Submitted by The Book Surveyor
Savvy on the Bay matter- if the BTII failed to do due diligence by hiring Mr Kenneth Ward, both Mr Ward as the surveyor and Mr Kinch as the buyer had an obligation to legally declare a conflict of interest.
Blogmaster, I sent you 2 paragraphs governing conflict of interest by surveyors and engineers as outlined by law. The wording in US and British law is slightly different, however, both speak to a professional and legal obligation to the client.
The reason I sent this is because a blogger of yours touched on it, but I do not think many understand the legal liability that this places on a transaction in terms of the efficacy of the survey. Also I read where a blogger tried to down play it by saying [paraphrasing] “so what if the same surveyor that worked for Mr Kinch worked for BTII, Barbados is a small place“. My point is – if the BTII failed to do due diligence by hiring Mr Kenneth Ward, both Mr Ward as the surveyor and Mr Kinch as the buyer had an obligation to legally declare a conflict of interest.
Had this occurred in the UK or USA, the entire survey would be deemed null and void as outlined below.
The engineer or land surveyor shall exercise independent judgments, decisions and practices on behalf of clients and employers as follows:
(a) The engineer or land surveyor shall attempt to avoid all conflicts of interest with his client or employer, but when a conflict of interest is unavoidable, the engineer or land surveyor shall immediately inform his or her employer or client of any business association, interest, or circumstances which might tend to influence the licensee’s professional judgments, decisions or practices or the quality of services.
(b) The engineer or land surveyor shall not solicit or accept any gratuity, material favor or benefits of any substantial nature from any party, agent, servant or employee dealing with his or her client or employer in connection with any project on which he or she is performing or has contracted to perform engineering or land surveying services. This solicitation or acceptance includes, but is not limited to any act, article, money or other material possessions which is of such value or proportion that its acceptance creates a clandestine obligation on the part of the receiver or otherwise compromises his or her ability to exercise his or her own independent judgment.
Casetext
In a related matter, I take the opportunity to apprise the public about a company by the name of KDL Limited created by Allan Kinch. He shutdown the company, paid out the partners, closed the company account before they could cash cheques issued as part of the dissolution. KDL sold construction equipment and the partners were Kinch, Bugelin and Lashley.
Blogmaster, this is an angle to the Savvy on the Bay story in need of exposure.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.