Ethics for Structural Engineers

Lessons in Negligence and Incompetence

(P t 2)
(Part
Dave K. Adams,, S.E.
BWE – San Diego, CA

SE University, February 2016 www.LearnWithSEU.com

Presentation Outline

 What the Public Expects of an Engineer

 Common Reasons for Complaints
p
 Sorting Out a Standard of Care
 Battling
g Negligence
g g
 Battling Incompetence
 Closing Remarks

2
What the Public Expects of an Engineer

 An engineer is a licensed
professional, therefore the
public expects a degree of
responsibility in what that
person does
 Licensing board rules
 Professional liability laws
 Business regulation

3
What the Public Expects of an Engineer

 An engineer performs specialized tasks

requiring a specific body of knowledge, therefore
the public expects a degree of education in that
person’s field of practice
 ABET accreditation
dit ti
 Diversity of subjects
 Scientific emphasis (theory)
 Design process (application)
 Writing
g and draftingg ((communication))

4
What the Public Expects of an Engineer

 An engineer must work with people of different

backgrounds and levels of skill, therefore the
public expects a degree of experience before
taking charge of projects
 Internships?
I t hi ?
 Experience is often narrowly focused, but it can also
provide an understanding of one’s
one s limitations
 The public expects an engineer to practice within
his/her area of competence

5
Common Reasons for Complaints

 Poor communication between

the owner and the engineer
 Scope of services
 Time of work delivery
 “Spoken”
“S k ” vs. “written”
“ itt ”
 A combative tone or attitude
 A dose of humility usually goes a
really long way to cooling down
arguments before they heat up

6
Common Reasons for Complaints

 Multiple sets of poor

responses to plan
check comments
A building official is
authorized to interpret code
requirements, and oftentimes
will assess an engineer’s
competence through
submitted plans and how
he/she communicates

7
Common Reasons for Complaints

 Scope creep not anticipated by the engineer and

not properly worked out with the owner and the
contractor
 Ifa scope of services is not well defined, the client will
sometimes impose his/her own ideas

8
Common Reasons for Complaints

 Scope creep not anticipated by the engineer and

not properly worked out with the owner and the
contractor
 An engineer’s relationship with the client can oftentimes
help straighten out misunderstandings
 If the client is new and a relationship is not well
understood, the scope p should be tightly
g y defined
 Tasks

 Cost

 Time

9
Common Reasons for Complaints

 Poorly detailed or
unbuildable plans
 The owner has usually spent a
huge amount of money in
design fees before the plans
are even released, which
makes the situation worse
 The case for incompetence
becomes easier to prove

10
Common Reasons for Complaints

 Poorly written contracts that set

up unintended expectations
A contract is the legal document
that includes a scope of services
that would have been part of the
original proposal
 Warranties/guarantees
 “Right to terminate” clause
 Define “standard of care”

11
Common Reasons for Complaints

 Untimely work by the engineer

 Quite often an indication that the
engineer is in over his/her head
 Not qualified to do the work
 Has too much to do already
 A broken promise (has not
delivered the pproduct in a
reasonable amount of time)

12
 P ll Q
Poll Question
ti

In your experience, what is the

most frequent cause of tension
with a client

13
Sorting Out a Standard of Care

 Does a lack of calculations

indicate a lack of knowledge?
 Engineering judgment
precedes a numerical analysis
 Calculations are used to
validate or correct initial
hypotheses based
on experience
 A feel for what works

14
Sorting Out a Standard of Care

 Are even “simple errors”

acts of negligence or
incompetence?
 What’s a simple error?
 What
Wh t iis th
the potential
t ti l
consequence of the error?
 How could the error have
been avoided in the first place?

15
Sorting Out a Standard of Care

 What does “under similar

circumstances” mean?
A difficult client
 A lack of timely communication
 Unforeseen
U f problems
bl
 Are there reasonable excuses?

16
Sorting Out a Standard of Care

 Is there a difference
between simple things and
big ticket items?
 Using incorrect coefficients for
determining load magnitudes
can be a big problem
 Prescriptive
p code
requirements are usually
based on some form of testing
or analysis – what is “simple”?
simple ?

17
Sorting Out a Standard of Care

 What was a
stamped/signed set of
construction drawings
intended for?
 An
A engineer’s
i ’ stamp
t andd
signature should be applied
to documents that are
intended for construction
 Review? Pricing?

18
Battling Negligence

 “Failure by a licensee, in the practice of

professional engineering, to use the care
ordinarily exercised in like cases by duly
licensed professional engineers in good
standing ”
standing.
 The practice of professional engineering
 Care ordinarily exercised
 Licensed professional engineers in good standing

19
Battling Negligence

 “The practice of professional engineering”

 Understand what an engineering contract for services
actually says
 Read your professional engineer licensing board’s
rules and laws
 Read about complaints brought against your peers
 Form ggood relationships
p with colleagues,
g , clients,, and
enforcement officials
 Train and tutor others

20
Battling Negligence

 “Care ordinarily exercised”

 Pay close attention to details
 Help is always available –
there’s not much new under
the sun
 Improve your productivity by
being more organized
 Understand how much work
you are capable of doing at
any one time

21
Battling Negligence

 “Licensed professional
engineers in good standing”
 Keep up with current
technologies (know the
tools that are available)
 Keep current on
engineering news
 Develop people skills

22
Battling Incompetence

 “Lack of knowledge or ability in

discharging professional obligations.”
 Lack of knowledge
 Lack of ability
 Professional
P f i l obligations
bli ti

23
Battling Incompetence

 Lack of knowledge
 Increase your technical
knowledge
 Review subjects you’ve
learned years ago
 Understand the limitations
of your current body of
knowledge

24
Battling Incompetence

 Lack of ability
 Improve your problem
solving skills
 Continue to perform
calculations by hand (as
often as practical)
 Strive to effectively manage
your time

25
Battling Incompetence

 Professional obligations
 Become involved in the engineering community
 Understand your company’s operations
 Find out about the legal obligations of your company
and consequences of misconduct
 Meet deadlines – don’t promise what you cannot deliver!

26
Closing Remarks

 Engineering ethics are not difficult to understand:

 Practicehonesty in all things
 Be ready with a proper defense for engineering
decisions (analysis, experience, judgment)
 Negligence
N li and d iincompetence
t can b
be managedd
internally, but remember the law doesn’t require
perfection … just care

27
 Ethics for Structural Engineers
Lessons in Negligence and Incompetence
(P t 2)
(Part
Dave K. Adams,, S.E.
BWE – San Diego, CA

SE University, February 2016 www.LearnWithSEU.com

 CHALLENGE QUESTION:

Which of the following items related to degree of education is the

answer to this session’s Challenge Question?

A. ABET accreditation
B. Diversity of subjects
C. Design process (application)
D. Writing and drafting (communication)

Please circle the ans

answer
er that is anno
announced
nced so that you
o can use
se the
information to complete the quiz for your PDH.