DP5

DecisionPoint
http://proethica.org/ontology/cases#DecisionPoint

DP5

Should Engineer B treat his attribution and change-notation obligations in the subdivision plan redesign as a substantive public safety requirement demanding complete and unambiguous per-sheet documentation — or as a professional courtesy obligation satisfied by a general title-sheet disclaimer claiming responsibility for unspecified 'revisions'?

Engineer B's redesign of the subdivision plan set — affecting storm drains, pipe dimensions, sewers, utilities, housing pad elevations, and street routing across a 43-sheet plan set governing public infrastructure — raises the question of whether the public safety stakes of subdivision engineering elevate the ethical standard for attribution and change notation beyond minimal compliance, and whether Engineer B's conduct constituted an affirmative deceptive misrepresentation rather than merely an insufficient disclosure.

Treat attribution and change notation as a substantive public safety obligation — providing specific, itemized documentation of every change on each affected sheet, removing Engineer A's seal from altered sheets, and affixing Engineer B's own seal — recognizing that reviewing authorities, inspectors, and contractors rely on the sealed engineer's identity as a proxy for design accountability in public infrastructure.

Treat the title-sheet note claiming responsibility for 'revisions of the plans' as adequate professional disclosure — on the theory that a reviewing authority examining the plan set would be on notice that some revisions had been made and could inquire further, and that the note's technical truth satisfies the honesty obligation even if it does not enumerate every change.

Provide a detailed, itemized change log on the cover sheet of each plan set identifying every sheet modified and the nature of each change — without removing Engineer A's seal from individual altered sheets or affixing Engineer B's seal to those sheets — treating comprehensive cover-sheet documentation as a middle path that provides meaningful notice to reviewers while preserving the document structure of the original plan set.

Engineer B