The Nevada Connection – February 2021

LAZELL PREATOR, PE # 014982

Compliance Case #s 20190008 and 20200003

Violations: NRS 625.410(2), NRS 625.540, NRS 625.560, NAC 625.510, NAC 625.530, and NAC 625.540
Date of Disciplinary Action: January 21, 2021

Previous 2018 Complaint and Stipulated Agreement

Before setting forth the facts for the two complaints at issue, the following summation of a previous Stipulated Agreement is relevant. A Stipulated Agreement was entered by and between the State Board and Mr Preator on November 8, 2018 (“2018 Stipulated Agreement'”), regarding the previous Complaint number 20180006. In the 2018 Stipulated Agreement, Mr Preator acknowledged violations of NRS Chapter 625 in which his conduct constituted gross negligence, incompetence, or misconduct in the practice of professional engineering and failure to exercise due care and oversight in submitting the plan set to the office of the Deputy Building and Safety Director for the City of Las Vegas.  The facts pertaining to the 2018 Stipulated Agreement involved the filing of a complaint alleging the submission of plans containing the forged signatures of two senior building officials in an attempt to obtain a building permit.

Specifically, on March 7, 2018, the office of the Deputy Building and Safety Director for the City of Las Vegas received a plan set. The plan set included an irregular and misspelled signature of the City Engineer, Allen Pavelka, with his name signed “Alan” as opposed to the proper spelling “Allen.” The plan set further included a signature of a retired Director of Building and Safety, Chris Knight. Mr Preator asserted that he relied on a third party, Jorge Guzman, to acquire said signatures, and that said third party, unbeknownst to Mr Preator, obtained or affixed the forged signatures. Although Mr Preator denied forging the signatures at issue, he admitted that he is responsible for documents that he seals and signs and that he is responsible to use due care and oversight to manage originals and copies of alI documents he has signed and sealed.

In the 2018 Stipulated Agreement, Mr Preator’s Nevada license was placed on probation for twelve (12) months. As part of his probation, Mr Preator was required to pay certain fines, costs, and fees, and require that he write a Whitepaper on Responsible Charge. The probation under the 2018 Stipulated Agreement has since been completed.

Case No. 20190008 – “Forgery Case”

In regard to Case No. 20190008, a complaint has been submitted against Mr Preator by the Executive Director for the State Board on behalf of a professional land surveyor, alleging fraudulent stamping and signing of legal descriptions.

Specifically, on December 18, 2017, Mr Preator submitted two legal descriptions for a project on Du Fort Avenue to the City of Henderson. The complainant land surveyor inadvertently discovered the two legal descriptions while reviewing projects on the City of Henderson website in August 2019. The two legal descriptions were produced for Preator Consulting by the land surveyor. However, Preator Consulting had not paid for the work, and thus, the land surveyor had not completed the work, as he had not signed or dated the two legal descriptions. The two legal descriptions were, hand signed, dated and submitted to the city on December 18, 2017.

In an effort to explain how the legal descriptions at issue were fraudulently signed, Mr Preator asserts that he relied on the same third-party blamed in the 2018 Stipulated Agreement, ie, Jorge Guzman, to obtain the stamp and signature of the land surveyor before submitting the legal descriptions now at issue. Mr Preator again asserts that Jorge Guzman must have forged the surveyor’s signature before submitting the legal descriptions to the City of Henderson. Although Mr Preator denied forging the signatures at issue, he admits that he is responsible for documents that he submits and that he is responsible to use due care and oversight to manage originals and copies of all said documents.

Mr Preator has not been able to provide any information or documentation regarding his working relationship with Mr Guzman, or any evidence that Mr Guzman exists.

NRS 625.410(2) provides authority for the State Board to administer discipline in Nevada for any gross negligence, incompetency, or misconduct in the practice of professional engineering as a professional engineer. NRS 625.410(5) provides authority for the State Board to administer discipline in Nevada for a violation of any provision of NRS Chapter 625. A licensee violates NRS 625.540 by unlawfully practicing land surveying. Specifically, it is unlawful to present or attempt to use, as his or her own, the license or stamp of another person and to impersonate any other licensee of the same or a different name. Additionally, it is a violation of NRS 625.560 to sign a description unless the person holds an unsuspended and unrevoked license as a professional land surveyor.

NRS 625.4I0(5) provides authority for the State Board to administer discipline in Nevada for a violation of any regulation adopted by the Board. A licensee violates NAC 625.510 by failing to uphold and advance the honor and dignity of the profession by maintaining high standards of ethical conduct regarding honesty. It is a violation of NAC 625.530 for a licensee to fail to act in professional matters as a faithful agent. A licensee violates NAC 625.540(1) by failing to take care that credit for engineering or land surveying work is given to those to whom credit is properly due and violates NAC 625.540(4) by failing to not maliciously injure the professional reputation, business prospects or practice of another engineer or land surveyor.

Based on the foregoing, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NRS 625.410 (2), in that his conduct constituted gross negligence, incompetence, or misconduct in the practice of professional engineering. Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NRS 625.540 by unlawfully practicing land surveying by presenting the license or stamp of another person and by impersonating another licensee. Likewise, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NRS 625.560 by signing a description without a license as a professional land surveyor.

Further, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NAC 625.510 by failing to uphold and advance the honor and dignity of the profession by maintaining high standards of ethical conduct regarding honesty. In addition, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NAC 625.530 by failing to act in professional matters as a faithful agent. Finally, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NAC 625.540 by failing to take care that credit for land surveying work was given to those to whom credit was properly due and by failing to not maliciously injure the professional reputation, business prospects or practice of another engineer or land surveyor.

Case No. 20200003 –  “Faithful Agent Case”

In regard to Case No. 20200003, a complaint has been submitted against Mr Preator alleging misconduct and failure to meet terms of a contract.

Specifically, on February 2, 2018, the complainant contracted with Mr Preator to provide civil engineering for an auto body repair shop construction project, and paid Mr Preator a $7,100 retainer. Per the contract, Mr Preator was to begin working on the project within two days of receiving the retainer. Between February 2018 and February 2020, no work product was provided to the client nor to the professionals and contractors working on the client’s behalf. There were various interactions and requests for updates on the status of the project. Mr Preator asserts that, during the project, he was unable to speak with the architect on the project, from whom Mr Preator asserts that he received differing site plans. Nevertheless, Mr Preator informed the client that various items were under review by planning authorities, even though they were never actually submitted.

NRS 625.410(2) provides authority for the State Board to administer discipline in Nevada for any gross negligence, incompetency, or misconduct in the practice of professional engineering as a professional engineer. NRS 625.410(5) provides authority for the State Board to administer discipline in Nevada for a violation of any regulation adopted by the Board. A licensee violates NAC 625.510 by failing to uphold and advance the honor and dignity of the profession by maintaining high standards of ethical conduct regarding honesty.  It is a violation of NAC 625.530 when a licensee fails to act in professional matters as a faithful agent.

Based on the foregoing, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NRS 625.410(2), in that his conduct constituted gross negligence, incompetence, or misconduct in the practice of professional engineering. Further, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NAC 625.510 by failing to uphold and advance the honor and dignity of the profession by maintaining high standards of ethical conduct regarding honesty. Finally, Mr Preator stipulates that he violated NAC 625.530 by failing to act in a timely and professional matters as a faithful agent.

Pursuant to NAC 625.640, a disciplinary matter may be resolved without a formal hearing by a Stipulated Agreement. To that end, to resolve Complaint Numbers 2019008 and 20200003, Mr Preator and the State Board resolve this matter on the following basis:

(1) Mr Preator’s Nevada license shall be suspended for thirty-six (36) months following entry of this Agreement, pursuant to NRS 625.410 (2) and NAC 625.530, but with the suspension stayed and probation imposed for the duration of that time period.

(2) The stay of Mr Preator’s suspension may be lifted by the State Board upon notice and the opportunity to be heard should Mr Preator fail to abide by the terms hereof.

(3) Mr Preator’s successful completion of probation is expressly conditioned upon his full compliance with the following conditions of probation:

(a) Mr Preator shall pay a fine of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) for the Forgery Case and a fine of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) for the Faithful Agent Case, for a total fine of Seven Thousand Dollars ($7,000.00), within six (6) months of acceptance  and execution of this Agreement by the State Board.

(b) Mr Preator shall pay the professional land surveyor in full under his contract therewith for work on the Du Fort project.

                         (c) Mr Preator shall pay for cost of hiring a Nevada licensed professional land surveyor to review, re-stamp and sign the                           Du Fort legal descriptions.

(d) Mr Preator shall immediately notify client and the relevant public entity via letter, with copy to the Board, of the necessity of the Du Fort legal descriptions to be re­ submitted with lawful stamping and signature.

(e) Mr Preator shall reimburse in full the deposited amount the complainant paid for the Autobody Repair Shop project.

(f) Mr Preator shall pay the State Board Two Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Nine and 50/100 Dollars ($2,769.50) as reimbursement of administrative expenses in this matter.

(g) Mr Preator registering in, paying for and completing an entry level ethics course with Texas Tech University Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism, and providing proof of completion thereof to Board staff.

(h) Mr Preator shall provide to the State Board staff, within thirty (30) days of execution of this agreement by the State Board, a list of projects that were submitted for governmental review in 2017 and 2018, and provide project names, clients, and to which agencies submissions were made. These submissions will be reviewed by State Board staff to determine and identify any other possible statutory and/or regulatory violations.

(i) Mr Preator shall submit detailed bi-monthly probation reports to the Executive Director of the Nevada Board, which shall report any work completed in Nevada during the previous two (2) month period. A report shall be filed even if no work is performed in Nevada during the previous two (2) month period. The first report shall be due within two (2) months of the effective date of this Stipulated Agreement. Each report shall include client contact information and  a copy of the contract executed for any work in Nevada, including the scope of work detail.

(j) Mr Preator shall provide proof of the completion of thirty (30) professional development hours that are required on a biennial basis for license renewal, pursuant to NAC 625.430 and NAC 625.480.