 Idaho
Board of Professional Engineers and
Professional Land Surveyors
 Keith Simila, P.E. Executive Director
 Rules of Professional Responsibility
UI Students
Expectations for Professional
Engineers
 Be
ethical
 Be professional
 Be a life-long learner
Why is the US different?
 Ethical
standards for professional behavior
– why do we have them?
 What is the respect for the rule of law?
 Why do we value human life, welfare and
property?
 Why do we make laws, rules, regulations
that define and compel ethical behavior?
Scope
 Why
do we establish
and maintain a high
standards of integrity,
skills and practice in the
profession?
 Why does the life,
health, property and
welfare of the public
matter to engineers?
Notable Engineering
Failures
Skagit River Bridge
Metrodome Roof
Interstate 35W Bridge-MN
The Big Dig Ceiling-Boston
Taum Sauk Reservoir-MO
Breaches in New Orleans
Levees
This could happen to you…
Why be licensed as an engineer?
 There
are benefits…
How do you become licensed?



Education
FE/PE exam
Experience – 4 years minimum
Ethical Definitions
 Deceit
 Misconduct
 Continuing
Professional Development
 Standard of Care
 Incompetence
Responsibility to the Public
 Standard
of Care - You are obligated to
exercise such care, skill and diligence as
others in like circumstances ordinarily
exercise.
 Why should my work be judged based on
how others in like circumstances do their
work?
Responsibility to the Public
 What
is professional judgment?
 What should you do if your professional
judgment is overruled?
 Does it matter if someone is potentially
injured if your judgment is overruled?
Responsibility to the Public
 What
is a material discrepancy?
 Why should you work to resolve it with the
other engineers?
Competency for Assignments
 What
happens if a licensee takes on work
he/she may not be competent to do?
 What standard am I held to that defines
competent work?
Competency for Assignments
 Can
I give advice
to someone on
how to practice
engineering so
someone who isn’t
licensed can do
the work?
 Can I seal and sign
work I don’t do?
 What does
responsible charge
mean?
Idaho Code 54-1202(12)
 “Responsible
Charge” means the
control and direction of the
investigation, studies, design,
construction or operation of
engineering work requiring initiative,
professional skill and independent
judgment.
 How is this different than peer
review?
Public Statements
 Can
I leave out relevant information in
reports or court proceedings?
 Can I write reports that are misleading or
skew the facts?
 Can’t we have a different professional
opinion?
Public Statements
 What
is the difference between opinion
and facts?
 What about dueling professional experts?
Public Statements
 Do
I have to disclose who’s paying me or
whose interest I represent when I stand to
gain financially?
Public Statements
 What
about freedom of speech? Can’t I say
what I want, when I want?
 What happens if I injure the professional
reputation, prospects, practice or employment
of another licensee?
 What happens if I indiscriminately criticize
another’s work in public?
 If I can’t openly criticize, what can I do?
Conflict of Interest
 What
are conflicts of interest?
 What do I do if I have a conflict of interest?
 Can I accept payment from more than one
party on the same project?
 What if a supplier gives me something of value to
spec out his/her product?
 Can I receive gratuities, gifts, lodging, travel,
loans, etc. to influence my work or judgment?
Conflict of Interest
 Can
I serve on a public board and work for a
company that gets business through the
board?
 What does it mean to compete unfairly with
other professionals?
 Can I work for an employer and have a side
business for myself?
Solicitation of Work
 Can
I pay a commission to get work?
 Can I embellish my credentials or experience to
market myself?
 Can I compete for work another engineer is
already contracted to do?
 Are contracts based on a contingency fee or
favorable outcome acceptable?
 What are qualifications-based selections?
Improper Conduct
 Can
I associate with or use my name in
association with any company involved in
illegal activities?
 What if news reporters request a copy of
an engineering report you did for a client.
Can you release that to them?
Rule Infractions
 What
do I do if I have a complaint against
another engineer or engineering company?
 What
will the board do with it?
Take Aways
 Be
_____________
 Be _____________
 Be a lifelong _________