CFIA Honor Court judges construction company for site supervision

The Corporate Honor Tribunal of the Federated College of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica (CFIA) summoned Ferro y Asociados Diseño y Construcción S. A. to an oral and private hearing for Thursday, November 5, 2026, within the framework of disciplinary file No. 0531-2025. The summons was published for the third time in La Gaceta No. 202 of Monday, October 26, 2026, via edict CIT-077-2026/0531-2025 (reference IN202601133939), after official letter TH-526-2026 from the Department of Honor Tribunals declared it materially impossible to notify the company.

The process originates 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 was opened at the request of the owner Gilda Chinchilla Rojas and her legal representative, Lic. Luis Dobles Ramírez, and was processed under file No. 0531-2025.

The establishment of the tribunal is based on Article 59 of the Organic Law of the CFIA, Law No. 3663 of January 10, 1966, and its amendments. The case revolves around consultancy contract OC-1068511, registered with the CFIA on December 7, 2022, for the construction of a 56 m² dwelling in Quesada de San Carlos, Alajuela, lot ES, cadastral plan A-431984-1997, owned by Gilda Chinchilla Rojas (ID 1-0425-0261).

The three charges for construction management

The summons order, dated at 14:50 hours on August 13, 2026, attributes three breaches in the execution of the contract to the company, through its responsible professional, Arch. Adriana Ferro Gámez (license A-10122):

• Failing to warn her client about the difficulties in the complete delivery of prefabricated materials, despite the professional simultaneously being the legal representative of the supplier Industria de Estructuras Prefabricadas IDEPSA S. A.; as of the date of the complaint, December 12, 2024, the site remained incomplete although the materials had been paid for in advance.
• Failing to exercise control over the scheduling and progress of project OC-1068511 and failing to prepare periodic reports: between June 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024, the work remained halted and unfinished.
• Failing to ensure that observations, orders, and incidents were recorded in the digital logbook D1068511, with the maximum periodicity of seven calendar days inherent to the construction management service.

The regulations that may have been violated include the Organic Law of the CFIA (Article 8, subsection a, and 53), the General Internal Regulations of the CFIA (Article 53), the Regulations for the Contracting of Engineering and Architecture Consulting Services (Article 3, subsection b), the Company Regulations (Articles 15 and 16, subsection e), the Special Regulations of the Digital Logbook (Articles 2, 3, 9, and 11), and the Code of Professional Ethics (Articles 2, 3, 19, 26, 31, and 45).

Tribunal, investigated parties, and appearance rules

The tribunal in charge of the instruction consists of three members of the Permanent Honor Tribunal for Companies:

• Eng. Daniel Guzmán Ovares, president.
• Arch. Ricardo Fliman Wurgaft, secretary.
• Eng. Mario Chavarría Gutiérrez, coordinator.

Along with the company (registration CC-08251, legal ID 3-101-300489), Industrias de Estructuras Prefabricadas IDEPSA S. A. (CC-09975) and Arch. Adriana Ferro Gámez (A-10122) appear as investigated parties. The hearing will take place in the Honor Tribunals office, annex house four of the CFIA Building; only the parties, their legal representatives, lawyers, and witnesses may attend, and evidence will be received on that same day under penalty of expiration.

Defense deadlines and appeals

The summoned company has a non-extendable period of twenty-one business days to respond in writing to the facts and offer exculpatory evidence; if they do not appear, the procedure will continue without their participation. A motion for reconsideration with a subsidiary appeal may be filed against the resolution within seven business days, and documentation may be sent to plataformadeservicios@cfia.cr or submitted at the College’s offices. The publication by edict was authorized by agreement No. 11 of session No. 15-18/19-G.O. on March 5, 2019.

The third publication closes the route for personal notification and opens the oral stage of a case that examines a firm’s effective control over its responsible professional in a private work. For users of engineering and architecture services, case file No. 0531-2025 sets a precedent on the extent of a company’s responsibility when a project stops and the logbook remains silent.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 202 of October 26, 2026, Section I, pp. 98-100 (official reference: IN202601133939).