It would be ethical for Engineer A’s firm, WXY Engineers, to serve as city engineer for City H, perform general consulting services, and be under contract to provide specific design services.

Over the years, conflicts of interest issues have been regularly considered by the NSPE Board of Ethical Review. Since its inception in the late 1950s, the Board has considered many cases involving conflicts of interest in the public and private sector, as well as conflicts involving employment, litigation, government officials, construction, and other issues. Conflicts of interest are clearly among the most prevalent ethical issues that engineers face in their professional lives. In an early 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 service to a client. The duties for the city usually included advising the city council on engineering problems, offering recommendations on engineering project considerations, and approving plans for engineering processes and works. In addition to general advisory services to the city, Engineer B was retained by the city council for the preparation of plans and specifications for a city project. In such cases, Engineer B was compensated on a normal professional fee basis over and above his monthly retainer. The Board ruled that it is ethical for a professional engineer retained by a community on a part-time basis as a city engineer to prepare plans and specifications for a project for the same community, but in so acting the engineer must be scrupulously careful that his advice is not influenced by his secondary interest as the engineer likely to be retained for the design of the project. The Board noted that “it is axiomatic that a professional person may not take action or make decisions which would divide his loyalties or interests from those of his employer or client.”  Among the issues the Board considered in BER Case No. 63-5 was the practical question of the engineer passing on the adequacy of his own plans in his capacity as cit...

Engineer A is the president of WXY Engineers, an engineering firm. For many years, WXY has provided services directly to City H (a small city), and WXY currently has three contracts directly with the city for separate projects with City H. Engineer B, the full-time city engineer, has resigned from his position with City H. City H officials are currently considering whether to replace Engineer B with another full-time city engineer or, as a cost cutting and efficiency measure, to hire a consultant (such as WXY Engineers) as the city engineer to perform general consulting services and be under contract to provide specific design services on individual city projects. One city official has raised a concern that because WXY is under contract with City H, having WXY serve as city engineer would constitute a conflict of interest. WXY does not perform any private work for developers or other private parties within City H and, therefore, if it were designated city engineer for City H, WXY would not be reviewing the work it performed for private clients.

Would it be ethical for Engineer A’s firm, WXY Engineers, to serve as city engineer for City H, perform general consulting services, and be under contract to provide specific design services on individual city projects?