Structural Engineering and Ethical Decision Making
INTRODUCTION
Currently in the state of California, designers employed in the building industry follow the 1997 Uniform Building Code (UBC 97). The UBC 97 is intended to be a minimum requirement for both engineers and architects to follow in the design of any structural building or bridge. There are exceptions to the use of the UBC; local jurisdictions have the right to adopt other codes for there use. For instances some counties or cities may adopt certain ordinances that go beyond the UBC.
The engineer is required to follow the code of the jurisdiction that he/she is building in. However, if there are other codes in existence that are better, the engineer is expected to be aware of them. If the engineer designs according to the jurisdiction’s requirements, and the structure shall fail, then the may be held accountable for not using the better code if it can be proven that the engineer was aware of it. So, in essence, it is a loose/loose situation for the engineer; they can also get in trouble for using a better code than the one that the jurisdiction uses, if the building shall fail.
There are many ethical, political and legal issues that a structural engineer faces on a daily basis. How then does the profession deal with these kinds of dilemmas? Are their any guidelines, and what are the guidelines? They’re several professional organizations that publish regulations, but there is no standard that exists in the structural engineering profession.
The following are the fundamental cannons put forth by the National Society of Professional Engineers:
Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:
1 Hold paramount the safety, health, and ...
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...hole would be not only safer, but also more comfortable. With better-written standards, the individual engineer would be able to make better decisions having a greater affect on society.
FINAL DECISION
. Performance Based Design shall be adopted.
. A minimum requirement shall remain in place.
. A clearer standard shall be written in the code with a decision-making process and
examples. These standards shall be enforced.
References:
“NPSE Ehics Reference Guide” http://www.nspe.org/ethics/
“ASCE Code of Ethics” http://www.asce.org/pdf/ethics_manual.pdf
Healy, Tim. “Ethical Issues and Earthquake Risk Reduction.” Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. January 1998.
Social, Economic, and Political Analysis Subcommittee of EERI Endowment Committee. “Public Policy and Building Safety.” Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. January 1996.
The construction industry relies on regulations, standards, and codes of practice to ensure safe buildings constructed to a quality standard. In short, they are there to protect consumers, and ensure peace of mind. If it were not so, buildings could potentially compromise user safety, with no repercussions
XYZ Construction Inc. is headquartered in Denver, Colorado; the company has 16 field offices spread throughout 11 States. There are 2,300 year round employees with a surge of 4,500 employees during the peak construction periods. XYZ Construction Inc. began in the late 1950’s as a privately owned family business. Recently, the family would like to move the company into the public sector within a 12 month period. XYZ Construction, Inc. performs horizontal construction with specialties in: Roads Bridges Airfields (Klinger, 2012).
Martin, M.W. and Schinzinger, R. (2005) Ethics in Engineering. 4th ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
On April 24th, 2014, one simple recording released by TMZ made Donald Sterling, owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, the most hated man in America. In this recording, Sterling ranted over the fact how he did not want V. Stiviano, his partner, to be affiliated with any African Americans. As a result of his racist statements, fans, athletes, and sports organizations/members, voiced their opinions on the matter, flourishing social media. Many star players such as LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and a majority the Clippers players acknowledged that something had to be done, and that the NBA is no place for racism. In the end, after team owners took a vote, NBA commissioner Adam Silver held a press conference enlightening the public
To clarify, the Engineering Code of Ethics is the set of rules established by the National Society of Professional Engineers that all engineers are expected to adhere to. In essence, the fundamental tenets of this code are that all engineers are expected to prioritize public safety, as well as be honest with their clients and the general public while only doing work that they are qualified to do. (“Code of Ethics,” n.d.). The reason this code is crucial in this case is because it offers guiding principles for the men and women who are in charge of so many of the various structures and buildings that are used by everyone in society. If the engineering population were to fail to adhere to this code, many people’s lives would be put in jeopardy; buildings might crumble, planes may crash, and bridges could collapse. This means that this code serves to keep engineers in check so that the world maintains stability, therefore its importance cannot be emphasized enough. Furthermore, since this code is nationally recognized, if a company’s engineers were to violate any aspect of it, it would be seen nation-wide as a misuse of power for the sake
producing a earthquake safe environment. In a nuclear facility that in itself is a danger, an honest
The National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics lays out guidelines and standards to which all engineers should abide when making professional decisions and communicating with their peers and the public. Ethics and communications played a large role in the cause of the event and the end result of the mission. The following section will discuss the ethics of the events that transpired prior to the launch, the communication of the crews and the NASA public relations office, and the ethics of the actions taken by the engineers after the incident.
In today’s world there are many competitors in all fields of work. This is one of the major reasons why bribery occurs next to money. Engineering is no different than any other field but is often associated with having higher standards. This higher standard incorporates honour, respectability and accountability to ones actions. The article that has been discussed in this paper is essential to maintain the professional engineering image. This is not only in the best interest for the engineer but other engineers, companies and most importantly, the public.
There are many obstacles to coming up with a good design for engineers. Taking an ethical approach, one should be able to assume that the design they asked for was given due diligence and put together by a team of professional engineers who live by the Code of Ethics for their professional organization.
In building construction and in fire prevention there are organizations that have created a useful system on how to determine what type of building falls under which category. The ICC (International Code Council) and the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) create these building codes for the safety of firefighters. The two most commonly known standards for building classifications are the NFPA 5000 and also the International Building Code (IBC). The two are very similar, however, they different on sub-categorizing. The International Building Code uses Roman numerals behind the type of construction. In addition to subcategories with letters for each five classes and the amount of fire resistance provided for each building. NFPA uses Roman numerals behind the type of construction. Unlike the IBC, NFPA uses a 3-digit number system behind that to sub categorize the fire hourly rating for the load-bearing walls, for the beams and columns, and for the floor construction. The IBC and NFPA breaks down construction in to five classes, Type I, Type II, Type III, Type IV, and Type V.
What makes up an ethical issue and its suitable resolution varies considerably from person to person. As an aspiring electrical engineer, I have outlined some instances that I believe could lead to conflict of interest in my engineering practice. I have also thought up ways I believe these conflicts could be resolved.
The function of the code of ethics for engineer is to guide engineer from do the unethical activities. When there are engineer that do the unethical activities, other people or the public will have bad thoughts to all engineer because it is like a custom for people to see one and two example and jump to conclusion that engineer like to do unethical activities. There are five code of ethics for engineer follow and make it as guidelines. The first code of ethics is hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of public. The engineers should not reveal facts, data or information without the permission of the customer except as authorized or required by law or the Code. Second, perform services only in areas of their competence, engineer should take the project or task that they qualified by experience or education in the specific field. They should not take project that they are not a master at that field and do the project without the guide of the master. This act will make other will in danger. Next, engineers should issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner. The engineer may express publicly technical opinions that are founded upon knowledge of the facts and competence in the subject
“The bottom line in engineering ethics is the idea that engineering ought to be aimed at the good of humanity, and that individual engineers ought to be using their skills to improve the lot of humanity.”
The code says that engineers should always be aware that their first responsibility is to protect public safety, health and welfare. If their judgment is rejected in circumstances where under threat security, health, property or welfare of the people, they must notify the employer or client, and, if necessary, other authorities.
Engineering ethics can be described as moral principles that are applied to the engineering practice (Van et al, 2011). Engineering bodies, such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, conducts field examines and set obligations that engineers are supposed to fulfill, to their clients, society and professi...