DBIA Code of Professional Conduct 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the DBIA Code of Professional Conduct, a member's primary obligation when public safety conflicts with a client's cost-cutting directive is to:
- Document the client's decision and proceed as directed
- Prioritize public safety and refuse to implement unsafe measures (Correct answer)
- Seek a third-party opinion before making a final decision
- Refer the matter to the project's insurance carrier
Correct answer: Prioritize public safety and refuse to implement unsafe measures
Public health and safety always take precedence over client directives under the DBIA Code's foundational safety obligations.
Question 2: A DBIA member serving as a design-build advisor for a public agency later wants to compete for a contract influenced by that advisory work. The Code of Professional Conduct would:
- Allow competition since the advisory role is now complete
- Require recusal from the competition due to the prior advisory relationship (Correct answer)
- Allow competition only if the advisory role was unpaid
- Require DBIA approval before the member may compete
Correct answer: Require recusal from the competition due to the prior advisory relationship
Prior advisory roles that shaped procurement create conflicts of interest that bar participation in the resulting competition.
Question 3: How does the DBIA Code address a member's responsibility to stay current with developments in design-build practice and law?
- Continuing education is voluntary and not addressed by the Code
- Members have an ongoing duty to maintain and improve professional competence (Correct answer)
- Competence updates are only required when pursuing DBIA recertification
- Only principals and licensed engineers bear continuing competence duties
Correct answer: Members have an ongoing duty to maintain and improve professional competence
DBIA's Code imposes an ongoing obligation on all members to maintain professional competence through continued learning and practice updates.
Question 4: When a client requests that a DBIA member omit unfavorable information from a project status report to be shared with public stakeholders, the Code requires the member to:
- Comply if the omission does not affect project safety
- Refuse to produce a misleading or incomplete public report (Correct answer)
- Present two reports — one full version and one sanitized version
- Seek guidance from DBIA's ethics committee before responding
Correct answer: Refuse to produce a misleading or incomplete public report
DBIA's honesty and transparency obligations prohibit creating reports that mislead public stakeholders regardless of client direction.
Question 5: A DBIA member is pressured by a project owner to accept a change order that conceals the true nature of the work for budget reporting purposes. The Code requires the member to:
- Comply since the owner controls the budget reporting
- Refuse to execute a change order designed to obscure or misrepresent costs (Correct answer)
- Accept the change order but maintain internal records of the true nature
- Request that the owner sign an indemnification before proceeding
Correct answer: Refuse to execute a change order designed to obscure or misrepresent costs
Executing documents designed to misrepresent costs or scope violates the DBIA Code's honesty and integrity requirements.
Question 6: In a design-build pursuit, a DBIA member inadvertently receives confidential pricing information from a competing firm. The Code of Professional Conduct requires the member to:
- Destroy the information and not inform anyone
- Notify the owner and the competing firm, and not use the information (Correct answer)
- Use the information since it was received involuntarily
- Consult legal counsel and await instructions before acting
Correct answer: Notify the owner and the competing firm, and not use the information
Inadvertently received confidential competitive information must be disclosed to affected parties and not used to gain competitive advantage.
Question 7: A DBIA member who is also a licensed engineer stamps drawings prepared by an unlicensed junior staff member without adequate review. This action violates the Code of Professional Conduct because it:
- Deprives junior staff of professional growth opportunities
- Misrepresents the member's personal knowledge and responsible oversight of the work (Correct answer)
- Bypasses required peer review workflows in design-build contracts
- Violates DBIA's mentorship and workforce development policies
Correct answer: Misrepresents the member's personal knowledge and responsible oversight of the work
Stamping work without adequate review is a misrepresentation of the professional's oversight and violates both professional licensing law and the DBIA Code.
DBIA Code of Professional Conduct 5
Under the DBIA Code of Professional Conduct, a member's primary obligation when public safety conflicts with a client's cost-cutting directive is to: