Free and Open Competition Invoked Against Engineer C Pre-Selection Promise
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/117#Free_and_Open_Competition_Invoked_Against_Engineer_C_Pre-Selection_Promise
Properties
Instance of
FreeandOpenCompetitionasEngineeringEthicsBoundaryCondition
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#FreeandOpenCompetitionasEngineeringEthicsBoundaryCondition
Applied to
Verbal pre-selection promise for future City X engineering project
Balancing with
Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits
Loyalty
Concrete expression
Engineer C's verbal promise to select Engineer A's firm on a future City X project — made outside any competitive selection process — directly violates the principle that engineering contracts must be awarded through free and open competition, not through informal pre-selection arrangements made in recognition of prior services
Confidence
0.93
Importance
high
Interpretation
Free and open competition requires that all qualified firms have equal access to public engineering contracts; Engineer C's verbal promise forecloses that access by pre-committing the contract to Engineer A's firm before any competitive process has occurred
Invoked by
Engineer C Chief City Engineer Procurement Authority
Tension resolution
Competition integrity is not subject to balancing against gratitude or recognition obligations; the principle operates as a near-absolute constraint on public procurement conduct
Source Evidence
Source text
Engineer C, the chief city engineer, verbally promises to select Engineer A's firm on a future engineering project for City X
Text references
Engineer C, the chief city engineer, verbally promises to select Engineer A's firm on a future engineering project for City X
In recognition of Engineer A's work in securing the grant, Engineer C, the chief city engineer, verbally promises to select Engineer A's firm
TTL
@prefix case117: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/117#> .
@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#> .
case117:Free_and_Open_Competition_Invoked_Against_Engineer_C_Pre-Selection_Promise a proeth:FreeandOpenCompetitionasEngineeringEthicsBoundaryCondition,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Free and Open Competition Invoked Against Engineer C Pre-Selection Promise" ;
proeth:appliedto "Verbal pre-selection promise for future City X engineering project" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits",
"Loyalty" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Engineer C's verbal promise to select Engineer A's firm on a future City X project — made outside any competitive selection process — directly violates the principle that engineering contracts must be awarded through free and open competition, not through informal pre-selection arrangements made in recognition of prior services" ;
proeth:confidence "0.93" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "117" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "facts" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-28T15:47:33.923942+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "117" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-28T15:47:33.923942+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "Free and open competition requires that all qualified firms have equal access to public engineering contracts; Engineer C's verbal promise forecloses that access by pre-committing the contract to Engineer A's firm before any competitive process has occurred" ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer C Chief City Engineer Procurement Authority" ;
proeth:principleclass "Free and Open Competition as Engineering Ethics Boundary Condition" ;
proeth:sourcetext "Engineer C, the chief city engineer, verbally promises to select Engineer A's firm on a future engineering project for City X" ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Competition integrity is not subject to balancing against gratitude or recognition obligations; the principle operates as a near-absolute constraint on public procurement conduct" ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer C, the chief city engineer, verbally promises to select Engineer A's firm on a future engineering project for City X",
"In recognition of Engineer A's work in securing the grant, Engineer C, the chief city engineer, verbally promises to select Engineer A's firm" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 117 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-28T16:01:19.939957"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 117 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
117
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
facts
First discovered
2026-02-28T15:47:33.923942+00:00
First case
117
Generated
2026-02-28T15:47:33.923942+00:00
Attributed to
Case 117 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-28T16:01:19.939957
Generated by
ProEthica Case 117 Extraction