NSPE BER When-in-Rome Rescission Ethics Erosion Resistance
O · Obligation
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/167#NSPE_BER_When-in-Rome_Rescission_Ethics_Erosion_Resistance
Properties
Instance of
EthicsCodeForeignExceptionChipping-AwayResistanceObligation
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#EthicsCodeForeignExceptionChipping-AwayResistanceObligation
Case context
The NSPE Board adopted a 'When in Rome' clause in July 1966 permitting tender submission in foreign countries where required by local law/practice, then rescinded it in January 1968 on the recommendation of the Professional Engineers in Private Practice Section, which concluded the profession must maintain a 'pure' position to prevent incremental erosion.
Compliance status
met
Confidence
0.91
Importance
high
Obligated party
NSPE Board of Directors / NSPE Ethics Committee Reviewing Engineer
Obligation statement
The NSPE Board of Directors was obligated to resist the 'When in Rome' foreign-practice exception to the competitive bidding prohibition, and did so by rescinding the clause in January 1968, establishing the precedent that foreign-practice exceptions to core ethics prohibitions must be rejected to prevent the 'chipping away' of ethical standards that would follow from their adoption.
Temporal scope
January 1968 rescission decision; applied prospectively to all foreign-practice exception arguments including the gift-giving scenario
Relationships
defeasibleUnder
Foreign Gift Exception Ethics Erosion Risk
Source Evidence
Source text
the NSPE Board of Directors in July l966 adopted a so-called 'When in Rome' clause to permit the submission of tenders for work in foreign countries when such is required by laws, regulations, or practices of the foreign country.
Text references
Even if the 'go along' philosophy is accepted as an exception only for foreign work, the result must be a 'chipping away' of ethical standards
the Board of Directors in January l968 rescinded the 'When in Rome' clause from the code as recommended by the Professional Engineers in Private Practice Section, which recognized a division of opinion on the policy but concluded, '... the profession should maintain a "pure" position on competitive bidding; otherwise our opposition to competitive bidding will be chipped away, piece by piece.'
the NSPE Board of Directors in July l966 adopted a so-called 'When in Rome' clause to permit the submission of tenders for work in foreign countries when such is required by laws, regulations, or practices of the foreign country.
TTL
@prefix case167: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/167#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix proeth-core: <http://proethica.org/ontology/core#> .
@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#> .
case167:NSPE_BER_When-in-Rome_Rescission_Ethics_Erosion_Resistance a proeth:EthicsCodeForeignExceptionChipping-AwayResistanceObligation,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "NSPE BER When-in-Rome Rescission Ethics Erosion Resistance" ;
proeth-core:competesWith case167:Roe_Firm_Situational_Ethics_Non-Practice_Foreign_Context ;
proeth-core:defeasibleUnder case167:Foreign_Gift_Exception_Ethics_Erosion_Risk ;
proeth-core:prevailsOver case167:Roe_Firm_Situational_Ethics_Non-Practice_Foreign_Context ;
proeth:casecontext "The NSPE Board adopted a 'When in Rome' clause in July 1966 permitting tender submission in foreign countries where required by local law/practice, then rescinded it in January 1968 on the recommendation of the Professional Engineers in Private Practice Section, which concluded the profession must maintain a 'pure' position to prevent incremental erosion." ;
proeth:compliancestatus "met" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Obligation" ;
proeth:confidence "0.91" ;
proeth:derivedFromPrinciple case167:Foreign_Gift_Exception_Would_Enable_Domestic_Erosion,
case167:When_in_Rome_Clause_Rescission_as_Ethics_Code_Erosion_Prevention ;
proeth:discoveredincase "167" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-02T10:18:18.218286+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "167" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-02T10:18:18.218286+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:obligatedparty "NSPE Board of Directors / NSPE Ethics Committee Reviewing Engineer" ;
proeth:obligationclass "Ethics Code Foreign Exception Chipping-Away Resistance Obligation" ;
proeth:obligationstatement "The NSPE Board of Directors was obligated to resist the 'When in Rome' foreign-practice exception to the competitive bidding prohibition, and did so by rescinding the clause in January 1968, establishing the precedent that foreign-practice exceptions to core ethics prohibitions must be rejected to prevent the 'chipping away' of ethical standards that would follow from their adoption." ;
proeth:sourcetext "the NSPE Board of Directors in July l966 adopted a so-called 'When in Rome' clause to permit the submission of tenders for work in foreign countries when such is required by laws, regulations, or practices of the foreign country." ;
proeth:temporalscope "January 1968 rescission decision; applied prospectively to all foreign-practice exception arguments including the gift-giving scenario" ;
proeth:textreferences "Even if the 'go along' philosophy is accepted as an exception only for foreign work, the result must be a 'chipping away' of ethical standards",
"the Board of Directors in January l968 rescinded the 'When in Rome' clause from the code as recommended by the Professional Engineers in Private Practice Section, which recognized a division of opinion on the policy but concluded, '... the profession should maintain a \"pure\" position on competitive bidding; otherwise our opposition to competitive bidding will be chipped away, piece by piece.'",
"the NSPE Board of Directors in July l966 adopted a so-called 'When in Rome' clause to permit the submission of tenders for work in foreign countries when such is required by laws, regulations, or practices of the foreign country." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 167 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-02T10:28:27.337463"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 167 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
167
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-02T10:18:18.218286+00:00
First case
167
Generated
2026-03-02T10:18:18.218286+00:00
Attributed to
Case 167 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-02T10:28:27.337463
Generated by
ProEthica Case 167 Extraction