Engineering Ethics & Professional Practice Flashcards
7 cards from real Engineering Certification practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Engineering Ethics & Professional Practice flashcards as text
Which of the following actions by a PE would most likely result in license revocation by a state board?
Answer: Stamping and sealing plans that the engineer did not prepare or review
Stamping plans not prepared or reviewed under the PE's responsible charge is known as 'plan stamping' and is a serious ethical and legal violation.
A client offers an engineer an expensive gift after the successful completion of a project. According to engineering ethics, the engineer should:
Answer: Decline the gift to avoid any appearance of impropriety
Accepting gifts can create the appearance of impropriety and compromise future objectivity; the ethical standard is to decline to maintain integrity.
In the context of engineering ethics, 'responsible charge' means:
Answer: Direct control and personal supervision of engineering work
Responsible charge refers to the direct control and personal supervision over engineering work for which a PE holds professional accountability.
An engineering firm submits a bid for a public works project and wins. A competing firm later contacts the winning firm offering to share proprietary design data in exchange for a subcontract. The ethical response is to:
Answer: Decline and report the incident to the client or appropriate authority
Accepting improperly obtained proprietary data constitutes an ethical violation; the engineer must decline and disclose the attempted misconduct.
Which body is primarily responsible for the ethical oversight and discipline of Professional Engineers in the United States?
Answer: The state licensing board in the state where the PE is licensed
State licensing boards hold legal authority to investigate complaints and impose disciplinary actions including license suspension or revocation.
An engineer working for a firm suspects that a colleague has falsified test results on a project. The correct first step is to:
Answer: Report the concern through the firm's established internal reporting channels
Most ethics codes recommend exhausting internal reporting channels first before escalating to external authorities, unless the issue presents an immediate public danger.
Engineering ethics prohibits an engineer from practicing in a state where they are not licensed UNLESS:
Answer: The engineer obtains a temporary permit or comity license for that state
Engineers may practice temporarily in unlicensed states through temporary permits or comity (reciprocity) arrangements recognized by state boards.