Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation in Plan Transfer
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/173#Client_Direction_Does_Not_Authorize_Ethical_Violation_in_Plan_Transfer
Properties
Instance of
ClientDirectionDoesNotAuthorizeEthicalViolation
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ClientDirectionDoesNotAuthorizeEthicalViolation
Applied to
Engineer B's redesign engagement
Transfer of sealed plans from client to Engineer B
Balancing with
Client autonomy in engineering service provider selection
Client property rights in plans
Concrete expression
The client's act of transferring Engineer A's sealed plans to Engineer B and directing Engineer B to use them as a guide for redesign did not authorize Engineer B to make major changes without re-sealing modified sheets — the client's direction cannot override Engineer B's independent professional obligation to properly certify all work bearing their design decisions.
Confidence
0.85
Importance
medium
Interpretation
The client's authority over the engineering engagement is bounded by the professional ethics obligations of the engineers involved; the client cannot direct engineers to adopt procedures that violate sealing and certification requirements.
Invoked by
Engineer B Undocumented Alteration Successor Design Engineer
Subdivision Development Client
Tension resolution
Client direction over the scope and approach of engineering services does not extend to authorization of professional certification procedures that violate licensing law and ethics requirements.
Source Evidence
Source text
The client gave Engineer B the set of plans produced by Engineer A to use as a guide in the redesign.
Text references
Engineer B was later retained by the client to review and redesign the project.
He made no notation of the changes, did not sign the plans, and left Engineer A's seal and signature intact.
The client gave Engineer B the set of plans produced by Engineer A to use as a guide in the redesign.
TTL
@prefix case173: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/173#> .
@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#> .
case173:Client_Direction_Does_Not_Authorize_Ethical_Violation_in_Plan_Transfer a proeth:ClientDirectionDoesNotAuthorizeEthicalViolation,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation in Plan Transfer" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer B's redesign engagement",
"Transfer of sealed plans from client to Engineer B" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Client autonomy in engineering service provider selection",
"Client property rights in plans" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "The client's act of transferring Engineer A's sealed plans to Engineer B and directing Engineer B to use them as a guide for redesign did not authorize Engineer B to make major changes without re-sealing modified sheets — the client's direction cannot override Engineer B's independent professional obligation to properly certify all work bearing their design decisions." ;
proeth:confidence "0.85" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "173" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "facts" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T14:20:21.416449+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "173" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T14:20:21.416449+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "medium" ;
proeth:interpretation "The client's authority over the engineering engagement is bounded by the professional ethics obligations of the engineers involved; the client cannot direct engineers to adopt procedures that violate sealing and certification requirements." ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer B Undocumented Alteration Successor Design Engineer",
"Subdivision Development Client" ;
proeth:principleclass "Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation" ;
proeth:sourcetext "The client gave Engineer B the set of plans produced by Engineer A to use as a guide in the redesign." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Client direction over the scope and approach of engineering services does not extend to authorization of professional certification procedures that violate licensing law and ethics requirements." ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineer B was later retained by the client to review and redesign the project.",
"He made no notation of the changes, did not sign the plans, and left Engineer A's seal and signature intact.",
"The client gave Engineer B the set of plans produced by Engineer A to use as a guide in the redesign." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 173 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T14:41:54.501999"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 173 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
173
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
facts
First discovered
2026-03-01T14:20:21.416449+00:00
First case
173
Generated
2026-03-01T14:20:21.416449+00:00
Attributed to
Case 173 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T14:41:54.501999
Generated by
ProEthica Case 173 Extraction