Taupō District Council has been notified of a concern that a member of Engineering New Zealand, who is not a Chartered Professional Engineer, has allegedly been completing and signing documents using the sign off of chartered professional engineers. These have been submitted to council as part of the building consent process, without the consent or involvement of those chartered professional engineers.

Engineering New Zealand and the New Zealand Police have been notified.

Taupō District Council is urgently reviewing building consent and compliance documentation. We have already been in contact with builders and designers working on current projects that may be affected. We are also contacting any potentially affected homeowners and construction professionals.

If you are a homeowner or builder/designer that has potentially been affected, the council would be grateful for your patience and understanding, as we work through this as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Council chief executive Julie Gardyne says: “We acknowledge the support of Engineering New Zealand and we are working with other councils. We also recognise the concern this will cause in parts of the community. We have a special project team working as quickly as possible to confirm which buildings are affected and what actions are needed going forward and we will be in direct contact with affected property owners as we work through this process.”

As this matter is before the relevant authorities and is being investigated, Council is unable to comment in any detail at this stage.

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