Ethics and liability

Why this matters

Engineering decisions put people at risk if they are wrong. That is why engineering is a licensed profession, and why every engineering society and licensing board has a code of ethics. Most ethical problems at work are not dramatic: a schedule that leaves no time to check, a client who wants a cheaper detail, a request to seal work you did not supervise. Knowing your obligations, and a method for working through a dilemma, lets you act early and calmly instead of discovering the problem after something has failed.

The core idea: the public comes first

The NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers (National Society of Professional Engineers) is the most widely cited US code. Its six Fundamental Canons say that engineers, in fulfilling their professional duties, shall:

1. Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
2. Perform services only in areas of their competence.
3. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.
4. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.
5. Avoid deceptive acts.
6. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession.

The full code, with its rules of practice and professional obligations, is at www.nspe.org/career-growth/ethics/nspe-code-ethics-engineers, and NSPE's Board of Ethical Review publishes real case discussions at www.nspe.org/career-growth/ethics/board-ethical-review-cases (both checked on 2026-10-23). Your state board's rules of professional conduct are the legally binding version for licensed engineers; read them too.

Note the order: loyalty to the client (canon 4) is real, but canon 1 comes first. If following the client's instruction would endanger the public, the public wins.

Key obligations in practice

• Competence: do not design outside your expertise. Get help, train, or decline.
• Sealing: seal only work prepared under your responsible charge. Sealing someone else's work after a quick look ("plan stamping") is prohibited.
• Conflicts of interest: disclose them (for example, a financial interest in a supplier you are evaluating).
• Confidentiality: do not disclose a client's confidential information without consent, except where the law or public safety requires it.
• Honesty: do not falsify data, overstate qualifications or take credit for others' work.
• Escalation: if your judgement is overruled in a way that endangers life or property, notify your employer or client and, where required, the appropriate authority.

Worked example: the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse

In 1981, two suspended walkways in the atrium of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapsed during a crowded event, killing 114 people. The original design hung both walkways from continuous rods. During shop drawing development, the detail was changed to two separate sets of rods, so the upper walkway's connection had to carry the lower walkway as well, roughly doubling the load on it. The change was not adequately checked, and the connection had been weak even in the original design. The engineers of record later lost their licences.

Ethical lessons: the engineer who seals the drawings is responsible for reviewing changes to them; shop drawing review is a safety-critical task, not a formality; and "someone else probably checked it" is not a defence. The American Society of Civil Engineers' video series on ethics case studies covers this and other cases.

A method for ethics cases

1. State the facts. What is known, what is assumed?
2. Identify the stakeholders: public, client, employer, colleagues, you.
3. Find the obligations in the NSPE code and your state board's rules that apply.
4. List options, including talking to the person involved, escalating inside the firm, getting a second opinion, and, as a last resort, notifying the authority.
5. Test each option: does it protect the public? Is it honest? Would you be comfortable explaining it to the board or in the newspaper?
6. Act and document: keep a dated record of what you raised, with whom, and the response.

Liability: the legal side

• Standard of care: engineers are generally judged against what a reasonably competent engineer would have done in similar circumstances, not against perfection.
• Negligence is failing to meet that standard of care, causing harm. It can lead to civil claims; serious misconduct can lead to discipline by the board, and in rare cases criminal charges.
• Professional liability insurance (errors and omissions) protects firms and engineers against claims; contracts allocate risk and may limit liability.
• Documentation (calcs, checks, meeting notes, emails confirming decisions) is your best evidence that you met the standard of care.

This lesson is an orientation, not legal advice. Your employer, professional society and, where needed, a lawyer are the right sources for specific situations.

Common mistakes

• Waiting until it is too late to raise a concern.
• Raising concerns only verbally. Follow up in writing.
• Assuming the client or contractor will catch it.
• Accepting work beyond your competence to please a client.

Quick recap

• NSPE's first canon: hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.
• Seal only work under your responsible charge; stay within competence; disclose conflicts; be honest.
• Use a method: facts, stakeholders, obligations, options, tests, action and documentation.
• Liability turns on the standard of care; good records protect you and the public.

Try it

Open the Do tab and take the quiz to resolve short ethics cases using the NSPE canons.