Obligation-Conflict Resolution

Case 98-8 (1998) · Competence To Certify Arms Storage Rooms

Professional obligations conflict, and the board applies no fixed rule for which one wins. Each resolution is recorded as three edges: competesWith (the tension), prevailsOver (the obligation the board allowed to win in this case), and defeasibleUnder (the situation under which the yielding obligation gives way). The same tension is then traced across comparable cases, where its resolution shifts with context. Hover any obligation or state to see its definition; click to open it in OntServe.
How this case resolved it
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Engineer A Military Certification Deception Prohibition Instance prevails over Engineer A Military Authority Certification Direction Resistance
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
  • Army Certification Request Triggering Competence Boundary
  • Engineer A Military Facility Competence Gap — Public Safety Dimension
  • Engineer A Outside Competence for Arms Storage Certification
Engineer A Institutional Role Non-Expansion Recognition Instance prevails over Engineer A Military Authority Certification Direction Resistance
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
  • Army Certification Request Triggering Competence Boundary
  • Engineer A Military Facility Competence Gap — Public Safety Dimension
  • Engineer A Outside Competence for Arms Storage Certification
Engineer A Arms Storage Safety Public Welfare Paramount Recognition prevails over Engineer A Military Authority Certification Direction Resistance
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
  • Army Certification Request Triggering Competence Boundary
  • Engineer A Military Facility Competence Gap — Public Safety Dimension
  • Engineer A Outside Competence for Arms Storage Certification
Engineer A Military Arms Storage Certification Refusal Competence Obligation prevails over Engineer A Training Fund Unavailability Non-Excuse Recognition
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
  • Resource Constrained Training Access
  • Training Funds Unavailable Blocking Competence Remediation
Engineer A Military Arms Storage Certification Refusal Competence Obligation prevails over Engineer A Military Authority Certification Direction Resistance
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
  • Army Certification Request Triggering Competence Boundary
  • Engineer A Military Facility Competence Gap — Public Safety Dimension
  • Engineer A Outside Competence for Arms Storage Certification
Engineer A BER 94-8 Peer Competency Challenge and Escalation Instance prevails over Engineer B BER 94-8 Structural Footing Out-of-Competence Refusal Instance
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
  • BER 94-8 Precedent — Engineer B Structural Footing Competence Gap
Open tensions recorded without a resolution: Engineer A Arms Storage Safety Public Welfare Paramount Recognition vs Engineer A Military Arms Storage Certification Refusal Competence Obligation Engineer A Institutional Role Non-Expansion Recognition Instance vs Engineer A Military Arms Storage Certification Refusal Competence Obligation
What the board concluded
  • It would not be ethical for Engineer A to certify as a qualified engineer the arms storage rooms and arms storage racks as requested by the Army official.