Ethics and Professional Practice practice questions

Answer: A) Promptly disclose the offer to the client and withdraw from the inspection unless the client directs otherwise

A job offer from a contractor whose work you are inspecting is a potential conflict of interest. The NCEES Model Rules require you to disclose it promptly to the client, so stepping away is the right course.

• ACorrect. The NCEES Model Rules require licensees to disclose to employers or clients any known or potential conflict of interest that could influence, or appear to influence, their judgment. Telling the client promptly and stepping aside protects the integrity of the inspection.
• BIncorrect. Putting off the decision does not remove the conflict. An offer still pending while the engineer judges the offeror's work is exactly the kind of interest that must be disclosed to the client.
• CIncorrect. Disclosure must come while the conflict exists, so the client can act on it. Disclosing after the work is done takes that choice away from the client, even if the engineer's judgment really was unaffected.
• DIncorrect. The Model Rules put the duty to disclose on the licensee. It does not depend on whether the client happens to ask.

Answer: A) Decline to seal the drawings, because licensees may seal only documents prepared under their responsible charge

Under the NCEES Model Rules, a licensee may sign and seal only documents prepared under their responsible charge. After-the-fact review, joint-seal notes, and liability agreements do not satisfy this requirement.

• ACorrect. The Model Rules say licensees shall not affix their signatures or seals to any plan or document not prepared under their responsible charge. Sealing someone else's unsupervised work is plan stamping.
• BIncorrect. Reviewing after the fact is not responsible charge. Responsible charge means directing and controlling the work while it is being prepared, and this engineer did not.
• CIncorrect. The joint-seal provision lets two or more licensees each seal the parts they are responsible for. An unlicensed drafter has no seal, and the note doesn't put the work under the engineer's responsible charge.
• DIncorrect. A private liability agreement doesn't change the licensing rule. The seal still tells the public that the engineer had responsible charge of the work, and that would be false.

Answer: C) Notify the appropriate regulatory authority, such as the state environmental agency, about the illegal discharge

When internal reporting fails and the public is endangered, the NCEES Model Rules direct the engineer to notify the appropriate authority, such as the environmental regulator.

• AIncorrect. Resigning does not discharge the duty to protect the public. The hazard continues, and the rules call for notifying the appropriate authority.
• BIncorrect. Confidentiality to an employer does not override the paramount duty to public health and safety. Once internal efforts fail, the appropriate authority must be notified.
• CCorrect. The NCEES Model Rules make public health, safety, and welfare the licensee's first responsibility. They require the licensee to notify the employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate when public welfare is endangered.
• DIncorrect. The proper path is to report to the regulatory authority that has jurisdiction. Going to the media first skips the responsible authority and is not what the rules prescribe.

Answer: C) List it under the engineer's experience, stating the actual role held and that the work was done for the previous employer

NCEES Model Rules let licensees cite past work in solicitations, but the presentation must not misrepresent the employer or past accomplishments, or exaggerate the licensee's degree of responsibility.

• AIncorrect. The project was performed by the previous employer. Presenting it as the firm's own misrepresents pertinent facts about employers and past accomplishments.
• BIncorrect. The Model Rules prohibit misrepresenting or exaggerating a licensee's degree of responsibility in prior assignments. The engineer's actual role was junior design engineer.
• CCorrect. Prior experience may be cited if the presentation accurately states the role, the employer, and the accomplishment, without exaggeration.
• DIncorrect. No rule bars citing prior work. The requirement is that it not be misrepresented or exaggerated.

Answer: D) Withhold Client A's specific data unless Client A consents, while applying general engineering knowledge to Client B's design

The Model Rules bar licensees from revealing information obtained in a professional capacity without the client's prior consent. This duty survives the end of the engagement and is not satisfied by an NDA with a third party or by removing the client's name.

• AIncorrect. The obligation not to reveal information obtained in a professional capacity does not end when the engagement ends.
• BIncorrect. An NDA with Client B does not replace the prior consent of Client A, the party whose information it is.
• CIncorrect. Removing the client's name still reveals proprietary data obtained in a professional capacity without the client's consent.
• DCorrect. Licensees may not reveal facts, data, or information obtained in a professional capacity without the prior consent of the client, except as authorized or required by law or rules. General professional expertise may still be used.

Answer: A) A violation of the licensee's obligation to other licensees regarding their professional reputation

NCEES Model Rules 240.15 C forbid licensees from maliciously or falsely injuring, or attempting to injure, the professional reputation, prospects, practice or employment of other licensees.

• ACorrect. The Model Rules forbid licensees from maliciously or falsely injuring, or attempting to injure, another licensee's professional reputation, prospects, practice or employment.
• BIncorrect. The Model Rules contain no exception for marketing or sales statements. False statements that damage another licensee's reputation are prohibited.
• CIncorrect. The conduct is a violation when it happens. A complaint only starts enforcement; it does not decide whether the rule was broken.
• DIncorrect. Making the false statements is itself an attempt to injure the rival's reputation, which the rules prohibit. A later retraction does not undo the violation.

Answer: A) Accept and coordinate the project, with a qualified licensee preparing and sealing the structural segment

Under the NCEES Model Rules, licensees practice and seal work only in fields where they're qualified. They may still coordinate a multidiscipline project if each technical segment is sealed by the qualified licensee who prepared it.

• ACorrect. A licensee may accept and coordinate an entire project if each technical segment is signed and sealed by the licensee responsible for preparing it. The engineer must also stay within their own field of competence.
• BIncorrect. Licensees may not seal documents in a subject they aren't competent in, and an unlicensed preparer's coursework doesn't give the sealing engineer that competence.
• CIncorrect. The Model Rules expressly allow a licensee to coordinate an entire project, provided each technical segment is sealed by the licensee responsible for it.
• DIncorrect. Licensees must undertake assignments only when qualified by education or experience in the specific technical fields involved, whatever the scope of the license.

Answer: A) Report it to the licensing board and cooperate with the board as requested

The NCEES Model Rules require a licensee who knows of, or has reason to believe in, a violation to report it to the board and cooperate with the board. Reporting to other legal authorities is allowed but doesn't replace the board report.

• ACorrect. A licensee who has knowledge of, or reason to believe in, a violation of the engineering laws or rules shall report it to the board and cooperate with the board as requested.
• BIncorrect. Internal reporting may also be appropriate, but the duty to report to the board doesn't depend on an injury having occurred.
• CIncorrect. The Model Rules don't make the reporting duty depend on a private warning or on the conduct being repeated.
• DIncorrect. Reporting to legal authorities is optional ('may'). Reporting to the board is mandatory ('shall'), so the board can't be bypassed.

Answer: C) Notify the appropriate regulatory authority of the hazard, after having informed the client of the error

A licensee's primary obligation is to protect the public. If the licensee's judgment is overruled in a way that endangers safety, the licensee must notify the client and any other appropriate authority, and confidentiality does not excuse staying silent.

• AIncorrect. Telling the client does not end the licensee's obligation when public safety is endangered and the licensee's judgment has been overruled.
• BIncorrect. The confidentiality rule has exceptions where disclosure is authorized or required by law or rules. The primary obligation is to protect public health, safety, and welfare.
• CCorrect. When a licensee's judgment is overruled where public safety is endangered, the licensee must notify the employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate.
• DIncorrect. Withdrawing from the project does not remove the hazard or meet the duty to notify an appropriate authority when public safety is at risk.

Answer: A) By earning professional development hours (PDH) in qualifying activities each renewal period

The NCEES Model Rules require licensees to keep up their competence through continuing professional competency, shown by earning professional development hours (PDH) as a condition of license renewal.

• ACorrect. The Model Rules' continuing professional competency requirement is met by earning PDH, where one PDH is one nominal contact hour of instruction or presentation. Meeting it is a condition of license renewal.
• BIncorrect. Licensees pass the PE exam once to become licensed. Renewal relies on continuing education, not re-examination.
• CIncorrect. An employer's performance attestation does not satisfy the continuing professional competency requirement. Qualifying PDH activities are what count.
• DIncorrect. Simply being a member of a society does not satisfy the requirement. Licensees must earn the required PDH through qualifying activities.