CFIA Honor Court judges Ferro construction company for unfinished housing

The Corporate Honor Tribunal of the Federated College of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica (CFIA) has initiated an ordinary disciplinary administrative process against Ferro y Asociados Diseño y Construcción S. A. and its responsible professional, Arch. Adriana Ferro Gámez, regarding a 56 m² dwelling delivered unfinished in San Carlos, Alajuela. The oral and private hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, November 5, 2026, according to the edict published in La Gaceta No. 200 on Thursday, October 22, 2026 (reference CIT-077-2026/0531-2025).

The procedure derives from Agreement No. 25 of session No. 24-25/26-G.E. on June 2, 2026, of the General Board of Directors of the CFIA, which fully accepted report No. 0408-2026-CAV dated May 26, 2026, prepared by the Analysis and Verification Center. The preliminary investigation is being processed under file No. 0531-2025, opened at the request of the owner Gilda Chinchilla Rojas and her legal representative, Lic. Luis Dobles Ramírez, whose complaint was filed with the College on December 12, 2024.

The establishment of the tribunal is supported by Article 59 of the Organic Law of the CFIA, Law No. 3663 of January 10, 1966, which empowers the College to determine the actual truth of the facts. The company Industrias de Estructuras Prefabricadas IDEPSA S. A. (CC-09975) also appears as an investigated party in the same file.

The three imputed charges

The summons attributes three failures in the execution of the consultancy contract OC-1068511 to the company, through its responsible professional:

• Failing to warn the client about the difficulties facing the complete delivery of prefabricated materials, despite the fact that the responsible professional was simultaneously the legal representative of the supplier company, IDEPSA S. A.
• Failing to exercise control over the scheduling and progress of the project, as well as failing to prepare periodic reports on its progress, while the work remained halted and unfinished between June 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024.
• Failing to ensure that observations, orders, and incidents of the work were recorded in the digital logbook D1068511, with the maximum periodicity of seven calendar days corresponding to the construction management service.

The regulations that may have been infringed are the Organic Law of the CFIA (Article 8, subsection a, and 53), the General Internal Regulations (Article 53), the Regulations for the Contracting of Engineering and Architecture Consultancy Services (Article 3, subsection b, sub-subsections a, h, and j), the Company Regulations (Articles 15 and 16, subsection e), the Special Regulations of the Digital Logbook for Project Control (Articles 2, 3, 9, and 11), and the Code of Professional Ethics (Articles 2, 3, 19, 26, 31, and 45).

The Work and the Contract

Contract OC-1068511 was registered with the CFIA on December 7, 2022, to construct a 56 m² dwelling in the district of Quesada, canton of San Carlos, province of Alajuela, on the lot with cadastral plan A-431984-1997. The company was registered as responsible for the preliminary study services, preliminary project, plans and technical specifications, and construction management, the latter service being between December 7, 2022, and May 20, 2024.

According to the file, the work had a municipal construction permit since January 5, 2023, and the materials had been paid for in advance by the owner; as of the date of the complaint, the delivery of all those materials remained incomplete. The professional herself stated in the resignation note dated May 20, 2024, that the service could not be fully provided.

Tribunal, Deadlines, and Hearing

The Honor Tribunal in charge of the instruction is composed of Eng. Daniel Guzmán Ovares, Arch. Ricardo Fliman Wurgaft, and Eng. Mario Chavarría Gutiérrez, from the Permanent Honor Tribunal for Companies, and may have legal counsel at any stage of the procedure.

• Summons order: INT-102-2026/0531-2025, issued at 14:50 hours on August 13, 2026.
• Defense period: 21 non-extendable business days, counted from the business day following the notification.
• Oral and private hearing: Thursday, November 5, 2026, at the Honor Tribunals office, annex house four of the CFIA Building, in Curridabat.
• Appeals: revocation with subsidiary appeal, within a period of seven business days.

Only the parties, their legal representatives, lawyers, and witnesses may attend the appearance, and evidence presented on that same day will be admitted under penalty of expiration. The edict is published for the first time against Ferro y Asociados Diseño y Construcción S. A. (CC-08251, legal ID 3-101-300489) after direct notification proved materially impossible, according to official letter TH-526-2026 from the Department of Honor Tribunals.

The case illustrates the scope of ethical-professional control in the construction sector: a 56 m² dwelling that remained stalled for nearly eleven months ends up being resolved before the CFIA Honor Tribunal, with potential financial effects for the company and the responsible professional, and with a hearing that will mark the beginning of the evidentiary phase of file No. 0531-2025.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 200 of Thursday, October 22, 2026, Notices section, page 84 (official reference: CIT-077-2026/0531-2025).