Sustainable Upgrade of Homes :

Ethical Review

Saul Magallanes
Timothy Engle
Michael Steward
Adam Duran
 Case No 07-6
• Firm Is hired to analyze property for residential condominiums

• Firms Biologist reports possible issue

– Problem is reported to the principle engineer
– Birds species may be threatened by project
– Government and State have previously considered this bird “threatened”

• Principle Engineer reports problem to Client

– Verbal report of possible issue to client
– No information submitted on final report

• Was it ethical for Engineer A not to include the information about the threat to the
bird species in a written report that will be submitted to a public authority that is
considering the developer’s proposal?
 Case No 07-6
• Engineers and clients
– Engineers are caught in the middle
– Engineers act as “trustees” or “agents” for clients
– Engineers should look out for best interest of client

• Engineers and public

– Engineers are trusted to do what’s best for the general public
– NSPE code of ethics states that, “engineers are encouraged to adhere to the principles of sustainable
development in order to protect the environment for future generations…”
 Case No 07-6
• Discussion Case #1
– Engineer was assigned to in investigate pavement damage
• Accident occurred and during investigation engineer noticed defect in wall that might
have been cause of wall failure
• Engineer wrote down observations in field report but did not include in final report
– The case was deemed as being handled appropriately
• The engineer notified his client and the client notified public agency within a reasonable
amount of time
• The construction of the wall was outside of the engineers scope of work
 Case No 07-6
• Discussion Case #2
– Engineer conducted wetland delineation work for client
– After a few months he observed that the client had place fill in areas that weren’t
approved
– Corrective action was taken
• The engineer alerted the client
• If the client hadn’t taken corrective action, the engineer should have alerted proper authorities
 Case No 07-6
• It was unethical for engineer to exclude information from report

• The engineer should have the threats to the birds in the report and advise his
client of its inclusion