Ethics and Professional Practice practice questions

Answer: B) based on adequate knowledge of the facts and a competent evaluation of the subject

Expert opinions must rest on adequate knowledge of the facts and a competent, honest evaluation. They must not be limited to what the client supplies or slanted toward the hiring party.

• AIncorrect. The engineer must have adequate knowledge of the facts, which may mean investigating beyond what the attorney chose to supply.
• BCorrect. The NCEES Model Rules say a licensee may give a professional opinion publicly only when it rests on adequate knowledge of the facts and a competent evaluation of the subject matter. Society codes add honest conviction.
• CIncorrect. Testimony must be objective and truthful. When the evidence is unclear, the engineer should say so, not settle the doubt in favor of whoever is paying.
• DIncorrect. A disagreement with another expert is no reason to stay silent. The engineer should give an objective opinion on every point within their competence.

Answer: B) Tell the client about the concern and give the supporting analysis objectively and truthfully

Engineers must be objective and truthful and include all relevant and pertinent information in their professional work. When a project probably won't meet the client's goals, the engineer should tell the client and explain why.

• AIncorrect. Holding back a significant conclusion leaves the study incomplete. Licensees must include all relevant and pertinent information in their professional documents and statements.
• BCorrect. The Model Rules require licensees to include all relevant and pertinent information in an objective and truthful manner in professional documents, statements and testimony. Telling the client is how the engineer meets that duty.
• CIncorrect. Keeping a material finding inside the firm protects the firm but leaves the client's report incomplete and misleading, which goes against the duty to be objective and truthful.
• DIncorrect. The plan poses no safety hazard and no one has broken a rule, so there is nothing to report to the board. The engineer's duty is to inform the client honestly.

Answer: B) Promptly inform the client and, as appropriate, the responsible authority so the hazard is addressed

Public health, safety, and welfare come first. An engineer who finds a dangerous error must promptly notify the client and appropriate authorities rather than delay, hide, or quietly fix it.

• AIncorrect. She may involve her insurer and counsel, but she can't hold back disclosure of a public safety hazard to limit liability. The public's health, safety, and welfare come first.
• BCorrect. A licensee's first responsibility is to safeguard the public. The Model Rules call for notifying the employer or client and other appropriate authorities when public safety is at risk.
• CIncorrect. Further analysis may be needed, but holding off notification while people may be at risk puts study ahead of public safety. The responsible parties need to know promptly.
• DIncorrect. Quietly changing records leaves the built hazard in place and misrepresents the design history. That breaks both the safety obligation and the duty to be truthful.

Answer: C) A violation of A's obligations to other licensees, regardless of who wins the contract

The NCEES Model Rules forbid licensees from injuring or attempting to injure another licensee's reputation or prospects, maliciously or falsely. Making an unsupported attack on a competitor to win work breaks this obligation to other licensees.

• AIncorrect. Competing for work is no exception. The Model Rules forbid licensees from trying to injure another licensee's reputation or prospects maliciously or falsely, in any setting.
• BIncorrect. The rule covers attempts to injure as well as actual harm, so A's conduct is a violation whatever the outcome.
• CCorrect. Model Rules 240.15 C forbid injuring or attempting to injure, maliciously or falsely, the professional reputation or prospects of other licensees. They also forbid indiscriminate criticism of other licensees' work.
• DIncorrect. The Rules of Professional Conduct set out obligations to other licensees as well as to the public. Unfairly damaging a competitor's reputation is regulated conduct even when safety isn't involved.

Answer: C) Prohibited

• AIncorrect. It's prohibited.
• BIncorrect. Gifts to secure work are improper.
• CCorrect. Engineers may not offer gifts to secure work.
• DIncorrect. It's prohibited.

Answer: B) Notify her employer or client, and any other appropriate authority, that her judgment was overruled

Under the NCEES Model Rules, a licensee's first and foremost responsibility is to safeguard public health, safety and welfare. If her judgment is overruled where the public is endangered, she must notify the employer or client and any other appropriate authority.

• AIncorrect. Writing down her disagreement does not meet her duty. When her judgment is overruled where the public is endangered, she must notify the employer or client and any other appropriate authority.
• BCorrect. The Model Rules require licensees whose judgment is overruled where public health, safety or welfare is endangered to notify their employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate.
• CIncorrect. Resigning without telling anyone leaves the hazard in place and does not meet the notification duty. Her first and foremost responsibility is to safeguard the public.
• DIncorrect. Leaving a safety-critical decision to the employer's legal department puts the employer's interests ahead of the public's. The duty to notify does not depend on the employer's legal review.

Answer: A) A breach of confidentiality

• ACorrect. Confidential information must be protected.
• BIncorrect. Confidentiality still applies.
• CIncorrect. It's a breach.
• DIncorrect. It's a breach.

Answer: A) Acknowledge in the report that the coworker performed the stress analysis

Ethics codes require engineers to give credit to the people who did the work. That duty applies no matter who owns the work, whether the contributor is licensed, or whether the client asks.

• ACorrect. Engineering ethics codes require that credit for professional work go to the people who actually did it.
• BIncorrect. Who owns the work and who gets credit are separate questions. Even if the firm owns the analysis, the person who did it should still get credit.
• CIncorrect. The duty to give credit doesn't depend on whether the contributor is licensed. Work by interns or unlicensed engineers gets credit too.
• DIncorrect. Giving credit is the engineer's own ethical duty. It doesn't wait for the client to ask.

Answer: D) Disclose the interest to the client

• AIncorrect. That doesn't address the conflict.
• BIncorrect. That hides a conflict.
• CIncorrect. The conflict exists now.
• DCorrect. Conflicts must be disclosed.

Answer: C) only if it is fully disclosed to and agreed to by all interested parties

Under NCEES Model Rules 240.15, a licensee may accept pay from more than one party on the same project only when the circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed to by all interested parties.

• AIncorrect. The rule is about the conflict of interest, not the size of the fees. A reasonable total doesn't remove the conflict.
• BIncorrect. Splitting the work into separate scopes doesn't satisfy the rule. The pay is still for services on the same project, so disclosure and agreement are still required.
• CCorrect. The NCEES Model Rules bar pay from more than one party for services on the same project unless the circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed to by all interested parties.
• DIncorrect. The interested parties (here, the owner and the contractor) must know and agree. Telling the board afterward doesn't meet that requirement.