BC engineer ‘cut corners’, outsourced structural calculations that ignored snow loads: regulator

A BC engineer, who gave his stamp of approval for structural engineering calculations that were incorrect, has been ordered to pay $90,000 and had his licence cancelled.

According to a Jan. 6 Engineers and Geoscientists BC decision, mechanical engineer Alexander Dainov authenticated structural engineering plans for a geodesic dome, which specified wind and snow loads that the structure couldn’t withstand.

The engineering regulator said Dainov “demonstrated incompetence” and committed professional misconduct.

The decision said he was contacted by a client who sells domes across North America, which are often used by glamping resorts, yoga studios, restaurants and short-term rentals.

The six metre diameter dome contained 165 hollow steel tubes bolted together, and three and a half metres tall.

The company asked him to prepare and authenticate a structural design report with wind and snow loads and a platform drawing for the geodesic dome.

However, Dainov got a technician, who lived in Ukraine and had no knowledge of the BC Building Code, to put in the structural engineering calculations.

Engineers and Geoscientists BC accused Dainov of providing low-cost design services for small businesses that consistently “cut corners.”

He then authenticated the report with his seal and signature. However, the regulator found the work didn’t comply with the BC Building Code.

“(The documents) were not complete for their intended purpose and did not contain the information necessary to construct the Geodesic Dome,” the regulator said in the decision. “(They) lacked detail and depicted a functionally incomplete structural system.”

It’s unclear how the errors came to be known, but it appears the dome company, or a customer, sent them to the City of Nanaimo for a permit.

Dainov argued the design documents weren’t supposed to be used for permitting and were general in nature.

However, the regulator found that Dainov “knew or ought to have known” that the design documents may be used as part of the permitting process.

The decision didn’t say where in BC Dainov was based when the incidents occurred, but he’s also registered in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Alberta. The regulator’s website said he’s currently based in Southampton, Pennsylvania. 

The decision said the domes were never constructed and he argued he’s being disciplined for “something that never happened.”

He goes on to describe the Engineers and Geoscientists BC discipline process as a “Kangaroo Court,” and its members are a “pack of vultures.”

He accused the regulator of using an expert witness during the hearing who forged documents, and said the regulator had “turned an association of professionals into a little ‘profit centre’ … by fleecing unsuspecting members.”

The Engineers and Geoscientists BC said he’s continued to prepare design documents of the same nature as those at issue.

“(Dainov’s) lack of acknowledgement, responsibility and remedial action regarding his misconduct; and, in particular, his continued demonstration of contempt for the Engineers and Geoscientists BC and its regulatory processes are significant considerations in the assessment of penalty,” the regulator said.

“It is at the heart of professional regulation that registrants are held to an enforceable standard of competence and conduct commensurate with the level of trust and responsibility conferred on them… (Dainov’s) repeated instances of misconduct and incompetence support a significant penalty in this case.”

Ultimately, Engineers and Geoscientists BC ordered Dainov to pay $90,609, which represents 70% of what it cost the regulator to discipline him.

He has 30 days to pay.