Jul 11, 2025
Building inspections must be conducted by licensed professionals.
Unfortunately, in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, hundreds of inspections may have been performed by someone without proper credentials.
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Enrique Fernandez Jr., a South Florida man, has been accused of using his late father's credentials to submit as many as 724 inspection reports, project affidavits and other building reports.
Fernandez denies the allegations that were investigated by WPLG Local10, an area TV station.
He's now facing $3.6 million in civil fines, but no criminal charges have yet been laid.
An assumed identity?
Local10 News first conducted the investigation into Fernandez Jr. in 2024, after it was discovered that several large building projects had undergone plumbing, electrical and mechanical inspections signed with the name “Enrique Fernandez” and listing license number 21218.
The actual holder of that license was Fernandez Jr.’s deceased father, who passed away in 2018. News10 provided evidence that Fernandez Jr. renewed his dead dad's license and changed all of the details in the system so the credentials were delivered to him.
He then found work with private engineering firms conducting building inspections for the government, signing off on numerous reports, including for a nine-story building.
Firms he worked for included JEM Inspections and Engineering, NV5, Winmar Construction, and E&K Engineering, although NV5 told News10 that his employment was brief.
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The Florida Board of Professional Engineers took notice of the fraud, and has now filed a 724-count administrative complaint, one for each fake report he allegedly filed. With the board seeking fines of $5,000 per violation, that could add up to a whopping $3.6 million penalty.
Law enforcement officials are also investigating; however, the state investigator said a detective told her, “He forged a dead man’s signature and used a dead person’s seal. So it makes it more complicated criminally, because there’s no victim.”
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How to protect yourself from unscrupulous inspectors
"He’s done a job he wasn’t qualified for," a board inspector told News10 during the initial investigation.
Fernandez continues to say he's not to blame, stating, “They have the wrong Enrique Fernandez.”
Those who are hiring these investigators will need to do their due diligence, including researching the license of the person they hire and making sure all the details match, including full names and the date the license became active.
Those who suspect something is off should report any concerns to the Board of Professional Engineers to investigate.
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Christy Bieber has 15 years of experience as a personal finance and legal writer. She has written for many publications including Forbes, Kilplinger, CNN, WSJ, Credit Karma, Insurify and more.
