The Appeals Process

About CPEC

CPEC is an independent Council whose members are appointed by the Minister of Building and Construction. CPEC's role includes reviewing and approving proposed rules, reviewing the performance of the Registration Authority and considering appeals against the Authority’s decisions.

Subject of Appeal

Before lodging an appeal, the Registration Authority must have made a decision that will be the subject of the appeal.

Appealing a Decision Made About a Complaint

A person who was a party to a complaint may appeal any decision of the Registration Authority (Engineering New Zealand) that concerns the complaint.  An appeal is commenced by lodging an appeal with the Chartered Professional Engineers Council (CPEC).  CPEC has published a notice of appeal form to assist appellants with the appeal process.

Appealing a Decision to Not Register/Renew the Registration of an Engineer

The Chartered Professional Engineers Rules allow engineers who were unsuccessful in their application for initial or continued CPEng registration to apply to the Registration Authority for reconsideration. The only grounds for requesting reconsideration are that the process of assessment did not comply with the procedures required by the Chartered Professional Engineers Act or Rules.

 

NOTE - Any appeal to CPEC should only be made after this avenue has been fully explored.

 

If an engineer is not satisfied with the Registration Authority's decision, then an appeal can be made to CPEC, whose role is to establish whether the decision made by the Registration Authority was correct.

Time limits for Appeals

Appeals must be lodged within twenty-eight (28) days of notification of the decision being received from the Registration Authority.

Making an Appeal

Appeal Practice Notes

[These notes are a guide to the practice of CPEC as it relates to appeals generally. They should be read in addition to the Act and the Chartered Professional Engineers of New Zealand (Appeals) Regulations 2002 (“the Regulations”) which take precedence in the event of conflict. These practice notes are not to be seen as inflexible rules but should be followed unless there is good reason not to.]

  1. Service of Appeals
    1. All appeals shall be filed with the CPEC, by emailing the completed form to info@cpec.org.nz
    2. All appeals shall be provided with a unique appeal number by CPEC and correspondence and documents relating to the appeal should refer to this number.
    3. Parties are reminded that copies of the Notice of Appeal must also be served on the Registration Authority and any other party to the decision appealed against.
  1. Content of an Appeal

[PLEASE READ THIS SECTION BEFORE SUBMITTING A NOTICE OF APPEAL]

 

Detailed narrative and intended evidence (other than a copy of the Registration Authority decision being appealed) are not required at the time of filing a Notice of Appeal. 

 

Following receipt of the Notice of Appeal, CPEC will issue a timetable for the lodgement of evidence and submissions in advance of the hearing.]

 

As required by the Regulations the Notice of Appeal must state:

    1. Appellant’s Full Name:
    2. Full name of any other party to the decision appealed:
    3. The decision or part of the decision appealed against: [a copy of the decision should be annexed to the notice of appeal]
    4. The date the Appellant received the decision:
    5. The grounds of appeal: [IMPORTANT - These grounds must be within the jurisdiction of CPEC’s ability to consider and must be set out to fully inform CPEC and any other party to the original decision of the explanation for the appeal]
    6. The outcome or relief sought: [IMPORTANT - CPEC has no jurisdiction to grant an outcome or relief that does not relate to the decision appealed against]
    7. The address for service for the Appellant: [The Appellant must give a physical and postal address as well as a contact telephone number]
  1. Notice of Appeal Filing
    1. Section 35(3)(a) of the Act requires that an appeal to CPEC must be made by written notice of appeal to CPEC within the 28-day period after the person receives notice of the decision that the person wishes to appeal. 
    2. In the event that a person seeks to file the written notice of appeal later than this 28-day period, section 35(3)(b) gives CPEC discretion to allow a notice of appeal to be filed out of time, subject to receipt of a written waiver application to do so, within the same 28 day period (i above).
    3.  A waiver application should set out, with particularity, the reasons why a waiver should be granted, including why it is considered no other party would be prejudiced should the waiver be granted.
    4. The waiver application must be copied to all parties to the original decision, who will have the opportunity to file written submissions in relation to the waiver application.
    5. The waiver application will be dealt with on the papers, unless CPEC decides otherwise.
    6. A waiver will normally be granted if the other parties consent in writing or CPEC is satisfied that no other party will be prejudiced and that the extended time sought is not unreasonable.
    7. In the absence of consent by all parties, the granting of a waiver will be subject to the party applying for the waiver showing good cause as to why it should be granted.

  2. Pre-hearing Matters
    1. The Act requires all appeals to be heard as soon as practicable.
    2. On receipt of a valid notice of appeal, the Registration Authority shall, as soon as practicable, provide to CPEC, the record of the evidence presented in reaching the decision appealed against and any other documents relevant to the decision, including a copy of the whole decision to which the appeal relates and the reasons for that decision.
    3. On receipt of the record of evidence the Chair (or Deputy Chair in the absence of the Chair) taking into account any potential conflicts of interest, shall convene an Appeal Panel comprising at least 3 members of CPEC to hear the appeal and shall appoint one of those members as Principal of that panel. The parties shall be notified of the identity of the Appeal Panel members appointed and the contact details for the Panel Principal.
    4. The Panel Principal will issue a timetable providing for the date of filing and serving any evidence and/or Summary of Submissions. There is no requirement to file either, but if the intention is to do so, it should be in accordance with the deadlines in the timetable.
    5. The Appeal Panel shall determine whether or not it requires the Registration Authority to provide a written report setting out any considerations that the Registration Authority had regard to in reaching its decisions that are not set out in the reason for its decision. The Appeal Panel, having considered the documents and submissions received, shall determine in consultation with the parties, whether the appeal will be heard via an in-person hearing or on the papers. It is CPEC’s normal practice that an in-person hearing will be held in Wellington. Consideration may also be given to the hearing being conducted by audio-visual link.
    6. In the event that an in-person hearing is to be held the Appeal Panel Principal shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the appeal and shall notify the parties in writing of the hearing date.
    7. Any matters that a party considers should be brought to the Appeal Panel’s attention prior to the hearing should be made known to the Panel Principal in writing, and copied to all parties and Appeal Panel members, as soon as possible. If it considers it necessary, the Appeal Panel will convene a preliminary conference with all parties to the appeal (by telephone or video-conference if appropriate) to hear and determine any preliminary matters.
    8. It is anticipated that in the case of disciplinary matters, the Registration Authority will not necessarily be heard, but that on matters of registration the Registration Authority will usually be heard. The onus is on the Registration Authority to decide whether it wishes to be heard and for it to make an appropriate application at least 7 days prior to the hearing date to do so.

  3. Hearing
    1. Strict rules of evidence do not apply to appeal hearings by Appeal Panels but they are required to observe the rules of natural justice.
    2. Prior to a hearing, the Appeal Panel will have read the record of evidence and any Summaries of Submissions.
    3. The appeal will proceed by way of a rehearing with the Registration Authority to provide the record of evidence in advance of the appeal hearing.
    4. Hearings are to be conducted in private. At the commencement of any hearing, those present will be required to state their names, addresses and interest in the hearing.
    5. Parties are entitled to represent themselves or be represented by any other person including legal counsel if they so wish. However, a person who has given evidence in a hearing cannot act as an advocate in the same hearing.
    6. In general, where the Registration Authority is not a party to the proceedings, the Appellant will be heard first. The Appellant will speak to any summary of submissions and the record of evidence. The other party(s) shall then respond by speaking to any summary of submissions and the record of evidence. The Appellant shall then have the opportunity of making any comments strictly in reply to the other party’s submissions.
    7. In general, in matters where the Registration Authority is a party it will be the last party to be heard before the Appellant has the opportunity to make a reply.
    8. Any member of the Appeal Panel may ask questions of any person appearing at the appeal hearing as either witness or advocate. If any new matter arises as a consequence of such questioning, other parties shall be provided with the opportunity to comment in response.
    9. The Appeal Panel will not permit the cross-examination of a witness but will ensure that every party has fair opportunity to comment on all matters through the Panel Principal.
    10. At the conclusion of the hearing the Panel Principal will declare the appeal hearing adjourned until declared closed once the Appeal Panel is satisfied it does not need to reconvene or inquire further on any matter. Costs are dealt with separately.
    11. The Appeal Panel will endeavour to provide its written decision to the parties within 8 weeks of the hearing closing.
    12. The Appeal Panel Principal will email an electronic version of the appeal decision to all parties together with a covering letter requesting that all parties confirm receipt of the appeal decision.
    13. It is CPEC policy to destroy all working documents and transcripts of evidence relating to an appeal, three months after the appeal period has elapsed.

  4. Adjournments
    1. Hearings will not be adjourned without good reason. As a general rule the unavailability of particular legal counsel is not likely to be considered good reason unless such unavailability occurs at unavoidable short notice such that alternative legal counsel would not have sufficient time for familiarisation with the papers and to fairly represent the party concerned.

  5. Costs
    1. The Appeal Panel has the power to award costs of the appeal. This includes the costs of any other party to the appeal.
    2. Where in giving its decision on an appeal, the Appeal Panel considers that costs may be awarded, it will reserve its decision on costs and invite submissions from the parties on the issue.
    3. If the decision so indicates, the parties will make submissions on costs and then an award may be made in due course. The Appeal Panel is entitled to decline to award costs if it considers it unreasonable to do so.

  6. Decision is final
    1. Once CPEC’s decision has been issued no correspondence will be entered into by CPEC.

  7. Publication
    1. CPEC’s decisions are published on its website in an anonymised form.