it has legally binding and career-threatening consequences for an engineer or geoscientist. To strategically defend against an allegation requires strong legal and factual positions as well as resourceful and tenacious advocacy. The procedures involved in an EGBC disciplinary process are complex, stressful and disruptive to your practice, and throughout which your legal rights are always engaged.

If you are facing the EGBC’s disciplinary scrutiny, it is highly recommended that you retain legal counsel as early as possible, even if the probability of receiving discipline is seemingly small.

At Taylor Janis Workplace Law, our experienced lawyers can assist you through the disciplinary process and streamline it where reasonable, thus reducing the stress and disruptive effects, so you can focus on your practice. We recognize the intricacies of EGBC’s regulatory regime, and we also appreciate that every case is different, and so are each client’s needs. We will strategically defend against an allegation, and we can also help achieve early resolutions where reasonable.

Don’t risk your professional future by maneuvering these challenging proceedings alone. Reach out to one of our BC offices in Vancouver or Kamloops today to schedule an initial consultation, which is the first step in securing a tailored legal plan by experienced counsel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Appeal a Discipline Hearing Decision Made by the EGBC?

The only way to potentially overturn a final EGBC disciplinary decision is to petition for a judicial review at the BC Supreme Court, and normally, this needs to be initiated within 60 days of receiving a decision. Like any other Supreme Court proceedings, a judicial review is highly complex in its procedures; moreover, the review standards are difficult to meet without strong legal and factual positions, and a judicial review does not concern questions outside of the fairness of the decision or its making process. Furthermore, a judicial review will not automatically halt the enforcement of a disciplinary order, and its result might be that the matter is sent back to the EGBC to be decided again. Hence, a judicial review should be treated as a last resort and should ideally be attempted with skilled legal representation, and it is far more preferable to receive a favourable decision at EGBC proceedings.

I Am Concerned with the Disruptive and Reputational Effects of an Investigation. What Should I Do?

You have a duty to cooperate with the EGBC, but there are things you can do proactively to protect your professional reputation, and you can object to inappropriate investigatory measures that are unduly prejudicial or onerous to you. An experienced legal counsel will keep you informed about your rights and streamline the process where possible and reasonable to minimize its disruptive effects. Contact Taylor Janis Workplace Law in Vancouver or Kamloops to guarantee you’re well-represented and advised throughout the process.

Can the EGBC Suspend My Registration Without a Hearing?

Normally, the EGBC cannot suspend your registration without going through a discipline hearing first, unless a consent order has been entered, as your right to procedural fairness requires due process. However, under exceptional circumstances, for the protection of public interests, the EGBC can suspend or place restrictions or conditions on a registrant’s registration before a hearing is concluded. If this happens to you, then the stake of the upcoming hearing heightens, as the suspension/restriction/condition can be lifted if the hearing exonerates you from the allegation.

I Am No Longer Registered with the EGBC. Can I Still Be Disciplined?

Yes, potentially. The EGBC can discipline former registrants for their conduct that occurred while they were still a registrant, and a registrant who resigns before or after the beginning of a practice review, investigation, hearing or other proceeding under the Act remains subject to the jurisdiction of the EGBC. Moreover, an adverse disciplinary decision may affect your ability to register with regulators in other jurisdictions. Hence, even if you are no longer registered with the EGBC, you should still act promptly and retain legal counsel when facing its regulatory scrutiny.

Conclusion

If you are facing potential discipline from the EGBC, you should act and consider legal representation promptly, as an adverse disciplinary decision can have severe financial, career and reputational consequences. Experienced legal counsel can help you steer through the procedural complexity, prepare a robust defence, make informed decisions, and safeguard your rights. Early legal representation is the ideal approach to minimizing unnecessary risks and achieving favourable outcomes. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Taylor Janis Workplace Law for a consultation.

References:

• Administrative Tribunals Act [SBC 2004] CHAPTER 45
• Professional Governance Act [SBC 2018] CHAPTER 47
• Professional Governance General Regulation, B.C. Reg. 107/2019 O.C. 250/2019
• Engineers and Geoscientists Regulation, B.C. Reg. 14/2021 O.C. 37/2021
• Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 (CanLII), [2019] 4 SCR 653
• Bylaws of Engineers and Geoscientists BC
• EGBC Code of Ethics

Resources for Readers:

• Past disciplinary decisions published by the EGBC
• EGBC complaint process
• EGBC guideline on duty to report

PRIVACY NOTICE:  Any information you provide to our office — whether your personal information or employment/employer details — will be treated as strictly confidential and will not be disclosed to your employer or to any other third party. So, please be reassured that you can talk openly to our capable Intake Paralegals worry free. Fill out an Online Inquiry or call us now, your information will be in safe and helping hands.

The Legal Review Process by Taylor Janis Workplace Law

• Taylor Janis strives for high-quality, legally verified content.
• Content is meticulously researched and reviewed by our legal writers/proofers.
• Details are sourced from trusted legal sources like the Employment Standards Code.
• Each article is edited for accuracy, clarity, and relevance.
• If you find any incorrect information or discrepancies in legal facts, we kindly ask that you contact us with a correction to ensure accuracy.