NCEES Ethics and Practice 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A PE stamps drawings for a project outside his area of expertise to help a friend meet a deadline. Under NCEES ethical standards, this is:
- Acceptable as a one-time favor among colleagues
- Unethical because engineers must practice only within their competence (Correct answer)
- Permitted if the friend is also a licensed PE
- Fine as long as no fee is charged for the service
Correct answer: Unethical because engineers must practice only within their competence
Engineers must only practice in areas of their competence; stamping drawings outside one's expertise violates fundamental ethical principles regardless of circumstances.
Question 2: A state engineering board typically has the authority to do which of the following?
- Set national engineering curriculum standards
- Revoke, suspend, or place conditions on a PE license (Correct answer)
- Certify engineers for international practice
- Mandate specific engineering software tools for licensed professionals
Correct answer: Revoke, suspend, or place conditions on a PE license
State engineering boards are regulatory agencies empowered to discipline licensees, including revoking or suspending PE licenses for violations of the practice act.
Question 3: When an engineer discovers that public safety may be endangered by a client's decision and the client refuses to act, the engineer should:
- Continue the project under protest to preserve the client relationship
- Withdraw from the project and, where permitted by law, notify authorities (Correct answer)
- Remain silent to protect client confidentiality
- Proceed only if the client signs a liability waiver
Correct answer: Withdraw from the project and, where permitted by law, notify authorities
If a client refuses to address a genuine public safety hazard, the engineer must withdraw and may be obligated to notify the appropriate authorities.
Question 4: Under the NCEES Model Law, the primary purpose of engineering licensure is to:
- Generate revenue for state governments through examination fees
- Protect the public by ensuring minimum competency standards for practitioners (Correct answer)
- Restrict market competition among engineering firms
- Establish uniform salary scales for professional engineers
Correct answer: Protect the public by ensuring minimum competency standards for practitioners
Engineering licensure exists to protect the public by establishing minimum competency requirements before practitioners are authorized to offer engineering services.
Question 5: Two engineering firms submit a joint proposal for a project. Firm A's PE will seal all documents, but Firm B will perform most of the technical work without PE oversight. This arrangement is:
- Acceptable because a PE seal is still applied
- Unethical because the sealing PE must exercise responsible charge over the work (Correct answer)
- Standard industry practice for joint ventures
- Legal as long as both firms are properly insured
Correct answer: Unethical because the sealing PE must exercise responsible charge over the work
A PE may only seal work that was performed under her responsible charge; rubber-stamping another firm's unsupervised work is a serious ethical and legal violation.
Question 6: An engineer receives a request for client information from a government investigator without a subpoena or court order. The engineer should:
- Immediately provide all requested information to cooperate with the government
- Consult legal counsel before releasing any confidential client information (Correct answer)
- Ignore the request since no legal process was served
- Release only publicly available information and destroy the rest
Correct answer: Consult legal counsel before releasing any confidential client information
Engineers must maintain client confidentiality; before releasing protected information, they should seek legal advice to understand their rights and obligations.
Question 7: A PE who signs a document as the engineer of record is taking personal professional responsibility for:
- Only the portions of the design she personally drafted
- The entire engineering work represented by that document (Correct answer)
- Financial aspects of the project budget
- Construction methods used by the contractor
Correct answer: The entire engineering work represented by that document
The engineer of record accepts full professional responsibility for all engineering content within the document bearing her seal, not just portions she personally drafted.
NCEES Ethics and Practice 3
A PE stamps drawings for a project outside his area of expertise to help a friend meet a deadline.
Under NCEES ethical standards, this is: