Providing Engineering Services to Nonemployers: An Ethical Balance

Abstract

An engineer providing services to a party other than his or her regular employer must balance several competing interests to make ethical judgments. Among these considerations are the engineer's personal welfare and reputation, the client's engineering needs, the employer's legitimate rights, and the greater interests of the profession and of society. Common situations and their ethical implications to an engineer who provides voluntary or profit-seeking services are discussed using the ASCE Code of Ethics as a basis. Engineers who take on personal clients on their own time are encouraged to think critically about the business environment of each commission, to tailor their conduct to the established standards of the profession, and to provide service without reliance on an employer's facilities. Engineers who volunteer their services to worthy causes are similarly urged to make their work a creditworthy example of the civil engineering profession. The paper concludes that with good judgment, an engineer ...