EIT Ethics & Professional Engineering Practices 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An engineer is offered a position with a competitor while working on a sensitive project. They should:
- Begin sharing proprietary information with the new employer immediately
- Disclose the situation to their current employer and avoid misusing confidential information (Correct answer)
- Delay accepting any offer until the project is complete
- Immediately resign without disclosing to either party
Correct answer: Disclose the situation to their current employer and avoid misusing confidential information
Engineers must disclose employment conflicts to their current employer and never misuse confidential or proprietary information in transitioning between employers.
Question 2: The concept of 'responsible charge' in engineering means:
- Being the highest-paid engineer on a project
- Having direct control and personal supervision over engineering decisions (Correct answer)
- Signing and sealing all project documents
- Managing the financial budget of an engineering project
Correct answer: Having direct control and personal supervision over engineering decisions
Responsible charge refers to direct control and personal supervision of engineering work, not merely administrative or financial oversight.
Question 3: A client asks an engineer to certify a design as safe when the engineer believes it may not be. The engineer should:
- Certify it under the client's indemnification
- Refuse to certify until the design is verified as safe (Correct answer)
- Certify it with a written disclaimer
- Delegate the certification to a junior engineer
Correct answer: Refuse to certify until the design is verified as safe
An engineer must not certify work they believe is unsafe regardless of client pressure, indemnification clauses, or financial consequences.
Question 4: When two engineers disagree on a technical safety matter in a public project, the ethical resolution is to:
- Defer to the more senior engineer's opinion automatically
- Resolve it by majority vote among project engineers
- Seek additional analysis, peer review, or third-party expert review (Correct answer)
- Proceed with the more conservative design only if budget allows
Correct answer: Seek additional analysis, peer review, or third-party expert review
Technical disagreements affecting safety should be resolved through additional analysis, peer review, or independent expert consultation rather than hierarchy or voting.
Question 5: Intellectual property created by an engineer while employed generally belongs to:
- The engineer personally as the inventor
- The state licensing board
- The employer, if created using company resources and within the scope of employment (Correct answer)
- The client who funded the project
Correct answer: The employer, if created using company resources and within the scope of employment
Under most employment agreements and the 'work for hire' doctrine, IP created by employees using employer resources within their job scope belongs to the employer.
Question 6: An engineer who accepts compensation from a material supplier for specifying that supplier's products, without disclosing this to the client, is guilty of:
- Negligent misrepresentation
- Bribery and undisclosed conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Competitive bidding violations
- Breach of contract only
Correct answer: Bribery and undisclosed conflict of interest
Accepting undisclosed compensation from a supplier whose products you specify constitutes a bribe and a concealed conflict of interest, violating fundamental ethics codes.
Question 7: Under the NSPE Code of Ethics, engineers shall not reveal confidential information without consent EXCEPT when:
- A competitor requests it for a proposal
- Required by law or when necessary to protect the public from a safety hazard (Correct answer)
- The client changes firms during a project
- The engineer's employment contract is terminated
Correct answer: Required by law or when necessary to protect the public from a safety hazard
Confidential information may only be disclosed without consent when required by law or when withholding it would endanger the public safety.
EIT Ethics & Professional Engineering Practices 4
An engineer is offered a position with a competitor while working on a sensitive project.
They should: