Field Notes Integrity Preservation — Wall Defect Observation Must Not Be Altered
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/100#Field_Notes_Integrity_Preservation_—_Wall_Defect_Observation_Must_Not_Be_Altered
Properties
Instance of
FieldNotesIntegrityandAlterationProhibitionPrinciple
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#FieldNotesIntegrityandAlterationProhibitionPrinciple
Applied to
Engineer A Bridge Sub-Consultant Inspector
Balancing with
Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation
Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits
Concrete expression
The Board explicitly states that while it would be improper to include the speculative wall defect observation in the final report, under no circumstances would it be appropriate for Engineer A to alter his field notes — establishing field note integrity as an absolute floor even when final report omission is permissible.
Confidence
0.93
Importance
high
Interpretation
Field notes serve as the authentic contemporaneous professional record; their integrity is non-negotiable regardless of client instructions, scope limitations, or the speculative character of the recorded observations. The absolute prohibition on alteration coexists with the permissibility of final report omission.
Invoked by
NSPE Board of Ethical Review
Tension resolution
There is no tension to resolve — the prohibition on field note alteration is presented as absolute and admits no exception, even in circumstances where final report omission is permissible.
Source Evidence
Source text
However, under no circumstance would it be appropriate for Engineer A to alter his field notes
Text references
However, under no circumstance would it be appropriate for Engineer A to alter his field notes
While it may be appropriate for Engineer A to note such information in his field notes, to place this information in a final report would not be responsible
TTL
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
<http://proethica.org/ontology/case/100#Field_Notes_Integrity_Preservation_—_Wall_Defect_Observation_Must_Not_Be_Altered> a proeth:FieldNotesIntegrityandAlterationProhibitionPrinciple,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Field Notes Integrity Preservation — Wall Defect Observation Must Not Be Altered" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer A Bridge Sub-Consultant Inspector" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation",
"Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The Board explicitly states that while it would be improper to include the speculative wall defect observation in the final report, under no circumstances would it be appropriate for Engineer A to alter his field notes — establishing field note integrity as an absolute floor even when final report omission is permissible." ;
proeth:confidence "0.93" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "100" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T08:35:55.643095+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "100" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T08:35:55.643095+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "Field notes serve as the authentic contemporaneous professional record; their integrity is non-negotiable regardless of client instructions, scope limitations, or the speculative character of the recorded observations. The absolute prohibition on alteration coexists with the permissibility of final report omission." ;
proeth:invokedby "NSPE Board of Ethical Review" ;
proeth:principleclass "Field Notes Integrity and Alteration Prohibition Principle" ;
proeth:sourcetext "However, under no circumstance would it be appropriate for Engineer A to alter his field notes" ;
proeth:tensionresolution "There is no tension to resolve — the prohibition on field note alteration is presented as absolute and admits no exception, even in circumstances where final report omission is permissible." ;
proeth:textreferences "However, under no circumstance would it be appropriate for Engineer A to alter his field notes",
"While it may be appropriate for Engineer A to note such information in his field notes, to place this information in a final report would not be responsible" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 100 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T08:48:56.190574"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 100 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
100
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T08:35:55.643095+00:00
First case
100
Generated
2026-03-01T08:35:55.643095+00:00
Attributed to
Case 100 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T08:48:56.190574
Generated by
ProEthica Case 100 Extraction