It is ethical for Engineer A to contact Smithtown and advise the town that Engineer B’s performance on the contract did not meet the standards as outlined in Engineer B’s contract with the town.It would not be ethical for Engineer A to offer and agree to perform the work for Smithtown.

It is not uncommon for a professional engineer in private practice or an engineering firm to serve as a city, town, or county engineer. Historically and particularly in this period of dwindling financial and other resources, it is not uncommon for communities with limited budgets to retain the services of a competent professional engineer or professional engineering firm to serve in an advisory or other capacity on engineering matters affecting the community. This relationship, while generally a reasonable response to the needs of the community, can sometimes raise ethical questions regarding whether and to what extent the professional engineer or professional engineering firm may go beyond the role of professional advisor, etc., and actually perform significant professional engineering or other services for that community. Questions naturally arise as to whether such work constitutes a clear conflict of interest and NSPE Code provisions clearly address many of these concerns. On the flip side of the issue is the practical reality for many professional engineers and engineering firms that by serving in a limited professional advisory role, they are precluded from consideration on actual engineering projects; the professional engineer or the engineering firm is placed at a significant competitive disadvantage in relation to other engineers and engineering firms that may freely compete on such public engineering projects. Since its inception in the late 1950s, the NSPE Board of Ethical Review has considered many cases involving conflicts of interest issues of this type. Conflicts of interest are clearly among the most prevalent ethical issues that engineers face in their professional lives. For example, in an earlier case, BER Case No. 63-5, a small community retained a professional engineer, Engineer B, on a part-time basis to serve as city engineer. Engineer B was engaged in full-time private practice and treated his part-time service to the community as a public...

Engineer A is the part-time town engineer for Smithtown and also has a consulting engineering practice. With Engineer A's advice and concurrence, Smithtown selects Engineer B to provide design services for a local road project. Following the selection and after Engineer B begins to perform preliminary design services, Engineer A, in his role as town engineer, reviews Engineer B’s preliminary work and becomes convinced that Engineer B’s performance on the contract does not meet the standards as outlined in Engineer B’s contract with the town. Following the termination of Engineer B under the terms and conditions of his contract with the town, Engineer A offers, and Smithtown agrees, that Engineer A's firm should perform the design work for the local road project for Smithtown.

Was it ethical for Engineer A to contact Smithtown and advise the town that Engineer B’s performance on the contract did not meet the standards as outlined in Engineer B’s contract with the town?Was it ethical for Engineer A to offer and agree to perform the road design work for Smithtown?