Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 18-9 (2018) · Public Health and Safety—Building Codes to Address Environmental Risk
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
Engineer A Wetland Case BER 04-8 Environmental Law Violation Client Inquiry and Remediation Direction
prevails over
Engineer A Wetland Case BER 04-8 Incidental Observation Safety Disclosure
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Private Practice Client Relationship
Engineer A Post-Cost-Refusal Escalation Assessment Storm Surge Obligation
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Storm Surge Obligation
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client A Cost-Based Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Standard
- Client Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Elevation Recommendation
- Confirmed Risk Without Adequate Safeguards — Storm Surge Elevation
- Public Safety at Risk from Inadequate Storm Surge Design Standard
- Public Safety at Risk — Coastal Residential Development Storm Surge
Engineer A 100-Year Storm Surge Recommendation Obligation
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Storm Surge Obligation
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client A Cost-Based Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Standard
- Client Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Elevation Recommendation
- Confirmed Risk Without Adequate Safeguards — Storm Surge Elevation
- Public Safety at Risk from Inadequate Storm Surge Design Standard
- Public Safety at Risk — Coastal Residential Development Storm Surge
Engineer A Coastal Risk Assessment Client Cost-Refusal Non-Acquiescence
prevails over
Engineer A Coastal Risk Assessment Persistent Client Persuasion Before Withdrawal
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client A Cost-Based Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Standard
- Confirmed Risk Without Adequate Safeguards — Storm Surge Elevation
Featured
Engineer A Threatened Species Case BER 07-6 Threatened Species Report Inclusion
prevails over
Engineer A Threatened Species Case BER 07-6 Faithful Agent Client Notification of Inclusion
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Private Practice Client Relationship
Engineer A Coastal Risk Assessment Cost-Benefit Safety Primacy Determination
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Storm Surge Obligation
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client A Cost-Based Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Standard
- Client Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Elevation Recommendation
- Confirmed Risk Without Adequate Safeguards — Storm Surge Elevation
- Public Safety at Risk from Inadequate Storm Surge Design Standard
- Public Safety at Risk — Coastal Residential Development Storm Surge
Engineer A Non-Acquiescence Client Cost Refusal Storm Surge Obligation
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Storm Surge Obligation
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client A Cost-Based Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Standard
- Client Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Elevation Recommendation
- Confirmed Risk Without Adequate Safeguards — Storm Surge Elevation
- Public Safety at Risk from Inadequate Storm Surge Design Standard
- Public Safety at Risk — Coastal Residential Development Storm Surge
Engineer A Coastal Risk Assessment Objective Completeness Public Authority Reports
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Storm Surge Obligation
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client A Cost-Based Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Standard
- Client Refusal of 100-Year Storm Surge Elevation Recommendation
- Confirmed Risk Without Adequate Safeguards — Storm Surge Elevation
- Public Safety at Risk from Inadequate Storm Surge Design Standard
- Public Safety at Risk — Coastal Residential Development Storm Surge
Engineer A Climate Change Moving Target Design Consideration Storm Surge Obligation
prevails over
Engineer A Newly Released Algorithm Application Competence Obligation
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Moving Target Climate Baseline — Coastal Storm Surge
- Newly Released Climate Data Informing Safety Standard
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Building Code Advocacy Storm Surge Obligation vs Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Storm Surge Obligation
Engineer A Coastal Risk Assessment 100-Year Storm Surge Design Standard Recommendation vs Engineer A Coastal Risk Assessment Cost-Benefit Safety Primacy Determination
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Storm Surge Obligation vs Engineer A No-Code Jurisdiction Climate Risk Disclosure Obligation
Engineer A Graduated Escalation Before Withdrawal Storm Surge Obligation vs Engineer A Non-Acquiescence Client Cost Refusal Storm Surge Obligation
What the board concluded
- Engineer A should continue to pursue discussions with Client A to convince Client A of the danger in which future residents, as well as the general public, could be placed, and the potential for significant property and environmental damage.
- If Client A refuses to agree with Engineer A's design standard, Engineer A should withdraw from the project.
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
A faithful-agent duty yields to a public-protection obligation. The yielding obligation ("Faithful Agent") recurs across cases; the obligation that overrides it and the context under which it yields differ case by case. This is the case-law move: not a single rule, but a family of context-indexed resolutions.
| Case | Obligation that prevailed | Yielding obligation | Context (defeasibleUnder) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
24-01
Balancing Client Directives and Public...
|
Engineer L Client Budget Pressure Refusal | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client |
| Engineer L Client Override Regulatory Report | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client | |
|
20-4
Public Health, Safety, and...
|
Engineer B Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B |
| Engineer A Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer A Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B | |
|
95-5
Failure To Include Information In...
|
Engineer B Expert Witness Neutrality | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias |
| Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias | |
|
04-8
Public Welfare—Client Action Following...
|
Engineer A Safety Obligation Wetland Fill | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |
| Engineer A Wetland Confidentiality Limits | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |