Public Welfare Paramount Invoked in BER 89-7 Electrical Deficiency Non-Disclosure
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/149#Public_Welfare_Paramount_Invoked_in_BER_89-7_Electrical_Deficiency_Non-Disclosure
Properties
Instance of
Applied to
Electrical and mechanical code violations in occupied apartment building
Balancing with
Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure
Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits
Concrete expression
In BER Case 89-7, the Board held that the engineer's obligation to hold paramount the public safety, health, and welfare required him to report electrical and mechanical code violations to appropriate public authorities, not merely to mention them obliquely in a confidential report, because the term 'paramount' imposes an active and overriding duty.
Confidence
0.97
Importance
high
Interpretation
The word 'paramount' in the ethics code elevates public welfare above confidentiality and client preference, requiring active insistence on remediation or escalation to authorities — not passive mention.
Invoked by
BER 89-7 Structural Engineer
Tension resolution
Public welfare obligation overrides confidentiality agreement because the code's use of 'paramount' signals that no competing obligation can displace the duty to protect building occupants.
Source Evidence
Source text
The Board concluded that the engineer had an obligation to go further particularly because the Code uses the term 'paramount' to describe the engineer's obligation to protect the public safety health and welfare.
Text references
The Board concluded that the engineer had an obligation to go further particularly because the Code uses the term 'paramount' to describe the engineer's obligation to protect the public safety health and welfare
the Board, citing cases decided earlier, noted that the engineer 'did not force the issue but instead went along without dissent or comment'
TTL
@prefix case149: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/149#> .
@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#> .
case149:Public_Welfare_Paramount_Invoked_in_BER_89-7_Electrical_Deficiency_Non-Disclosure a proeth:PublicWelfareParamount,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Public Welfare Paramount Invoked in BER 89-7 Electrical Deficiency Non-Disclosure" ;
proeth:appliedto "Electrical and mechanical code violations in occupied apartment building" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Confidentiality Non-Applicability to Public Danger Disclosure",
"Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "In BER Case 89-7, the Board held that the engineer's obligation to hold paramount the public safety, health, and welfare required him to report electrical and mechanical code violations to appropriate public authorities, not merely to mention them obliquely in a confidential report, because the term 'paramount' imposes an active and overriding duty." ;
proeth:confidence "0.97" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "149" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T12:24:49.228652+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "149" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T12:24:49.228652+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The word 'paramount' in the ethics code elevates public welfare above confidentiality and client preference, requiring active insistence on remediation or escalation to authorities — not passive mention." ;
proeth:invokedby "BER 89-7 Structural Engineer" ;
proeth:principleclass "Public Welfare Paramount" ;
proeth:sourcetext "The Board concluded that the engineer had an obligation to go further particularly because the Code uses the term 'paramount' to describe the engineer's obligation to protect the public safety health and welfare." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Public welfare obligation overrides confidentiality agreement because the code's use of 'paramount' signals that no competing obligation can displace the duty to protect building occupants." ;
proeth:textreferences "The Board concluded that the engineer had an obligation to go further particularly because the Code uses the term 'paramount' to describe the engineer's obligation to protect the public safety health and welfare",
"the Board, citing cases decided earlier, noted that the engineer 'did not force the issue but instead went along without dissent or comment'" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 149 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T12:35:30.882521"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 149 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
149
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T12:24:49.228652+00:00
First case
149
Generated
2026-03-01T12:24:49.228652+00:00
Attributed to
Case 149 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T12:35:30.882521
Generated by
ProEthica Case 149 Extraction