Christchurch homeowners have voiced frustration after learning their homes may require another round of expensive structural checks due to “errors” by former engineer Adrian Collis.

Engineering New Zealand recently alerted South Island councils that Collis, previously with Mike Wilton Consulting Limited, had made significant errors in his structural engineering work. The mistakes impact producer statements used to confirm compliance with the New Zealand Building Code and raise concerns about building safety, particularly around earthquake resilience.

One affected resident told chrislynchmedia.com her renovations had reached the final inspection stage, which Christchurch City Council initially approved in April 2023. However, the council later reversed its decision, citing Collis’s removal from the CPEng registry.

“They then waited for over six weeks for Collis’s removal from the register before failing our inspection,” she said, explaining that council communication was limited, which left her and her husband confused about how to proceed.

“We had enormous difficulty getting the council to engage with us and clarify what we needed to do,” she said. “The stress of this situation has impacted our health.”

Although they’ve made progress with a new engineer, she expressed ongoing frustration. “I’m so angry about all of this and extremely pleased to see Adrian Collis finally being held accountable in the media.”

Another homeowner shared a similar experience. She and her husband, a builder, were in the midst of a significant renovation when notified that Collis was no longer registered. Following council advice, they engaged a new engineer and eventually passed their code compliance check in August. However, the council recently requested further information, threatening to cancel their consent if it wasn’t provided, potentially restarting their approval process.

 Christchurch City Council responds 

Christchurch City Council’s Head of Building Consenting, Steffan Thomas told chrislynchmedia.com “Chartered Professional Engineers (CPEng’s) are assessed and accredited by Engineering New Zealand – the country’s professional body for engineers – not the Council.

“With every document submitted by a CPEng, Council staff check Engineering New Zealand’s CPEng register, to ensure the engineer is a current CPEng.

In the processing of building approvals, the Council relies, to a large extent, on specific documents from CPEng’s, called Producer Statements. This is nationwide practice and assists councils in the efficient and cost-effective processing of building approvals. Where completed properly and by a registered CPEng, they are considered assurance that the work will comply with the Building Code.”

The Council reviews information submitted for building consent applications, however, not all applications undergo a detailed internal review. In many cases, where designs are relatively straightforward and accompanied by a Producer Statement from a CPEng, the Council can place significant reliance on this certification.

Thomas said “Unfortunately, Mr Collis made errors in his work and he is responsible for the situation that many property owners now find themselves in.

“The Council understands this will be very concerning for people and we are helping affected property owners by contacting them directly about the issue, providing them with free copies of their building file, and by working with their consultants, where needed, to ensure building assessment can happen as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

Steffan Thomas said  “The types of issues that have been identified to date are varied and include either errors with design or calculations, or site supervision, or a combination. Just because a property owner received a letter from the Council doesn’t necessarily mean there is a major problem – or any problem at all. It simply means there could be a problem.

It’s also important to note that Mr Collis may have carried out work on other properties that didn’t involve the Council, so we won’t have any record of it. We recommend property owners carry out their own checks to see whether Mr Collis has been involved with their property. As examples, this could include asking your building company, or the previous owner of your property, for further information” Thomas said.

“There were vulnerabilities that could present a risk to public safety – ”Engineering New Zealand 

An Engineering New Zealand spokesperson told chrislynchmedia.com “Engineering New Zealand acted quickly to notify South Island building consent authorities in March 2023 that it had reason to believe designs by Adrian Collis could present a concern to public safety. Since 2023, Chartered Professional Engineers removed from the register are routinely notified to building consent authorities.

“The error detected was identified when Mr Collis submitted work samples for a routine competence reassessment in his practice field of structural engineering. The samples did not meet the standard required, and concerns were raised that designs provided as part of those samples could present a risk to public safety.

“Mr Collis has not faced disciplinary action because there was no complaint. Concerns were raised in the reassessment of competence by assessors when Mr Collis applied for a routine Chartered Professional Engineer reassessment. The assessors observed the example provided, namely a precast warehouse, may be under-designed and potentially earthquake prone.

“Engineering New Zealand engaged an expert to undertake a limited peer review of the design and Initial Seismic Assessment. That review concluded there were vulnerabilities that could present a risk to public safety.

The reassessment process ended when Mr Collis was told that he did not meet the requirements for continued registration as a Chartered Professional Engineer, and Mr Collis was subsequently removed from the Register.

Engineering New Zealand has the example of the precast warehouse, but this was provided to us as part of a limited sample for an assessment and may or may not be representative. Councils will follow up with any of their owners who may be impacted, and any owner with concerns should consider getting these reviewed by a Chartered Professional Engineer.”