Ethics
FDOT Construction Academy
Brian W. Pickard, P.E.
Resident Engineer, Tampa Construction
Florida Department of Transportation
Laws That Require Ethical Conduct
• Florida statutes
• Federal laws
Fraud Awareness Video
• Click on the following to view the video for
Fraud Awareness.
Ethics Card
Florida Law
Part III of Chapter 112, Florida Statutes
Applies to Employees and Appointed Officials
1.
Solicitation or Acceptance of Gifts:
No Gifts with intent to influence.
Anything of value:
• Gifts
• Reward
• Loan
• Promise of future employment
• Services
Florida Law
Part III of Chapter 112, Florida Statutes
Applies to Employees and Appointed Officials
2.
State employees can not do business with the State
3.
Unauthorized Compensation: employees shall not
accept compensation, payment or things of value,
if given to influence
4.
No conflicting contractual relationships
5.
Employees may not use information not available to
general public for personal gain
Recommended Standards
Do not accept any gifts, regardless how small.
Do not become involved in any way with a business
doing business with the FDOT.
Florida Law for Professional Engineers
• Chapter 471 Florida Law
http://www.fbpe.org/pdfs/chapter471.pdf
• Chapter 61G15, Florida Administrative Code
http://www.fbpe.org/pdfs/chapter61g15.pdf
If you are a PE or in the process of obtaining your
PE, get a copy of the above and read it.
FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations)
New Proposed Rule
Federal contracts exceeding $5 million, with performance periods of
120 days or more
• Contractors must display Fed’s Fraud Hotline Number
• Adopt a written code of ethics and business conduct
• Establish an employee ethics and compliance training program
• Establish an internal control system
Professional Engineering Ethics
Fundamental Canons
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the
public.
Perform services only in areas of their competence.
Issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner.
Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or
trustees.
Avoid deceptive acts.
Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically,
and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation,
and usefulness of the profession.
http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html
Contract Fraud Case
Example
• The following is an example of contract fraud.
This usually takes the form of providing a
product that is substandard or not meeting the
agreed-upon specifications or failing to perform
assignments or making false certifications or
representations about products or services.
False Certifications
• Investigation: There were allegations that a
contractor submitted false certifications to the
department regarding payment to subcontractors.
• Determination: The investigation disclosed that the
contractor submitted forms to the department certifying
they had paid all subcontractors.
• Results: Contractor was suspended from doing
business with the department for three years and
declared non-responsible.
Summary of Case
Closures
• Investigative activity is conducted to
identify facts and circumstances to prove
or disprove each allegation. The results of
the investigations are documented and
published by the Inspector General and
disseminated to internal and external
customers.
False Claims
• Accusations: were made that a prime contractor
submitted false claims for removal of soil material and
billed inappropriately for barrier walls.
• Results: The allegations were proved and a
settlement with the department was negotiated.
False Documentation
• Accusations: Prime contractor submitted false
documentation requesting final payment. It was
determined that the prime contractor had submitted
false Certification – Disbursement of Previous Periodic
Payment to Subcontractors forms and a notarized
Contractor’s Affidavit and Surety Consent form.
• Results: The allegation was proved and the prime
contractor was suspended by the department.
Falsified documents
• Accusation: Contract employee failed to complete
required site visits, associated sampling and knowingly
falsified department Concrete Plant visit Report forms.
• Results: The allegation was proved and department
procedures were changed.
Non- compliance Issues
• Accusation: A contractor’s management had
instructed their employees to alter batch plant quality
control reports on a regular basis, and the contractor had
used non-compliant recycled rock for the their
department concrete mixes.
• Results: The allegations were disproved.
Non- Certified Aggregate
• Accusations: A supplier provided non-certified
aggregate material to a department project. It was
determined that the delivery tickets produced by the
supplier were inaccurate and non-certified aggregate
was delivered.
• Result: The allegation was proved and the department
received a credit for delivered non-certified aggregate.
Falsifying Bids
• Accusation: Two firms owned by the same
individuals and sharing employees had colluded to
submit bids as though they were separate entities.
• Results: Allegations were proved and the contractors
voluntarily agreed not to bid, or act as a subcontractor,
nor supply any materials on any department projects for
a period of six months.
Verification of Project Dollars
• Accusation: Allegations were made that project
dollars were completely exhausted from one project, a
contractor’s employee instructed other contractor
employees to charge their work against projects that still
had funds available.
• Results: Allegations were proved and the contractors
voluntarily agreed not to bid, or act as a subcontractor,
nor supply any materials on any department projects for
a period of six months.
What is Ethics?
• Ancient Greek - ethikos
• Ancient Roman - moralis
Both terms mean, roughly: “pertaining to
Character”.
But today, Ethics is much more and very
difficult to define.
Ethics is others.
What is Ethics ?
• Ethics is a major branch of philosophy,
encompasses right conduct and good life.
• The standards that govern the conduct of a
person, especially a member of a profession
•
• Rules of behavior made and accepted by
business to provide fair and moral practice
OPERATING PHILOSOPHY
At Johnson Bros. we believe in the testament of the 3R’s:
Respect for Self; Respect for Others; Responsibility for Your Actions.
Our values are also rooted in Integrity, Teamwork, Building People,
and Serving our Customers and ourselves by doing the right thing.
Paramount to doing the right thing is always doing those things safely.
“I have many responsibilities, but the most important thing I do is
establish our culture. That is how we treat each other within our
company and how we treat others outside our company.”
Eric Kishel, CEO Johnson Bros.
Applied Ethics
Your Jobs
Employee Misconduct Case Examples
• Theft: The Comptrollers office, reported that during an audit for
travel records, they discovered a suspicious entry regarding the
purchase of a rental car with a department purchasing card (PCard). While questioning the department employee they discovered
the employee had attributed the rental car charge to another
employee who had not received approval or filed a rental care travel
voucher. Upon further questioning by the Comptroller staff, the
employee stated they had made a mistake and mistakenly
represented the charge.
• Determination: The investigation confirmed the employee rented a
vehicle for personal use and charged it to the Department P-Card
and attempted to cover it up.
Know and Comply with the Law
• Take the time to make sure you know the
applicable rules and regulations
• Do not violate the law
Honesty
• Be truthful and straight forward in all your
dealings with others
Professional Courtesy
• Respect for others
• Maintain professional courtesy (even
under stress)
• Do not allow disagreements to become
personal
Communications
• Manage your communications with others
• Email can damage relationships
– Balance Emails with phone calls (one phone conversation for 4-6
Emails)
– Don’t negotiate by Email
•
Don’t blind side others
– Call and explain before sending an unwelcome letter
• Never send out a letter or message while upset
emotionally
– It’s OK to write it, but read it again after you have cooled off
before sending
Leadership
• Establish a project culture
– Safety
– Respect
– Honesty
– Accountability
• Look ahead, establish direction for the project
• You are the coach
– Work towards improving everyone’s performance
Solving technical issues is easy.
Managing people is the challenge.
You are in the business of managing
relationships.
Know the people on your team.
• How to communicate best with them
• How to gain their support
• How to understand and anticipate their
responses
Personality Representations
Principals and Procedures
Power and Control
Earth
Fire
Step by Step, Linear
Get to the point, Bottom Line
Relationship Connection
Fun and Excitement
Wind
Water
People, Emotion and Feeling
Change
Ethics Test
Situation No. 1 Contactor Job
Barbeque
You are the Project Engineer. The
contractor has been performing
well and everything is going
smoothly. The contractor has
reached an important Milestone
and is holding a little celebration at
their project office. They are having
a barbeque Friday afternoon at
lunch time and have invited you to
attend.
What should you do?
Situation No. 2 Contractor
Deficiency Letter
A major traffic switch was planned
for last night. Everything was going
well at first. The contractors
signalization subcontractor left the
site before completely checking the
new signals. The signals were not
working correctly.
The contractor could not get the
signal people out to job until 10 am
the next morning causing a major
traffic problem
What should you do?
Situation No. 3 Mistake in
Contractor’s SA Pricing
You are reviewing an estimate
submitted by your contractor for an
SA.
You find that the contractor has
made a mistake in the calculations
in favor of
the FDOT.
What should you do?
Example:
20,000 cy @ $3.00 = $6,000.
Situation No. 4 Unsafe Contractor
Work Procedure
The contractor is beginning the
setup for a structural erection.
Based upon what you have seen,
you believe that there is a real
safety problem with the way the
work will be performed.
What should you do?
Situation No. 5
Family and work
The Project Administrator has a
son and the Contractor asks if
he could hire him to work on
the current project?
What should you do in this
situation ?
Situation No. 6
Family and work
The Project Administrator for a
project has a son that is looking
for work and asks the
contractor if they are hiring and
would they hire the son ?
a. On the current project
b. On a future project
What should you do?
Situation No. 7
Work and Contractor
The Project Administrator is a
bass guitarist in a band. CEI
consultant asks him to have the
band play at their annual sales
celebration meeting.
a.
CEI has inspector working for
PA.
b.
No one presently working for
PA
What should you do?
Any Questions ?
Comments:
Brian Pickard
Brian.pickard@dot.state.fl.us
813-744-6062