A North Okanagan engineer has been effectively kicked out of the profession in the province due to several instances of work that did not meet professional standards, among them designing a sewage system that was too close to Okanagan Lake.
Richard Bartel's registration was cancelled as of April 30 by Engineers and Geoscientists BC after the regulator issued three citations for unprofessional work.
On top of having his registration cancelled, Bartel is barred from re-applying for a registration in B.C. at any point in the future.
According to a disciplinary notice issued last month, Bartel's erroneous engineering related to sewerage system work done in Vernon, Chase and an RV site in the Thompson-Okanagan region. All of the work was done between 2014 and 2020.
Bartel at various points failed to conduct adequate site and soil evaluations and did not uphold other engineering standards.
In 2014 he submitted plans and documents for the design of a sewage system on Antoine Road in Vernon to the First Nations Health Authority. The plans were not up to industry standard and included putting the sewage system too close to Okanagan Lake. The plans also didn't comply with the manufacturer's written installation instructions, and Bartel provided no reason for deviating from those instructions.
"Mr. Bartel knew or ought to have known that the plans and specifications were not consistent with standard practice," the notice states.
Bartel again demonstrated professional misconduct regarding a sewage system on Silvery Beach Road in Chase in 2016, and another sewage system on Vernon's Lawrence Lane in 2018.
All told, Bartel carried out unprofessional work on 13 different sewage systems.
At various points Bartel told clients that test pits had been excavated when that was not the case.
Bartel admitted to all of the allegations in the three citations.
In addition be being barred from the profession in B.C., Bartel was ordered to pay $2,000 to Engineers and Geoscientists BC to cover the legal and investigative costs invested into the citations.
